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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.

Ep1060: Outside the Cathouse, Inside the Arthouse: An Interview with Actor/Filmmaker Raphael Sbarge!

Ep1060: Outside the Cathouse, Inside the Arthouse: An Interview with Actor/Filmmaker Raphael Sbarge!

We're closing out 2024 with a returning special guest whose career touches on everything that makes movies special!

Raphael Sbarge joins Ian for a wide-ranging conversation about growing up in the New York theatre scene; being one of the original Sesame Street kids; stepping into fame with the Risky Business cast; and carving a wholly new path as an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker--which led to his co-creating the Inside the Arthouse podcast with arthouse theater royalty, Greg Laemmle!

The guys also talk about the evolution of Risky Business; its mirror-universe relationship to The Graduate; and why it's just as relevant 41 years later! If you've ever wondered what it's like to put a documentary together, navigate a dinner with Sean Penn at his most Method, or trust Tom Cruise with your life while driving at top speed down Michigan Avenue, this is the show for you!

Subscribe, like, and comment on Kicking the Seat here on YouTube, and check us out at:

Show Links:

  • Watch the Risky Business (1983) trailer.

  • Order Criterion's recent 4K release of Risky Business!

  • Catch up with (and subscribe to) Raphael's great new podcast, Inside the Arthouse, with Greg Laemmle!

  • Watch Ian and Sujewa's conversation with Raphael and Greg, in promotion of the doc that started it all, Only in Theaters!

  • As mentioned in the show, Ian and Cole Rush reviewed Risky Business a few years ago, for their "Late Screening" series. Give a listen!

Ep1061: Accademia Giallo CREDITO EXTRA: The Shiver Screen! January Giallo Returns to The Music Box

Ep1061: Accademia Giallo CREDITO EXTRA: The Shiver Screen! January Giallo Returns to The Music Box

Ep1059: Nosferatu (2024) - Round Table Review

Ep1059: Nosferatu (2024) - Round Table Review