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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.

Ep398: What's Up, Doc10?

Today, the Kicking the Seat Podcast and David Fowlie of Keeping it Reel preview the fourth annual Doc10 Film Festival, which takes over the Davis Theatre in Chicago, this Thursday through Sunday (April 11th through the 14th). Doc10 features ten documentaries supported by filmmaker discussions, panels, creative workshop, and even an interactive VR experience.

Ian and David talk about three films making their Chicago debuts: The Infiltrators, which centers on an activist group working with undocumented immigrants in Florida; Mike Wallace is Here, a career retrospective of the dogged 60 Minutes anchor; and Hail Satan?, a surprising profile of The Satanic Temple, whose aims are quite different than what you'd expect.

This is as spoiler-free a discussion as the guys could make it, centering instead on the larger questions and ideas raised by this handful of important and wildly entertaining films. So get excited for Doc10 and get your tickets today!

Episode 398 is stranger than fiction!

Show Guide:

Intro Music: 0:00 - 0:15

Intro: 0:15 - 2:47

60 Seconds of 60 Minutes: 2:47 - 3:47

Doc10 Discussion: 3:47 - 1:26:20

Outro Music: 1:26:20 - 1:26:35

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Ep399: Fire Festival

Ep397: Page2Screen2Screen: The Rud Less Traveled