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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.

Ep614: The NEW New McCarthyism (SUPERINTELLIGENCE Video Essay)

Ep614: The NEW New McCarthyism (SUPERINTELLIGENCE Video Essay)

In the first Kicking the Seat video essay, Ian gives the new Melissa McCarthy comedy, Superintelligence, an IQ test--examining its meandering structure; bizarre politics; and chances of being the movie that kills dumb, big-budget rom-coms for Generation Stream.

Show Links:

  • Watch the Superintelligence trailer.

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

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

Ep613 Spelling Error (GODMOTHERED Movie Review)

Ep613 Spelling Error (GODMOTHERED Movie Review)