Kicking the Seat

Earth's Mightiest Critics celebrate forty years of atrocious fashion and questionable cutlery with a look back at A Nightmare on Elm Street!

But this isn't your run-of-the-mill retrospective: It's the second installment of our remake series, "Here We Go Again!" That's right, we'll be looking at two incarnations of the Springwood Slasher--both Robert Englund's iconic 1984 bogeyman and Jackie Earle Haley's (ahem) noble attempt to resurrect the character in 2010.

Join the Internet's dreamiest panel as we talk Craven, casting, and cowardly cash-grabs! We'll also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

Plus: Ian will talk some of the pros and cons of Warner Bros' recently released 4K version of the 1984 film!

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 Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) trailer.

• Watch the A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) trailer.

• Fred-heads can pick up A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) on 4K from Warner Bros!

• As mentioned in the show, you can watch a deleted Elm Street '84 scene that wasn’t included on the 4K release.

• And you can read Ian's 2010 review of the Elm Street remake, which led to the very cool anecdote Ian shared on the show!

• 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 invite you to enjoy Saturday Night on a Wednesday!

This week, we'll look at Jason Reitman's latest film, which follows the nail-biting ninety minutes leading up to the October 11, 1975 debut of NBC's risky variety/sketch show, Saturday Night Live.

Gabriel LaBelle stars as beleaguered producer Lorne Michaels, who must battle skeptical network execs and an unruly, untested cast to bring his vision to the masses. The TV show, which just launched its 50th season, became a pop cultural institution, but Reitman's dramedy invites us behind the curtain to see how close its debut came to catastrophic collapse!

Or does it?

In this land shark-loving, wild and crazy round table review, Ian, Jeff, and Cati dig into the myriad myths, mischaracterizations, and just plain head-scratching story decisions Reitman and company throw into their supposedly true story.

Plus: Ian trips over some dropped names, and recommends some Saturday Night alternatives!

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 Saturday Night (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.

Laugh 'til you cry with Earth's Mightiest Critics' round table review of Joker: Folie À Deux!

In 2019, Todd Phillips stunned the world with an Elseworlds take on DC Comics' Clown Prince of Crime. Joker was a grounded, hard-R origin story that, despite a decisive break from the source material, went on to gross over a billion dollars at the global box office--igniting controversy in just about every corner of the Internet.

Despite insisting that the backdoor blockbuster art film starring Joaquin Phoenix would be a one-off, Phillips and co have returned--this time with Lady Gaga in tow, playing a cracked-mirror-universe version of Harley Quinn in a bona fide musical.

The question remains: Is there over two hours more of Arthur Fleck/Joker's story that demands telling? And is Joker 2 a not-so-secret snub of the audience that made the original a dark horse phenomenon?

Join us for a super-serious and solidly sane look at the latest low-key comic book movie! We'll 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 Joker: Folie À Deux (2024) trailer.

• As mentioned in the show: If you're in the Wisconsin area this weekend, check out the Sawdust City Fright Fest (and say "hi" to Mark, who'll be MC'ing some of the screenings!).

• 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.

Nostalgia is a tricky thing, and there's perhaps no better example than Ian and Pat's review of Crumb!

Chronicling the lineage and linework of Underground Comix legend R. Crumb, Terry Zwigoff's 1994 documentary was once one of the guys' favorite films--and it may still be, even if the passage of time and evolving sensibilities make it far more difficult to recommend now than when it was released. Troubled by an oppressive, abusive early childhood peopled by mentally disturbed siblings and parents, Crumb channeled his social awkwardness and innate misanthropy into highly influential counter-culture comics.

Having shunned commercial success and any illusions of fitting in with polite society, we meet Crumb as he and his wife, Aline, are finishing up a move from California to the South of France (where they'll move into a countryside home purchased with a suitcase full of Crumb's old sketchbooks). Zwigoff captures their informal farewells with family, colleagues, and critics--in the process asking audiences to wonder if being a well-regarded artistic genius is worth a life of numbness, doubt, and alienation.

In this spoilerific review, Ian and Pat talk about what's changed in their perception of R. Crumb as an artist; how his work influenced Ian's own creative endeavors; and the eeriness of watching seemingly contemporary sociopolitical themes echoing back through the decades.

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 Crumb trailer.

• As mentioned in the show, check out the trailers for:

  • Comic Book Confidential

  • American Splendor

• As mentioned in the show, you can pick up Crumb on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.

• Keep up with Pat at HollywoodChicago.com.

• Listen to Pat's movie reviews on the radio at STAR 96.7.

2024's most divisive film is finally here, and you can join Earth's Mightiest Critics on a wild & wacky journey to Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis!

The city of New Rome is the main conflict between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of a utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved.

We'd like to say that this synopsis only makes sense if you've seen the movie--but that's probably not even true!

Join us as we investigate the inscrutable 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 Megalopolis (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.

  • Explore the world of true indie cinema with Sujewa Ekanayake!

  • 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.

Ian and Sujewa get deja vu with Hong Sang-soo with their double-feature IndieSeen review of In Front of Your Face and The Novelist’s Film!

The guys had initially planned to only discuss one of the movies, but while doing some extra homework, Ian discovered that the prolific South Korean auteur had essentially made the same movie twice, within one year of each other. Hence, this bizarre journey into truly independent (and highly improvised) cinema. Both films share a high-level plot about an artist (one a retired actress, one a novelist) visiting old acquaintances and, through happenstance, getting entrenched in making a movie.

