profile pic ian.jpg

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.

Ep642: Crypto/Crime/Couriers: An Interview with SILK ROAD Director Tiller Russell

Ep642: Crypto/Crime/Couriers: An Interview with SILK ROAD Director Tiller Russell

Ian Simmons

Ian talks with writer/director Tiller Russell, whose latest film Silk Road follows the true-life rise and fall of Ross Ulbricht, founder of the eponymous dark web marketplace.

Nick Robinson plays Ulbricht, a twentysomething libertarian who discovers that he can use cryptocurrency, the US postal service, and corporate delivery systems to traffic drugs, guns, and other illicit materials on the Internet. Jason Clarke also stars as the out-of-step DEA agent who uses old school methods to take down the first "Millennial Gangster".

Ian and Tiller discuss the film's origins; using creative license in the process of adaptation; and the trickiness of spotlighting a libertarian antihero in a mainstream movie. Silk Road is now available On Demand.

Show Links:

  • Watch the Silk Road trailer.

  • Watch the trailer for Tiller Russell's Night Stalker docuseries, now streaming on Netflix.

  • Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ep643: RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON Movie Review

Ep643: RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON Movie Review
Ep641: THE LONG GOODBYE: An Interview with Director Heidi Neff

Ep641: THE LONG GOODBYE: An Interview with Director Heidi Neff