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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.

Girl on the Third Floor (2019)

Girl on the Third Floor (2019)

Ian Simmons

What if The Evil Dead was really about something? That could be the elevator pitch for Travis Stevens' gruesome, gooey, and brainy new horror film, Girl on the Third Floor. As Don (Phil Brooks) begins renovating an old house before mother-to-be Liz (Trieste Kelly Dunn) moves in, he hears strange noises on different floors, sees viscous ooze pouring out of wall sockets, and catches the eye of a comely neighbor (Sarah Brooks) who offers to help with his (ahem) tools. The house is haunted, of course, and Don finds himself increasingly doused in gore and running from phantoms. Brooks (aka WWE champion CM Punk) may resemble Bruce Campbell in all his bug-eyed, incredulous glory, but Don, like his new home and the film, has secrets that make him uniquely unqualified to take on the forces of evil. In a stunning third-act flip, Girl on the Third Floor transforms from a low-budget fixer-upper of genre staples into a multi-level manse of social commentary and heartfelt horror.

Listen to Ian's interview with the cast of Girl on the Third Floor on Episode 461 of the Kicking the Seat Podcast!

The Aeronauts (2019)

The Aeronauts (2019)
Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)