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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.

Ep419: I Wanna Hold Your Haneke

Today, The Kicking the Seat Podcast enjoys a peaceful summer day by the lake with Aaron Christensen of Horror 101 with Dr. A.C., who talks Ian through Michael Haneke's 1997 thriller, Funny Games. The scathing German meta-commentary about cinematic voyeurism (which recently made its Criterion debut) centers on a German family whose vacation is cut short by two sociopaths with a penchant for cruelty, manipulation, and violence.

This is one of Aaron's favorite films, and the guys explore Haneke's themes, filmmaking choices, and the writer/director's decision to do a shot-for-shot, English-language remake in 2007.

Episode 419 can't make an omelet without borrowing some eggs!

Show Guide:

Intro Music: 0:00 - 0:14

Intro: 0:14 - 2:46

Funny Games Trailer: 2:46 - 4:56

Funny Games Discussion: 4:56 - 1:00:36

Outro Music: 1:00:36 - 1:00:51

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Ep420: Brand Practice

Ep418: The Kind You Find in a Second-hand Store