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Welcome to Kicking the Seat!

Ian Simmons launched Kicking the Seat in 2009, one week after seeing Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. His wife proposed blogging as a healthier outlet for his anger than red-faced, twenty-minute tirades (Ian is no longer allowed to drive home from the movies).

The Kicking the Seat Podcast followed three years later and, despite its “undiscovered gem” status, Ian thoroughly enjoys hosting film critic discussions, creating themed shows, and interviewing such luminaries as Gaspar NoéRachel BrosnahanAmy Seimetz, and Richard Dreyfuss.

Ian is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He also has a family, a day job, and conflicted feelings about referring to himself in the third person.

Ep434: Who Benefits?

Today, the Kicking the Seat Podcast and Pat “The Über Critic” McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com and the Chicago Film Tour get downright conspiratorial with an in-depth look at Winter Kills!

William Richert's 1979 political satire presents a Kennedy-assassination allegory unlike any other. A paranoid mash-up of Citizen Kane and Network, the movie finds Jeff Bridges traveling the globe to find out who gave the order to kill his older brother, a former President of the United States.

The tone is all over the place, ranging from cracked-mirror parody to bona fide thriller, and Ian and Pat do their best to figure out why Winter Kills is not more widely regarded in the conspiracy-movie pantheon.

Politically, Episode 434 is back and to the left!

Show Guide:

Conspiratorial Chatter: 0:00 - 0:09

Intro Music: 0:09 - 0:24

Intro: 0:24 - 2:58

Winter Kills Trailer: 2:58 - 6:10

Winter Kills Discussion: 6:10 - 52:31

Outro Music: 52:31 - 52:45

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Ep435: Short Order Crooks

Ep433: Car-isma to Spare