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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.

Ep1191: Song Sung Blue (2025) - Live Roundtable Review

Ep1191: Song Sung Blue (2025) - Live Roundtable Review

Christmas came early for Earth's Mightiest Critics, and we're here to share the love a roundtable preview review of Song Sung Blue!

Craig Brewer's latest music-infused drama stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as a Milwaukee-based Neil Diamond tribute act called Lightning and Thunder. Based on a 2008 documentary of the same name, this narrative biopic centers on the married couple's rise and fall--and examines lives lived in a spotlight that is also, oddly, a shadow.

Join us as we get in tune and establish a rhythm for discussing this Awards Season (ahem) diamond in the rough!

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Ep1192: There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: Tokyo Godfathers (2003) - Movie Review

Ep1192: There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: Tokyo Godfathers (2003) - Movie Review

Ep1190: Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) - Roundtable Review

Ep1190: Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) - Roundtable Review