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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.

Ep927: Spotlight India: JAWAN (2023)

Ep927: Spotlight India: JAWAN (2023)

Ian Simmons

This month, "Spotlight India" centers on a movie that's actually playing at a theater near you! To date, Atlee's Jawan has taken in more than $120 million worldwide in just under two weeks--and it's easy to see why!

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan stars as a special ops agent who is brought back from the brink of death to seek justice for the downtrodden in India. That's about as high level a summary as we can give without delving into all the twists, turns, genre-shifts, and fist-pumping awesomeness of this movie--and we're saving that for the episode!

Show Links

Ep928: There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: SERPICO (1973)

Ep928: There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: SERPICO (1973)
Ep926: Green Means "GO": Linh Tran and James Choi on Making WAITING FOR THE LIGHT TO CHANGE

Ep926: Green Means "GO": Linh Tran and James Choi on Making WAITING FOR THE LIGHT TO CHANGE