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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.

The KtS Contest: LIFE OF CRIME!

UPDATE: This contest has ended. Congratulations, Alessandro Pampolino!

Life of Crime, the new comedy caper based on Elmore Leonard's novel, The Switch, opens this Friday! To celebrate, Kicking the Seat and Partnershub want to give one lucky reader a $15 Fandango gift card!

About the film: Mickey Dawson (Jennifer Aniston), the wife of crooked real-estate developer Frank Dawson (Tim Robbins), is kidnapped by two common criminals (Yasiin Bey and John Hawkes), who intend to hold her for a $1 million ransom and extort her husband with inside information about his illegal business dealings. But Frank, who is holed up in the Bahamas with his mistress, decides he’d rather not get his wife back--setting off a sequence of double-crosses and plot twists.

Co-starring Isla Fisher and Will Forte, Life of Crime is packed with the outrageously eccentric characters, black comedy, and unexpected twists that made Elmore Leonard one of America’s sharpest and funniest crime writers.

To Enter: In the "Comments" section below, tell me the name of your favorite movie in the "crime comedy" genre and why. The author of my favorite answer will receive the gift card!

Entries must be received by 11:59pm on Wednesday, September 3, 2014.

In the meantime, check out the Life of Crime trailer via the blog app below!

Thanks, and take care!

Eligibility: This post is sponsored by Life of Crime, and all prizes for the "Life of Crime" Contest, and the "Life of Crime" Blog App, are provided courtesy of Life of Crime. Prize will be sent via FedEx or UPS. No P.O. boxes, please. Each household is only eligible to win one (1) The Purge: Anarchy Prize Pack via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one (1) entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Notification: Kicking the Seat will contact the contest winner within twelve hours of contest close. If no response is received within twenty-four hours, an alternate winner will be chosen. Contest is open to residents of the USA only.

The KtS Contest: THE DEVIL'S HAND!

The KtS Contest: THE PURGE: ANARCHY!