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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.

Ep615: RAINEY Day Blues (MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM Movie Review)

Ep615: RAINEY Day Blues (MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM Movie Review)

Ian Simmons

Ian and David review Chadwick Boseman's final movie, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom!

Set in 1927 Chicago, George C. Wolfe's adaptation of the August Wilson play stars Viola Davis as the titular Blues pioneer as she struggles with management, producers, musicians, and her own ego to record one of her biggest hits.

In this spoilerific conversation, the guys discuss the pros and cons of Wolfe's stage-to-screen production; issues of dimensionality in the main characters; and the surprising way in which the source material may have influenced another Black artist's breakout feature film.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is now playing in select theatres, and will debut on Netflix on December 18th.

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Ep616: The CAVALRY Has Arrived!

Ep616: The CAVALRY Has Arrived!
Ep614: The NEW New McCarthyism (SUPERINTELLIGENCE Video Essay)

Ep614: The NEW New McCarthyism (SUPERINTELLIGENCE Video Essay)