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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.

Ep960: DON'T LOOK NOW (1973) - Movie Review

Ep960: DON'T LOOK NOW (1973) - Movie Review

Ian Simmons

Ian and Jeff board the grief gondola for a look at Nicolas Roeg's 1973 thriller, Don’t Look Now!

Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie star as a couple who move to Venice, following the accidental drowning of their young daughter. The bereaved couple is soon visited by a pair of sisters, one of whom claims to have psychic visions of the child--and shares a warning of impending doom.

Oh, did we mention there's also a killer on the loose?

Through haunting imagery, innovative editing, and a truly eerie conception of time and space, Roeg's landmark film has inspired the likes of Steven Soderbergh and Danny Boyle. In this spoilerific review, Ian and Jeff talk life, death, superstition--and wonder why this movie didn't quite make the cut for "Accademia Giallo"!

Subscribe, like, and comment to the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel, and check out kickseat.com for multiple movie podcasts each week!

Show Links

  • Watch the Don’t Look Now trailer.

  • Order Criterion's recently released 4K UHD Blu-ray of Don’t Look Now.

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot!

  • Bonus! See what happened when Ian confronted the Accademia Giallo faculty about Don’t Look Now’s “non-Giallo” status!

  • Chicagoans! Help the Music Box Theatre close out their 2024 "January Giallo" series with two nights of terror from Sergio Martino!

    This Monday and Tuesday (1/22 - 1/23), you can catch the Maestro's classics, Torso and The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh on the big screen--with an ultra-rare in-person Q&A following both screenings!

    Click here for times, tickets, and more information!

  • Continue your education with our "Accademia Giallo" Playlist!

Ep961: Accademia Giallo: THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL (1971)

Ep961: Accademia Giallo: THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL (1971)
Ep959: THE CALL SHEET Volume 2 w/ Rebecca Martin Fagerholm and Erica Duffy

Ep959: THE CALL SHEET Volume 2 w/ Rebecca Martin Fagerholm and Erica Duffy