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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.

Ep599: Alfred Hitchcock Resents

Ep599: Alfred Hitchcock Resents

Ian Simmons
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Today, the Kicking the Seat Podcast and Don Shanahan of Every Movie Has a Lesson hold up a mirror to Ben Wheatley’s new take on Rebecca (now streaming on Netflix). Though marketed as an adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s novel, there’s no escaping the fact that the film walks in the footsteps of Alfred Hitchcock’s eerie, Oscar-winning 1940 drama.

The guys compare and contrast both films in this spoiler-lite analysis of a remake gone weird. From an oddly sped-up sensibility that runs approximately the same length as the languid original; to the injection of modern-day gender politics that may feel redundant to those who understand subtext; to the unfortunate casting of Lily James in another pseudo-Cinderella story, this is definitely a tale of two (technically three) Rebeccas.

Also, Ian reviews the new Frozen short, Once Upon a Snowman, and the Hunter S. Thompson documentary Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb—and invites you to check out his YouTube-exclusive interview with Freak Power co-director Ajax Phillips! Speaking of YouTube, you can also watch the video version of this podcast right now!

And don’t forget to join Ian and the “Scare-a-Thon” crew LIVE tonight at 7:15pm Central for a look at Lucio Fulci’s A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin!

Episode 599 is the third Mrs. De Winter!

Show Guide:

Intro Music: 0:00 - 0:14

Intro: 0:14 - 2:27

Once Upon a Snowman Review: 2:27 - 4:34

Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb Review: 4:34 - 8:09

Intro Ct’d: 8:09 - 10:22

Rebecca (2020) Trailer: 10:22 - 12:39

Rebecca (1940 and 2020) Discussion: 12:39 - 57:20

Outro Music: 57:20 - 57:36

Keep up with the latest seat-kicking goodness by following, liking, rating, and subscribing to us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, iTunes, Stitcher!

Ep600: Reelpolitik: The Gooey Center

Ep600: Reelpolitik: The Gooey Center
Ep598: FRIGHT NIGHT is Still So Cool!

Ep598: FRIGHT NIGHT is Still So Cool!