Lee Hye-yeong stars in both films as the respective actress/novelist, and manages to pull off two very compelling and distinct performances. But is she underserved by a script that feels more like a list of prompts rather than the grand human-condition dramas they're billed as?

In this spoilerific discussion, the guys talk about the dangers of loosey-goosey screenwriting; actor versatility; and why it's perfectly reasonable to not trust film critics (except for Ian, of course!).

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 In Front of Your Face trailer.

• Watch the Novelist’s Film trailer.

• Watch Sujewa's latest film, Cosmic Disco Detective Rene for free on YouTube!

• Rent The Secret Society for Slow Romance (the predecessor to Cosmic Disco Detective Rene).

• Keep up with all of Sujewa's projects.

• Follow Sujewa on X.

Against all better judgment, David refuses to give up on Ian!

Yes, the guys are back to review another new movie that the persistent and persuasive Mr. Fowlie hopes will make a believer out of our resident sourpuss.

Unfortunately, the film at hand is the latest Netflix actioner, Rebel Ridge! Aaron Pierre stars as a stoic martial arts badass whose bike trip through Redneckville becomes a week-long gauntlet of extortion, corruption, revenge, and more tough-guy glowering than a thousand furrowed brows.

It's not surprising that Ian didn't respond to this one; what is shocking is that Rebel Ridge was directed by one of his favorite filmmakers, Jeremy Saulnier Blue Ruin, Green Room). The new movie represents a departure for the indie visionary, whose blood-drenched, off-the-wall crime operas made him one of the new century's most exciting young voices. Comparatively squeaky clean in its presentation, Rebel Ridge is so lacking in Saulnier's hallmarks as to be more of a dare than a sensical film.

Watch as the guys talk Rambo, rural Internet, "factoid screenwriting", and the inherent magical properties of coconut water!

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 Rebel Ridge 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:

  • Duchess (2024)

  • The Old Oak (2024)

  • What Remains (2024)

• Plus! Plus! Listen to previous Kicking the Seat reviews of Jeremy Saulnier's movies!

  • Murder Party and Blue Ruin

  • Green Room and Hold the Dark

Ian and Armond close out their months-long coverage of Zack Snyder's Netflix saga, Rebel Moon!

The guys covered the "theatrical" versions of Parts One and Two earlier this year, and now they're back with a look at the recently released "Director's Cuts" of both--which, according to the director, offer a completely new experience of his off-brand space fantasy.

At nearly double the run-time, the question is, does "more" equal "better"? Or has Snyder torpedoed his would-be epic by over-stuffing it?

In this spoilerific review, Ian and Armond get downright scrappy, as one critic's opinion takes a drastic turn from only a few months ago--while the other's appreciation of Rebel Moon increased unexpectedly!

Plus: The guys talk about possible strategies for reviewing Part Three (should it ever materialize), and find themselves in fundamental disagreement about the nature of art and criticism!

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

Show Links

• Read Armond's reviews of the Rebel Moon Director's Cuts at The National Review:

  • Part One

  • Part Two

• Watch Ian and Armond's reviews of the Rebel Moon "Theatrical Cuts":

  • Part One

  • Part Two

• Can't get enough Armond White? Check out our "Movies with Armond" Playlist!

• Order the book that inspired these regular movie chats: Armond's Make Spielberg Great Again.

It's official: the movies have finally broken Ian!

His only way to cope? Why, launch a new series, of course!

"Here We Go Again!" kicks off this week when Earth's Mightiest Critics look at the latest Blumhouse genre offering, Speak No Evil--as well as the original Danish film of the same name, which came out a mere two years ago!

Both movies center on two very different married couples who, after meeting on vacation, decide to spend a weekend together in the countryside. One is a buttoned-up, politically correct pair of helicopter parents, while the other is so free-wheeling as to be downright freaky. Of course, something sinister is afoot, and the idyllic weekend soon devolves into a desperate fight to survive.

The question is, who did it best?

The EMC will break down the good, the bad, and the criminal of the Big Studio treatment of Christian Tafdrup's nuanced and unsettling nightmare of manners, which, for Ian, finally brings into focus Stephen King's distaste for Jack Nicholson's turn as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of his novel, The Shining!

But is this crusty critic being too, well, critical? Find out as we enjoy a tongue-clippin', remake-rippin' good time! We also 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 Speak No Evil (2022) trailer.

• Watch the Speak No Evil (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.

If you say "legacy sequel" three times, will it make the new Beetlejuice movie worth talking about?

Earth's Mightiest Critics are about to find out, as they take on Tim Burton's latest return to the lead-water well.

When the Deetz family returns to their haunted house in Winter River, they once again summon the libidinously chaotic "Ghost with the Most" to disastrous effect. But is there enough life left in these oddball characters and off-kilter scenarios to warrant a longer film than the original--or is this just more nostalgia bait with a striped sandworm on the hook?

Join us for a weirdo-conjurin', head-shrinkin', 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 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer.

• As mentioned in the show, Ian will host a special screening of the 1992 film, Meet the Parents (which was turned into the 2000 Ben Stiller comedy of the same name) on Friday, September 20th! See this rare film at Park Ridge, Illinois' historic Pickwick Theatre, followed by a Q&A with the people who made it! More info here.

• Also mentioned in the show, Ian joined Mark on The Spoiler Room Podcast this week for a live review of the criminally under-seen Robin and the 7 Hoods, starring The Rat Pack!

• 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.