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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.

Christine (2016)

CIFF 2016: As modern lore goes, there are few stories more mysterious or more chilling than that of Christine Chubbuck, the 29-year-old Florida reporter who committed suicide on the air in 1974. The footage was never released, and a relative handful of people actually witnessed the event as it happened. If you come to Antonio Campos’ drama Christine expecting a slice of sensational ghoulishness, you’ll be sorely disappointed. If, however, you’re up for a deep-cutting portrait of depression, ambition, and what it means to stand at the forefront of a mass-media tidal wave, you’ll devour Rebecca Hall’s performance and Craig Shilowich’s insightful screenplay. Unforgettable supporting turns by Tracy Letts, Michael C. Hall, and Maria Dizzia underscore Christine as a prescient film that mirrors our present-day struggle to connect with one another in a world that values achievement and sensationalism over healing and humanity.

Ghostbusters: Extended Cut (2016)

Phantasm: Ravager (2016)