Kicking the Seat

Awards Season cramming continues as Earth's Mightiest Critics check in with two indie label standouts: Sean Baker's Anora and Coralie Fargeat's The Substance!

In the Palme d'Or-winning drama, Anora, Mikey Madison plays Ani, a New Jersey stripper who marries Ivan, the spoiled, drugs-and-video-games-obsessed son of a Russian oligarch. When Ivan splits, his handler embarks on a chaotic night of chasing leads and figuring out how to annul the marriage before his bosses touch down in America--all with a combative Ani and two reluctant henchmen in tow.

The Substance stars Demi Moore as Elisabeth, an aging personal fitness star who volunteers to take an experimental drug that promises renewed youth and vitality--sort of. The titular Substance compartmentalizes Elisabeth for a week at a time, while an alternate version of herself, Sue (Margaret Qualley), comes out to play. Of course, things go horribly wrong in this Hollywood body horror fable, which has been hailed by members of the EMC as one of the year's best.

Far from the syrupy, safe Oscar bait of years past, Anora and The Substance present challenging visions of what contemporary dramas can be. But beneath the outrageous sex, violence, and gore, are they really just as ham-handedly preachy and forgettable as their more staid contemporaries?

Join us for a pole room-crashing, beauty standards-smashing, body horror-braving discussion about two very different dark horse dramas!

We also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

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

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Show Links:

• Watch the Anora (2024) trailer.

• Watch the Substance (2024) trailer.

• As mentioned in the show, you can order Ron Fassler's latest book, The Show Goes On--featuring beautiful Broadway caricatures by our very own Jeff York!

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

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

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And stir things up with Will Johnson of the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

Earth's Mightiest Critics defy gravity with an Oz-some round table review of Wicked: Part 1!

Jon M. Chu's big-screen adaptation of the smash Broadway prequel to The Wizard of Oz is lighting up the box office, and we're here to break down the bad, the great, and the terrible in spoilerific detail!

Set in an otherworldly magic academy called Shiz, Wicked centers on two polar opposite roommates: plucky, popular Galinda (Ariana Grande), and green-skinned introvert, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo). Their rocky relationship blossoms into genuine friendship, which is then tested by the political machinations of the mysterious Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).

Join us as we muster the courage to analyze the stage-to-screen adaptation; use our brains to cut through the hype--and open our hearts to the possibility that the worldwide Wicked love is the real deal! We also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

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 Wicked (2024) trailer.

• As mentioned in the show, costume designer Paul Tazewell created the stunning looks of the Wicked cast.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

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

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And stir things up with Will Johnson of the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

Kicking the Seat is decorating for Christmas early, and Neal E. Fischer has returned to help hang the tinsel!

The author, filmmaker, and podcaster extraordinaire has a new book out, called Christmas Movie Ultimate Trivia. To celebrate, he and Ian look back on Disney's modern classic, The Santa Clause, which turns 30 this year. When workaholic businessman Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) mistakenly causes the death of Jolly Ol' St. Nick, he inherits the mantle of magical global gift-giver. But it's not all fat suits and elf gags: the guys dig into the meatier themes that make this a Merry must-watch in the Fischer household!

Ian also talks with Neal about what it takes to write the Ultimate movie trivia book about his favorite holiday--and why it's so much more than a seasonal novelty item.

Plus: Learn about his next book, which will hit stands sooner than you can say "Love, Actually, is all around"!

Rounding out this trivia triptych is Neal's story about becoming a contestant on the smash hit Fox TV game show, The Floor--including his unlikely audition; meeting host Rob Lowe, and an unbelievable connection to The Santa Clause that lasted long after the taping!

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

Show Links:

• Watch the Santa Clause trailer.

• Order Christmas Movie Ultimate Trivia Book.

• Pre-order Neal's next titanic trivia tome, The Rom-Com Ultimate Trivia Book (out Dec 3).

• Follow Neal on Instagram to learn how you can earn a chance to win cool Rom-Com-related swag!

• Check out this trailer for The Floor Season 2 (featuring Neal!) and be sure to catch new episodes weekly on Fox.

• Can't get enough classic movie love? Pick up Neal's 2022 book, Being Patrick Swayze.

