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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 Noé, Rachel Brosnahan, Amy 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.

Ep531: Good News, BAD NEWS

Ep531: Good News, BAD NEWS

Ian Simmons

Today, the Kicking the Seat Podcast and Pat “The Über Critic” McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com celebrate the 2020 baseball season with the only game in town--movies! At first glance, Michael Ritchie's 1976 classic, The Bad News Bears, is a far cry from his earlier film, The Candidate, but the guys discover some surprising similarities.

They also marvel at how Walter Matthau and Vic Morrow's powerful lead performances give the movie just as much punch for adults as for children--and wrestle with who the "appropriate" audience is for this explicitly un-PC film in the year 2020!

Episode 531 didn't come into this world to sit on a bench in a dugout!

Show Guide:

Intro Music: 0:00 - 0:14

Intro: 0:14 - 2:05

The Bad News Bears Trailer: 2:05 - 5:06

The Bad News Bears Discussion: 5:06 - 1:03:00

Outro Music: 1:03:00 - 1:03:15

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Ep532: INSIDE THE RAIN w/ Eric Roberts and Aaron Fisher

Ep532: INSIDE THE RAIN w/ Eric Roberts and Aaron Fisher
Ep530: The Slowdown: Cold Turkey

Ep530: The Slowdown: Cold Turkey