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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.

Ep1083: Mickey 17 (2025) - Live Roundtable Review

Ep1083: Mickey 17 (2025) - Live Roundtable Review

Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17 may be a dystopian sci-fi dramedy about cloning, but the assessment of Earth's Mightiest Critics is one-of-a-kind!

Robert Pattinson stars as the eponymous, disposable space worker who's tasked with dangerous grunt work aboard a deep-space colonial vessel. When the craft lands on a planet suitable for starting civilization anew, Mickey 17 (the latest iteration of a down-on-his-luck Jerseyite named Mickey Barnes) discovers that they're not the only lifeforms on the icy desolate rock--and that he's not the only "Mickey" aboard the ship! The film has a solid cast; is sourced from a popular novel (Edward Ashton's Mickey 7); and is adapted/helmed by the Oscar-winning director of Parasite--so why did it stumble at the weekend box office?

Join us for a spoiler-filled look at the movie, its rocky production, and the sad state of "topical" sci-fi. Ian and Cati also talk about the filmmakers' denial that Mark Ruffalo plays a Trump-like figure, prove that civil discourse isn't dead, and provide an extended preview of next week's Novocaine livestream (mark your calendars for Wednesday the 19th at 8pm CST)! We also answer your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

Note: On play-back we discovered some sound distortion on Ian's mic at the 2:30 mark--which lasted for about 3 minutes. Fortunately, it cleared up after that. Apologies for the disruption!

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Ep1082: Go West, Young Filmmaker! An Interview with Guns of Redemption Director Brian Skiba

Ep1082: Go West, Young Filmmaker! An Interview with Guns of Redemption Director Brian Skiba