• And watch our conversation about Being Patrick Swayze.

• Neal's fun-facts fiesta continues at the Triviality Podcast.

• Keep up with all things Neal at his website.

Earth's Mightiest Critics are switching things up! Last week we talked about Hugh Grant; today we look at Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's iconic 1959 mistaken identity thriller, North By Northwest!

Grant plays a New York City advertising executive who goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies--and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt!

IMDb's synopsis is serviceable, but it doesn't begin to describe the genre-jumping, laugh-out-loud, white-knuckle thrill ride that is North By Northwest.

In this spoilerific review, the EMC celebrate one of their collective Favorite of All Time films--and induct first-time-viewer (!) Ian into the fandom!

So join for a plane-dodging, Mount Rushmore-scaling, first impressions-sharing round table review, where we'll talk spoilers and take your questions, comments and SuperChats!

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 North By Northwest (1959) trailer.

• Pick up Warner Bros' new 4K release of North By Northwest wherever you get your movies!

• Also out this week from WB: 4K releases of...

  • The Terminator (1984)

  • Blazing Saddles (1974)

• Bonus! Crack open the KtS Archives for our audio podcast reviews of...

  • The Terminator (1984)

  • Blazing Saddles (1974)

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

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

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • Stir things up with Will Johnson of the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • And get "lit" with Joe Randazzo of the Literary License Podcast and The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs

It's been a rough year for Ian and David's one-on-one reviews of streaming movies--but they've finally cracked the code!

Writer/director/star Jesse Eisenberg's sophomore effort, A Real Pain, is now in theaters and the guys actually ventured out to the cineplex to watch it together. The result is a hard-hitting and wide-ranging conversation about one of 2024's very best films.

Eisenberg plays David, a New York Internet ads salesman who accompanies his cousin, Benji (Kieran Culkin), on a trip to Poland as a memorial to their recently deceased grandmother. They spend most of their journey on a Holocaust tour, where Benji's manic-depressive episodes lead to awkwardness, confrontations, and disruptions both comedic and tragicomic.

In this spoiler-lite episode, the guys talk about the fine balance Eisenberg and company achieve in creating a deliberate Awards Season Darling that breaks through with frequent moments of un-movielike authenticity--and, as it turns out, is actually worth leaving the house for!

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 A Real Pain (2024) trailer.

• Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

• Plus! Listen to Ian and David's other recent (and very raucous) reviews of:

  • Rebel Ridge (2024)

  • Duchess (2024)

  • The Old Oak (2024)

  • What Remains (2024)

Earth's Mightiest Critics pray for a solid horror movie with their round table review of Heretic!

The co-creators of A Quiet Place bring us the story of two struggling young missionaries who knock on the door of a seemingly open-minded elderly man--only to find themselves lured into a deadly puzzle-like test of faith.

Join us for a spoilerific round table revelation, as we talk religious horror, Hugh Grant's heel turn, and take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

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 Heretic (2024) trailer.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

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

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And stir things up with Will Johnson of the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

Happy Hammerween! Today, Ian and AC close out Spooky Season and Scare-a-Thon 2024 with a look at Peter Sasdy's 1971 psychological slasher, Hands of the Ripper!

Eric Porter stars as Dr. Pritchard, an early 20th Century doctor whose interest in the "new" field of Freudian psychoanalysis leads him to care for a young woman named Anna (Angharad Rees). As a toddler, she'd witnessed the slaying of her mother at the hands of Jack the Ripper, and has now succumbed to violent episodes triggered by her past. Blackmail, bedside manner, and bloody murder come to a jaw-dropping head in this surprising late-era Hammer entry.

In this spoilerific episode, the guys talk about the power of minimalistic storytelling; a startling (and admittedly stupid) connection between Jack the Ripper and Three’s Company; and respond to some rather pointed comments from last month's The Lost Continent episode!

Because it's October, the annual Scare-a-Thon is in full swing! For the third year in a row, AC is raising funds for the Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project. Support this year's Scare-a-Thon by donating directly to WRRAP!

And keep up with all of AC's "Scare-a-Thon" viewings!

