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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.

Ep951: Late Screening: SCROOGED (1988)

Ep951: Late Screening: SCROOGED (1988)

Ian Simmons

Join Ian and Cole as they put a little love in your heart with a 35th anniversary "Late Screening" of Richard Donner's Scrooged!

Bill Murray stars as Frank Cross, a mean and miserable TV executive whose upcoming live Christmas Eve production of A Christmas Carol has him acting surlier than usual. Like the Charles Dickens novella he's adapting, Cross is visited by four ghosts hell-bent on helping him rediscover his humanity (and, just maybe, some holiday cheer).

In this spoilerific and likely very controversial episode, Ian sticks up for Murray against accusations that he's neither particularly funny nor a very good actor. The guys also look at the strengths and weaknesses of Donner's dark, effects-heavy, slapstick mélange and decide whether it belongs in the pantheon of off-kilter holiday classics!

Plus: Find out why Cole will be...a little busier than usual in 2024!

Subscribe, like, and comment to the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel, and check out kickseat.com for multiple movie podcasts each week!

Show Links

Ep952: WONKA (2023) - Round Table Review

Ep952: WONKA (2023) - Round Table Review
Ep950: Accademia Giallo: PIECES (1982)

Ep950: Accademia Giallo: PIECES (1982)