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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.

Ep795: There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: BACK TO SCHOOL (1986)

Ep795: There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: BACK TO SCHOOL (1986)

Ian Simmons

Ian and Pat crack open their used books and wade through the ivy for a look at Back to School!

Alan Metter's blockbuster 1986 comedy stars Rodney Dangerfield as Thornton Melon, a wildly successful businessman who buys his way into his son Jason's (Keith Gordon) college as a way of patching up their strained relationship. Hijinks ensue, of course, as Thornton unleashes his irreverent party animal antics on an unsuspecting (but very receptive) campus. But can Thornton schmooze and spend his way out of a cheating scandal?

This episode is much more than a book report about a classic 80s comedy. Pat and Ian discuss how their perceptions of the film have changed in the nearly four decades since its release--considering matters as trivial as diving team regulations, and questions as profound as whether or not Back to School is a cosmic prequel to the 2016 election!

Show Links:

Ep796: DOG SOLDIERS (2002) - 20th Anniversary Review

Ep796: DOG SOLDIERS (2002) - 20th Anniversary Review
Ep794: Accademia Giallo: THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1963)

Ep794: Accademia Giallo: THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1963)