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 Hands of the Ripper (1971) trailer.

• Read AC's written review of Hands of the Ripper.

• Order AC's books on essential and obscure horror movies, Horror 101 and Hidden Horror!

• Subscribe to AC's YouTube channel, Horror 101 with Dr. AC.

• It’s not too late to catch up with our 2023 trip “Beyond Hammerland”!

• Check out 2022's year-long journey, "Son of Hammerland"!

• And watch the series that started it all: "Hammerland"!

Halloween is almost upon us, and Earth's Mightiest Critics are passing out treats early with a live round table review of Hellboy: The Crooked Man!

Crank co-director Brian Taylor enters the franchise with a flashback installment, which finds our big, bad BPRD brawler investigating small-town witch phenomena in the 1950s. The film's trailer raised eyebrows earlier this year, perceived as a low-budget departure from Guillermo del Toro's brilliant early 2000's adaptations of the Mike Mignola comics. When it was announced that the movie would go direct-to-streaming, the "skippable" stench became even stronger.

But the EMC aren't afraid of a challenge, and this Wednesday we'll debate the merits and missteps of a film that has actually begun to amass a cult of admirers. Will some of the panelists join in?

Join us for a look at how The Crooked Man stands up to the comics, its big-screen predecessors (including that execrable David Harbour relaunch), and supernatural action movies in general. We'll also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

Bonus! Listen to the EMC's audio review of the 2019 Hellboy.

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 Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) trailer.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

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

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And stir things up with Will Johnson of the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

Halloween is right around the corner, and the Accademia Giallo team is eager to "treat" you to a revealing round table review of Alice, Sweet Alice!

A divorced Catholic couple's life is upended when their teenage daughter, Alice, is suspected of killing her younger sister during her First Communion. And wouldn't you know it? Mayhem ensues!

Join us for a "sweet" and spoilerific look at this bizarre thriller starring Brooke Shields! We'll also pull over for the age-old sidebar, "Is this really Giallo"--and take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

Because it's October, the annual Scare-a-Thon is in full swing! For the third year in a row, AC is raising funds for the Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project. Support this year's Scare-a-Thon by donating directly to WRRAP!

And keep up with all of AC's "Scare-a-Thon" viewings!

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 Alice, Sweet Alice trailer.

• Support all of our terrifying teachers' axe-tracurricular activities!

  • Stay studious with Aaron Christensen at Horror101 with Dr. AC!

  • And subscribe to his YouTube channel!

  • If you dare, venture down into Kitley's Krypt with Jon Kitley!

    • And listen to Jon's scary-good podcast, Discover the Horror!

  • Stalk Bryan Martinez in The Giallo Room!

  • Buy J. Blake Fichera's "Scored to Death" Volume I and II on Amazon (mentioned in the show).

• Catch up with classic episodes of his Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers podcast!

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

We're late into Spooky Season, but it's never too late for some Scare-a-Thon fun!

Ian and AC return with a special 50th anniversary review of Larry Cohen's 1974 family-drama-with-monsters, It’s Alive!

John P. Ryan and Sharon Farrell star as Frank and Lenore Davis, a happily married expectant couple whose second trip to the delivery room ends in a freakish massacre. Turns out their newborn is a razor-clawed mutant with a thirst for milk, blood, and mayhem!

During the weeklong, city-wide hunt for a creature on the loose, the Davises go through twisted versions of the Stages of Grief, and the audience is treated to the kind of unexpectedly observant, cerebral horror that only Larry Cohen could deliver!

Join the guys for a spoilerific celebration of Cohen's casting, creativity, and character nuance--all in support of the Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (donation info below, if you are so moved to participate)!

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 It’s Alive trailer.

• Support this year's Scare-a-Thon by donating directly to WRRAP!

• And keep up with all of AC's "Scare-a-Thon" viewings at Horror 101 w/ Dr. AC!

• Bonus Content! As mentioned in the show, you can check out Ian's interview with It’s Alive director Larry Cohen (waaaaay back on the third episode of the Kicking the Seat Podcast!):

• And listen to Ian's interview with Steve Mitchell, director of the Larry Cohen documentary, King Cohen!