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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 NoéRachel BrosnahanAmy 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.

Ep998: OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001) - Movie Review

Ep998: OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001) - Movie Review

Ain't no rats in this pack, daddy-o! Just Ian and Jeff looking back at 2001's Ocean’s Eleven--a film that holds up and holds its own as one of Hollywood's coolest, cleverest blockbusters!

In Steven Soderbergh's action/comedy heist flick, George Clooney plays Danny Ocean, a professional con man who's just been released from a 4-year prison stint. He immediately hatches a plan to steal $150 million from three Las Vegas casinos, and recruits an all-star cast of misfit criminal specialists to help him pull off the job. Complicating matters is the fact that Ocean's ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), has taken up with Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the corrupt manager of the mega-vault connecting all three casinos!

In this spoilerific retrospective, the guys look at Ocean’s Eleven as an evolution from Soderbergh's 1998 film, Out of Sight (also starring Clooney as an ex-con out for one last score); lament the death of the "movie star"; stand up for Roberts' character against accusations of being under-developed; and, somehow, get embroiled in the Harrison Butker controversy!

Plus, much more!

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

Show Links

Ep999: Spotlight India: RA.ONE (2011)

Ep999: Spotlight India: RA.ONE (2011)

Ep997: KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2024) - LIVE Round Table Review

Ep997: KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2024) - LIVE Round Table Review