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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.

Ep726: GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (2021) - Movie Review

Ep726: GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (2021) - Movie Review

Ian Simmons

Ian and David cross the streams all over Ghostbusters: Afterlife!

Jason Reitman's direct sequel to his father Ivan's revolutionary 1984 horror-comedy ignores the 2016 reboot (and, oddly, 1989's Ghostbusters 2) in serving up a scaled-back family dramedy that sees cute kids battling Gozer on an Oklahoma farm. In this no-holds-barred spoiler discussion, the guys break down the myriad ways in which Reitman and company soil the legacy of a beloved film through misguided characterizations; a fundamental misunderstanding of what made the original great; and more references than you can shake a Twinkie at (GET IT?!?!).

They also talk about the movie's allegedly amazing opening-weekend box office, which may not mean what many people think it means.

Show Links:

  • Watch the Ghostbusters: Afterlife trailer.

  • Follow David's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Read Ian's exhaustive and incendiary written review of Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

  • Listen to Ian, David, and several other critics review Ghostbusters 2016.

  • Listen to Ian and Cole Rush re-evaluate Ghostbusters in a surprising installment of "Late Screening".

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

Ep727: NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947) - Movie Review

Ep727: NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947) - Movie Review
Ep725: Hammerland: FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL

Ep725: Hammerland: FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL