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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.

Ep697: The Slowdown: THE TREE OF LIFE (SERIES FINALE!)

Ep697: The Slowdown: THE TREE OF LIFE (SERIES FINALE!)

Ian Simmons

The two-year Slowdown project comes to an end as Ian and Sujewa tackle the mother of mainstream Slow Cinema, Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life!

In 2011, Ian wrote a scathing review of one of the worst films he'd ever seen. Eight years later, he met a very patient filmmaker during an interview for the movie Werewolf Ninja Philosopher--a filmmaker who would become a friend and guide through the wide, wild, weird world of Slow Cinema.

Now, after nearly two dozen discussions about leisurely, ideas-laden oddities, Ian and Sujewa Ekanayake examine Malick's meditation on life, the universe, and everything, as seen through the evolution and collapse of a middle-class 1960s Waco, Texas family. How does the film hold up on second viewing (for Ian) and as a first-time experience (for Sujewa)?

How do Malick's religious themes impact the story and those who receive it? And just how much film knowledge should audiences be expected to have before taking on unconventional movies? Unlike The Tree of Life, we've got tons of answers ready to go!

Plus: Find out what lies ahead for Ian and Sujewa's arthouse-movie musings!

Show Links:

  • Watch the Tree of Life trailer.

  • Read Ian's (since-disavowed) 2011 Tree of Life review.

  • Listen to Ian and Mark Krawczyk discuss Malick's spiritual successor to The Tree of Life, Knight of Cups, on The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Listen to Don Shanahan and Will Johnson debate The Tree of Life on the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast (referenced in this episode).

  • Find clips, making-of videos, and other cool info about Sujewa's upcoming film, The Secret Society for Slow Romance.

  • Keep up with all of Sujewa's projects.

  • Order Criterion's The Tree of Life Blu-ray, which includes Matt Zoller Seitz's two-part video essay on the film (as discussed in this episode).

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

Ep698: HABIT-Forming with Janell Shirtcliff

Ep698: HABIT-Forming with Janell Shirtcliff
Ep696: VAL (2021) - Movie Review

Ep696: VAL (2021) - Movie Review