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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.

Ep831: THE FABELMANS (2022) - Movie Review

Ep831: THE FABELMANS (2022) - Movie Review

Ian Simmons

'Tis the season for Ian and Armond White to discuss another Steven Spielberg holiday film! The director of E.T., Jaws, and too many other iconic movies to list returns with what has been advertised as his most personal film yet.

So why does The Fabelmans feel more like a melange of tall tales than anything resembling a coherent autobiography? In this spoilerific discussion, the guys look at the highs and lows of this peculiar family drama, which tackles amateur filmmaking, racism, infidelity, mental illness, the destruction of the nuclear family, and the transportive power of cinema with all the subtlety and attention to detail of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story!

And you'll want to stay (or at least scrub through) to the very end to see Ian and Armond debate the effectiveness of The Fabelmans' closing shot! Hackneyed or inspired--you decide!

Show Links:

Ep832: There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: THE JUDY GARLAND CHRISTMAS SHOW (1963)

Ep832: There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: THE JUDY GARLAND CHRISTMAS SHOW (1963)
Ep830: Son of Hammerland: DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE (1971)

Ep830: Son of Hammerland: DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE (1971)