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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.

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)

Ian Simmons

'Tis the Season for Ian and Pat to try something a little different! Every year the guys discuss a Christmas movie, but they're closing out 2022 with the oddly dark CBS production of The Judy Garland Christmas Show from 1963.

Filmed mere days after the assassination of Garland's dear friend, John F. Kennedy, this ostensibly heartwarming holiday musical feels like the production itself has been traumatized. Garland and her real-life family invite an unseen live studio audience into their fake home for an evening of song, dance, and comedy that (especially through the lens of modernity) comes off as alternately corny, creepy, and wrong.

As a matter of fact, Pat's comedy troupe, Famous in the Future, will be performing a lively send-up of the special this week. Here he talks about how A Judy Christmas came to be, and what folks can expect to see at the Den Theatre in Chicago. Strap in as we leap over the rainbow and down the rabbit hole!

Show Links:

  • Watch The Judy Garland Christmas Show (1963) on YouTube.

  • Get tickets to see Pat in Famous in the Future's production of A JUDY CHRISTMAS--playing this Thursday through Saturday at Chicago's Den Theatre!

  • Listen to Pat's interview with Judy Garland's daughter, Lorna Luft (mentioned in the show)!

  • Keep up with Pat at HollywoodChicago.com.

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

Ep833: IndieSeen: JEANNE DIELMAN (1975) / BFI? BFD! Part 1

Ep833: IndieSeen: JEANNE DIELMAN (1975) / BFI? BFD! Part 1
Ep831: THE FABELMANS (2022) - Movie Review

Ep831: THE FABELMANS (2022) - Movie Review