Kicking the Seat

Ian welcomes back author Benjamin Beard to look at one of cinema's most misunderstood films, Gone with the Wind!Last week, Ian and his wife ventured out to the historic Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge, Illinois, to see Victor Fleming's landmark motion picture on a gigantic silver screen. When the theatre (also the site of the couple's wedding nearly 20 years ago) recently announced that it was set to close, the management decided to bookend the venue's history with a showing of the first film it had ever run. This was a first-time viewing for both, but not for Ben Beard, who wrote about the movie in his 2020 book, The South Never Plays Itself.In this revelatory episode, the guys walk through Ian's utter astonishment at what he witnessed over those utterly transportive four hours--and how the film's reputation, as perpetuated by both vehement detractors to ardent supporters, is likely the result of so few modern audiences having actually watched it.Ian and Ben also discuss the history of Margaret Mitchell's novel; its translation to the big screen (by a director who also helmed The Wizard of Oz, which came out the same year!); and the myopic hypocrisy with which some regard the movie today--not to mention a sneak peak of Ben's newest project and much, much more!Show Links:Watch the Gone with the Wind trailer.Follow all of Ben's goings-on at his website.Order Ben's book (which planted the seeds of this episode), The South Never Plays Itself.Watch actress Hattie McDaniel's historic Oscars acceptance speech.Watch Ian and Ben's conversation about The South Never Plays Itself.Learn more about Chicagoland's historic Pickwick Theatre.And check out Ian's conversation with National Review critic Armond White about the equally controversial films of D.W. Griffith, The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance (mentioned in the show).Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

IndieSeen 2023 gets off to a contentious start as Ian and Sujewa engage in an unexpected debate about race in film criticism!Also, they squeeze in a review of Jean-Luc Godard's absurd, challenging, and low-key-brilliant drama, Contempt!Timestamps:Intro: 0:00 - 0:48What's New with Sujewa? 0:49 - 2:05"Sidebar" (Race in Film Criticism): 2:06 - 47:56Contempt Review: 47:57 - 1:11:39Outro (What's Next?): 1:11:40 - 1:15:47Show Links:Watch the Contempt trailer.Listen to an early conversation between Ian and former New York Film Critics Circle Chair, Armond White.Rent Sujewa's new movie, The Secret Society for Slow Romance.Find clips, making-of videos, and other cool info about Sujewa's upcoming film, The Secret Society for Slow Romance.Follow the production of Sujewa's Slow Romance sequel, Cosmic Disco Rene.Keep up with all of Sujewa's projects.Follow Sujewa on Twitter.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Earth's Mightiest Critics get dolled-up for their first livestream of 2023!Now that Awards Season is over (viewing-wise, at least), it's time to enjoy the comfort food of January Horror--and M3GAN is the perfect place to start! Gerard Johnstone's thriller centers on a toy company robotics engineer who builds a life-like doll that begins to take on a life of its own. Mayhem, of course, ensues.In this spoilerific round table, Ian, Mark, and Jeff talk about the hit movie's staying power; its uniqueness among other "killer doll movies"; and how the filmmakers' punch-pulling may have kneecapped a very (very) dark horror-classic-in-the-making!Watch the M3GAN 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!Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…...and 25YL...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.Keep up with Annie Banks at Chuck Load of Comics....and MoviewebAnd stir things up with Will Johnson of the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian finally caught up with one of 2022's best animated films, The Bad Guys!But he's the first to admit that he's not the target audience for Pierre Perifel's adaptation of the long-running kids' books series by Aaron Blabey.So he's enlisted an expert to help him describe the mind-bending zaniness of this heist movie/redemption tale, which centers on a gang of villains' quest to turn good (then bad, then...maybe good again?).Plus! Stay tuned to the very end (a whopping seven minutes into the video) to learn how YOU can win a brand new Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Combo Pack of The Bad Guys! The contest ends at 5pm CST on Thursday, January 12, 2023. Winner will be notified via Twitter DM, with a request to provide their mailing address. Incidentally, this giveaway is not sponsored by (or in any way affiliated with) Dreamworks Animation Studios or Universal Pictures.Show Links:Watch The Bad Guys trailer.Attention gamers! This episode's special guest is related to another up-and-coming YouTuber named Lunatic Bagel, who is currently making a series of Stardew Valley play-throughs and tutorials. Check it out, and feel free to like, subscribe, and comment!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and David ring in 2023 with a review of one of 2022's best films!Broker is Hirokazu Koreeda's gripping dramedy, which begins with a young mother's decision to leave her newborn outside of an infant drop-box--and expands to encompass black market adoptions, gangsters, murder, and the oddest case of "found family" you're likely to see!In this spoiler-ish discussion (don't worry, the heavy portions are called out beforehand), David gives Ian a crash course in Koreeda's filmography; the guys discuss whether or not Broker is a "message" movie; and Ian draws some bizarre parallels to Tony Scott's True Romance and the newly released killer-doll flick, M3GAN!Broker is now playing at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago! Check the link below for tickets and showtimes.Show Links:Watch the Broker trailer.If you're in Chicagoland, catch Broker at the historic Music Box Theatre this weekend!Keep up with David Fowlie's movie reviews at Keeping it Reel.Watch Kicking the Seat's round table review of Ian's #1 film of 2022, RRR (mentioned in this ep).And be sure to join us live next Thursday for a full-on spoiler round table review of M3GAN!