Kicking the Seat

Accademia Giallo returns with a viewer-requested review of a film that almost none of the faculty have seen!

William Rose and Dick Randall's The Girl in Room 2A turns 50 this year, and your fearsome faculty is ready to see what they've been missing for a half-century!

A young girl, just paroled from prison, moves into a strange house and appears to be the next victim of a cult that kidnaps and sacrifices beautiful women!

Will the film prove to be a hidden gem--or the catalyst for our never again taking your recommendations? And is it even really Giallo?

Join us as we initiate the latest candidate for the Accademia Giallo pantheon--and take your questions, comments, and Super Chats!

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 Girl in Room 2A trailer.

• Bonus! Check out this short about AC's recent trip to the Stephen King library collection in Maine!

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

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

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

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

  • Get devious with Bryan Martinez's Film Deviant podcast!

    • And check out his YouTube show, The Giallo Room!

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

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

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

Of all the random movies to get the soft-reboot/semi-sequel treatment, how did Twister make the cut?

Whatever the answer, we now have Twisters to contend with, and in this episode, Earth's Mightiest Critics do just that!

Join us as we talk bad weather, blockbusters, and this season's biggest surprise.

Plus, we answer 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 Twisters trailer.

• Bonus! Can't get enough of Ian and Mark? Shortly after this livestream, Ian joined Mark in The Spoiler Room, where they'll talked 1932's Murders in the Rue Morgue with Joe Randazzo!

• 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.

John Waters' Female Trouble turns 50 this year. In this installment of "There's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia", Ian and Pat look at the 1974 crime/comedy classic from two very different angles!

Is it an uproarious counter-culture sendup? An eerie and depressing prediction of mainstream culture a half-century hence? Both?

Watch as the guys debate the good, the bad, and the Divine in one of our most "one movie/two realities" episodes yet!

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 Female Trouble trailer.

• Listen to Ian's 2017 interview with Female Trouble star Mink Stole.

• Listen to Pat's question to John Waters about his first indie film, during the 2022 Chicago Humanities Festival.

• Bonus: As mentioned in the show, Female Trouble's Aunt Ida character bears an odd resemblance to Debbie from the TV series 90 Day Fiancé! Click below for proof!

  • Aunt Ida (Warning: Strong Language from Female Trouble).

  • And here's Debbie from 90 Day Fiancé.

• Keep up with Pat at HollywoodChicago.com.

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

According to the Internet, Oz Perkins' new film, Longlegs, is the bestest, most scariest horror film in, like, seven generations!

Earth's Mightiest Critics will be the judge of that!

Join us for a look at this 2024 serial killer movie set in the 1990s, and see how it stacks up to an actual 1980s serial killer movie, which boasts the big-screen debut of Hannibal Lecter (or, as it was spelled back then, “Lektor”)!

That's right, we're also talking Michael Mann's 1986 thriller, Manhunter!

Strap in for spoilers about stalkers in stockings--and the answers to 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 Longlegs (2024) trailer.

• Watch the Manhunter (1986) 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.

In the mid-2010s, comedian Louis C.K. was celebrated for his profane and imaginative observational humor, which he shared with fans worldwide via cutting-edge standup, TV shows, and movies. At the height of the #MeToo movement, his career was destroyed by allegations of inappropriate conduct going back decades--conduct that he did not deny (after he got caught).

The new documentary, Sorry/Not Sorry, by co-directors Cara Mones and Caroline Suh profiles three of the women who came forward, while also chronicling the culture of open secrets and opportunism that was perpetuated by C.K. and a who's who of comedy giants. In today's episode (which runs longer than the doc itself), Ian and Jeff break open a film that has the investigative cache of being a New York Times production--but which misses several glaring areas where a deep dive (and/or pushback) would have painted a less propagandistic picture.

The guys talk about C.K. as an artist, a power-broker, and a deviant who needed therapy rather than enabling; Mones and Suh's dancing around their subjects' agency; and whether or not cancel culture exists (the jury may be out until this episode goes up!).

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 Sorry/Not Sorry (2024) trailer.

• Read Jeff's Sorry/Not Sorry review at The Establishing Shot!

• Can't get enough of Jeff? Check out his words and artwork at Pipeline Artists.

Earth's Mightiest Critics debate whether or not Maxxxine is worthy of capping off a refreshingly mature horror trilogy or, to paraphrase Mad Magazine, should be rated "Ech, Ech, Ech"!

Mia Goth stars as Maxine Minx, an adult film star who wants nothing more than to pursue a legit acting career in mid-80s Hollywood--and to avoid police questioning about a Texas movie shoot massacre that she survived before arriving in Tinseltown. Her journey to the top is beset by a sleazy PI, moral activists, and a shadowy figure picking off her closest friends (who may or may not be the infamous Nightstalker)!

