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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.

Ghostbusters: Extended Cut (2016)

It used to be that "extended"/"unrated" home video releases were just excuses for movie studios to rake in extra cash by giving audiences more gore or more gross-outs--often at the expense of the theatrical version's narrative rhythms. Not so with Ghostbusters: Extended Cut. Why didn't Sony release this version in July? Placed judiciously throughout, the extra fifteen minutes really tighten up Paul Feig and Katie Dippold's rocky plotting, providing more background on the villainous Ronan; explaining why the Ghostbusters break up before the climax (Don't Think Twice's Chris Gethard makes a welcome appearance); and finally showing us the military dance sequence originally dumped into the end credits (not funny, but at least the bookend scenes make sense now). Aside from two minutes of the leads' "comedic" vamping, this is the definitive Ghostbusters 2016.

Check out the KtS review of the theatrical cut and KtS Podcast #141 for more Ghostbustin' opinions!

Raising Bertie (2016)

Christine (2016)