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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.

Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)

Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)

Ian Simmons

Urban Legends: Final Cut has a trilogy-conclusion title, even though it’s only the first sequel to Urban Legend. The follow-up should have been called Urban Legends (à la Aliens), with the third being Urban Legend: Final Cut.* Beyond the title, there’s very little else to connect with in this infrequently engaging slasher about a film school beset by grisly murders, some of which are based on (Meta Alert!) the first film’s urban-legend-themed killing spree. Confused? Step in line behind my weary brain, which spent half the time trying to remember if I’d seen this during its theatrical run, and the other half guessing the odds of so many cast members becoming ABC (and ABC Family) stars two decades later. At least the first film’s cruel streak is gone—minus the fact that one of the school’s buildings is named after Orson Welles.

*The stinger leaves room for another (mercifully, unproduced) installment.

Candyman (1992)

Candyman (1992)
Urban Legend (1998)

Urban Legend (1998)