In this spoilerific round table review, the gang looks at how writer/director Ti West's conclusion to his remarkable "X" trilogy stacks up to predecessors X and Pearl; whether or not a bangin' period soundtrack and obsessive, era-authentic production design can carry a not-so-great script; and the odd sensation of watching 2024 gender politics play out in a 1985-set 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 Maxxxine 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.

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut turned 25 recently, and Earth's Mightiest Critics are ready to celebrate with a foul-mouthed frenzy--a virtual caca cacophony!

Okay, not really. But we will look back on Trey Parker and Matt Stone's 1999 big-screen adaptation of their revolutionary Comedy Central cartoon, which finds Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny awash in controversy over their desire to see the R-rated Terrance and Phillip Movie. This small-town scrape over appropriate media for children soon escalates into a full-scale culture war--and possibly a World War spearheaded by Saddam Hussein and Satan!

Oh, and did we mention it's one of the catchiest musicals of all time?

Join us as we sing praises, sling spoilers, and wrestle with the eternal "old movie" problem: "Could they make this today?"

Plus: We answer 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 South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut trailer.

• Find out where to watch the South Park movie at JustWatch!

• 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.

IndieSeen is back with the indie-est of indie-interview podcasts!

This weekend, the NYC Indie Arthouse Summer Festival takes over Brooklyn's Film Noir Cinema, and our rock star panel includes all the filmmakers whose work will be screened--including fest founder Sujewa Ekanayake (Cosmic Disco Detective Rene), Rick Schmidt (Chetzemokah’s Curse), co-writer/directors Michael Barnard and Reid Estreicher (Thank You 5), and Raphael Sbarge (Only in Theaters--which was part of an earlier installment of the festival back in June).

With a wide range of subjects, genres, filmmaking styles, and industry experience, our guests today represent just about every aspect of scrappy, fight-for-your-art talent that the scene has to offer:

Rick talks about rolling with the cosmic punches and working within the strictures of Dogme '95.

Sujewa explains how he connected with Film Noir as a venue.

Mike and Reid discuss calling in favors to get their movie done, and the decision to create a black-and-white version of it (which will have its world premiere at the festival).

And Raphael reassesses the indie film landscape following Covid and last year's Hollywood strikes.

All this and much more awaits in this exclusive preview of NYC Indie Arthouse Summer 2024!

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

Show Links

Showtimes and Tickets (Film Noir Cinema Brooklyn)

• Cosmic Disco Detective Rene w/ Sujewa Ekanayake Q&A (all days) Friday, July 12 - Thursday, July 18 / 7pm daily

• Chetzemokah’s Curse w/ Rick Schmidt Q&A (via phone) Friday, July 12, 9pm

• Thank You 5 w/ Michael Barnard and Reid Estreicher Q&A Saturday, July 13, 5pm

• Only in Theaters is now available on VOD (Check the film’s website for info on upcoming theatrical screenings!)

Trailers

• Cosmic Disco Detective Rene

• Only in Theaters

• Chetzemokah’s Curse

• Thank You 5

Additional Resources

• Read Ian’s written review of Thank You 5 (which came out after this interview).

• Check out our IndieSeen Playlist for more interviews with Sujewa, Rick, Raphael, and more innovative indie creators!

• Watch this brief clip of Mike and Reid talking with Sujewa about the decision to make a B&W version of Thank You 5 (from Sujewa's YouTube channel).

• 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.

• Rent Cosmic Disco Detective Rene on Vimeo!

Earth's Mightiest Critics will not be silenced!

A Quiet Place: Day One is now in theaters. The question is, can this prequel pump new blood into a franchise that couldn't be bothered to resolve its own second chapter's cliffhangers?

Join us as we speak up about spoilers and answer 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 A Quiet Place: Day One trailer.

• Find out where to watch A Quiet Place: Day One at JustWatch!

• 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 love movies about the movies, so this week we're looking back on Joe Dante's 1993 cult classic, Matinee!

John Goodman stars as Lawrence Woolsey, a B-movie filmmaker who brings his latest crowd-pleaser (a monster movie about a man crossed with an ant, called "Mant") to a small town theater in Florida--during the Cuban Missile Crisis!

Join us for a Mant-tastic round table review, where we'll talk spoilers, nostalgia, and the lost art of in-theater thrills (which may be making a comeback)! We also answer 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 Matinee trailer.

• Order the new Matinee 4K from Shout! Factory.

• 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.