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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.

Ep989: PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (1981) - Movie Review w/ Armond White

Ep989: PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (1981) - Movie Review w/ Armond White

Ian Simmons

Ian welcomes back Armond White for an educational (and occasionally contentious) review of Pennies from Heaven!

Herbert Ross's 1981 musical drama stars Steve Martin as Arthur Parker, a Depression-era sheet music salesman who dreams of opening his own record store. He's also a sex maniac who puts the move on naive school teacher, Eileen (Bernadette Peters), when his wife, Joan, (Jessica Harper) refuses to get kinky. Packed with inventive fantasy musical numbers, complex characters, and a cracked-mirror moral code, Pennies from Heaven remains one of cinema's biggest head-scratching bombs.

In this spoilerific examination, Ian and Armond talk about the film's origins (from Ross' early career to the original 1978 BBC miniseries); the thematic and stylistic choices that at once separate it from the musical pack and make it the perfect genre homage; and their wildly different interpretations of Eileen's crucial, character-changing scene!

And stick around for a savage takedown of La La Land and a tease of what the guys are up to next!

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

Show Links

  • Watch the Pennies from Heaven (1981) trailer.

  • Watch Ian and Armond's review of 2023's The Color Purple remake.

  • Read Armond's review of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare at The National Review (mentioned in the show).

  • Order the book that inspired these regular movie chats: Armond's Make Spielberg Great Again.

Ep990: ABIGAIL (2024) - LIVE Round Table Review

Ep990: ABIGAIL (2024) - LIVE Round Table Review
Ep988: HARD MILES (2024) - Movie Review

Ep988: HARD MILES (2024) - Movie Review