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and Cole send off 2022 with a spellbinding "Page2Screen"!Continuing their annual tradition of reading a Lord of the Rings novel and discussing its film counterpart, the guys fight their way through The Two Towers. This surprising and wide-ranging review dips into the story's themes and how its telling evolved during adaptation; how the experience of watching the movie shifted between decades and cuts; and how modern fantasy authors have built on the legacy of the genre's foundational texts.Steel yourselves as Kicking the Seat prepares its long march into the New Year!Show Links:Watch the The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers trailer.Watch Folding Ideas’ video essay, “An Exhaustive History of Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings” (mentioned in the show).Watch The Closer Looks video essay, "How To Fail At Magic", which discusses Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness using fantasy author Brandon Sanderson's rules for magic systems as a foundation (mentioned in--and relevant to--the show).Watch Ian and Cole discuss The Fellowship of the Ring.Read Cole's latest article on The Quill to Live, "Every Young Hero Needs An Archrival: Do You Have What It Takes?".And follow his writing at:TorForbesSubscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and AC close out 2022 with a devilishly diabolical double feature!Vampire Circus and Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter conclude the guys' year-long exploration of "off-brand" Hammer films. One centers on a remote, plague-afflicted village whose residents must fend off disease, armed border sentries, and a mysterious troupe of bloodsucking circus freaks who show up to enact a years-old revenge oath! The other is a wildly inventive horror-adventure featuring a sword-wielding slayer and his hunchback sidekick, whose exploits bring them to a...wait for it...remote village beset by vampires!Despite some striking similarities, as well as surprising connections to previous "Hammerland" discussions, these films are wildly different. In this spoilerific season finale, Ian and AC break down the pluses, the minuses, and the odd head-scratchers in between!Plus: They lay the groundwork for 2023 and marvel at just how much nudity and graphic violence were permitted in early-70s PG movies!Show Links:Watch the Vampire Circus trailer.Watch the Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter trailer.Keep up with Aaron's reviews at Horror 101 w/ Dr. AC!Catch up with our entire year-long "Son of Hammerland" journey! And watch the series that started it all: "Hammerland"!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and David spend winter break in The Class!They've followed writer/director Nicholas Celozzi's high school angst-fest from principal photography to a red carpet charity event and interviews with many of its cast and crew.Starring a compelling group of up-and-comers (some catching big breaks as you read this), The Class centers on a six teens forced to spend a Saturday completing a Drama assignment and unpacking a steamliner's worth of personal baggage. Now that the film is available On Demand, the question remains: Is it any good?The answer is awkward, complicated, and full of rampant emotional swings--much like those fraught years between twelve and twenty. In this spoilerific review, the guys break down the good, the bad, and the editing. From thoughts on erratic pacing and questionable geography; to Message Movie overload, and the myriad hoops Celozzi jumps through to avoid accusations of "Breakfast Club 2.0" (the effects of which are alternately ill and inspired), this episode is full of lessons not found in any film studies curriculum!Show Links:Watch the The Class trailer.Keep up with David Fowlie's movie reviews at Keeping it Reel.Watch Ian's interview with The Class writer/director Nicholas Celozzi.Watch Ian's interview with The Class star Anthony Michael Hall.Watch Ian's coverage of the special Breakfast Club screening/red carpet event for The Class:.Catch up with Ian and David's reviews of David Gordon Green's Halloween trilogy (also featuring Anthony Michael Hall--and mentioned in this episode!): Halloween (2018, Audio Only)Halloween Kills (2021)Halloween Ends (2022)Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Our spotlight on Indian cinema continues with something completely different! We're closing out 2022 on a lighter note than horror and historical dramas, with 2018's Andhadhun!A series of mysterious events change the life of a blind pianist, who must now report a crime that he should technically know nothing of.In this year-end spotlight on Indian cinema, Ian, David, and Mark review Sriram Raghavan's bonkers crime dramedy, which had all three critics on the edge of their seats. From truly gasp-worthy twists and turns, to the struggle to find the good in a story packed with criminals , and an ending that recalls Alan Moore's The Killing Joke--Andhadhun is yet another example of how Indian filmmakers can turn stale Hollywood ingredients into an unexpectedly sumptuous experiential feast!Also, Ian struggles to pronounce the title correctly, and draws some striking parallels to the movie adaptations of Elmore Leonard's novels!Show Links:Watch the Andhadhun trailer.Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…...and 25YL...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.Keep up with Annie Banks at Chuck Load of Comics....and MoviewebAnd stir things up with Will Johnson of the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Thirteen years later...Earth's Mightiest Critics load up the Scuba gear and plunge into James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water!Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the planet of Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na'vi race to protect their planet.Is The Way of Water worth the wait? And will audience interest be great enough to warrant the handful of sequels already in the pipeline? In this live and surprisingly contentious round table, the gang runs the full gamut of feelings on Avatar 2--from over-the-moon to underwhelmed!Join us as we talk about the first film, expectations for the sequel, and how The Way of Water soared or sunk our hopes for the next three (!) movies!Show Links:Watch the Avatar: The Way of Water trailer.Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…...and 25YL...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.Keep up with Annie Banks at Chuck Load of Comics....and MoviewebAnd stir things up with Will Johnson of the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!