Kicking the Seat

Ian and David cozy up to vengeance with a 40th-anniversary celebration of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan! This big-screen follow-up to the Season One episode "Space Seed" finds Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) pursued by a genetically engineered superhuman whom he'd exiled in deep space nearly two decades before. Khan (Ricardo Montalban) has his eye on a new Starfleet weapon called Genesis, and his pursuit of ultimate power forces Kirk and his crew to reconcile with the sins of the past and the specter of death in ways they'd never before had to face.The guys recently caught up with Nicholas Meyer's 1982 classic at a Fathom Events screening on Star Trek Day. It had been decades since they'd seen the film on the big screen, and the experience was nothing short of revelatory.Watch as they talk about how their interpretations of the movie have evolved with age; why Wrath of Khan works better than most modern Hollywood blockbusters; and how this entry kicked off a nearly note-perfect trilogy within the original Star Trek movie franchise.Show Links:Watch the Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan trailer.Follow David's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

This is becoming a monthly tradition! Join Ian for another sift through the virtual mailbag as he addresses your questions, comments, and criticisms on topics such as gatekeeping, anti-SJW podcasters, comments reacting to comments on videos about comments!Note: This is Part 1 of 2. Be on the lookout for a supersized special show dedicated solely to responses on Kicking the Seat's recent RRR livestream round table review!Show Links:Check out the shows and posts that inspired all this fun and fawning feedback!Accademia Giallo: The House with Laughing Windows (1976)Don't Read the Comments! 8/3/22Prey (2022) - Movie ReviewAccademia Giallo: Eyeball (1975)Minority Report: 20th Anniversary Review with Armond WhiteHammerland: Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)Watermelon Man - Movie ReviewE.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - 40th Anniversary ReviewKicking the Seat's 500th Subscriber Spectacular - Play Button Reveal!Dog Soldiers (2002) - 20th Anniversary Review Funny Pages (2022) - Movie ReviewThere's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970) Wise Words: An Interview with Author J.R. JordanSon of Hammerland: Quatermass and the Pit (1967)Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Earth's Mightiest Critics celebrate 800 episodes of the Kicking the Seat Podcast with a truly epic livestream for one of the year's biggest films!S.S. Rajamouli's sprawling Tollywood adventure, RRR, tells the fictitious story of two legendary revolutionaries and their journey away from home before fighting for their country in the 1920s.Hailed by many as one of 2022's very best, this 3-hour spectacle is available on Netflix--so no excuses for not having seen it!In this live and lively extended show, the panel heaps praise on a film that cost a quarter of most American comic book movies--yet delivers on absolutely every level to four times the effect! Also, a contingent of new and very helpful chat participants join the fun, adding cultural context, unpacking visual metaphors, and planting the seeds for an upcoming Kicking the Seat series on the wonders of Indian cinema!Show Links:Watch the RRR trailer.Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets: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.Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room 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 and A.C. head to the spooky, otherworldly depths...of the London underground railways for a "Son of Hammerland" look at Quatermass and the Pit!Hammer veteran Roy Ward Baker's 1967 adaptation of the mid-50s Quatermass serial adventures finds the titular scientist (Andrew Keir) investigating an alien spacecraft that has been unearthed in Old Blighty. Strange phenomena occur as the military gets closer and closer to penetrating the ship, leading to mysteries that may hold the key to everything from religion to evolution!In this spoilerific review, the guys marvel at the film's ahead-of-its-time ideas; excellent performances, and possible influences on other popular films of the genre. They also talk about a particularly jaw-dropping special effects sequence, and reveal why they jumped from 1955's The Quatermass Xperiment to this movie--skipping Quatermass 2 entirely!Show Links:Watch the Quatermass and the Pit (1967) trailer.Read Aaron's written review of Quatermass and the Pit (1967).Pick up Aaron's book, Hidden Horror (mentioned in the show)!Catch up with Ian and A.C.'s review of The Quatermass Xperiment from earlier this year.Catch up on previous "Son of Hammerland" episodes!And watch the series that started it all: "Hammerland"!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and Cole lock pincers for a very special look at Starship Troopers!In the distant future, mankind has expanded its reach into deep space, united by an omnipresent military culture. When a far-flung species of giant bug-like aliens threatens to destroy Earth, a young Mobile Infantry recruit finds himself thrust into a world of gut-wrenching combat, moral challenges, and the chilling prospect that a new lifeform is viciously ascending the food chain.Paul Verhoeven's 1997 big-budget flop was billed as a biting military satire set against a sci-fi action backdrop. But in adapting Robert Heinlein's serious-minded, award-winning 1959 novel, the Robocop director appears to have (literally) lost the plot.In this spoilerific examination, the guys approach this dilemma from very different angles: one loved the book and disliked much of the movie; the other hated Heinlein's novel and found the film to be goofy but enjoyable. From teen drama love triangles, to a debate on propaganda, to the mystery of the missing mech suits, this installment of "Page2Screen" establishes a wide perimeter for its scorched-earth bug hunt!Show Links:Watch the Starship Troopers trailer.Keep up with all of Cole's literary criticism at:The Quill to LiveTorPlus: In case you missed it, check out Cole's recent appearance on NBC's revival of the classic game show, Password! You can find it on Peacock, and see Cole in the series trailer here.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and David reminisce about the odd, audacious indie scene of the 90s with a look at Owen Kline's Funny Pages!This biting black comedy stars Daniel Zolghadri as Robert, a teenage artist who drops out of high school to pursue a career in comics. While temping for a public defender, Daniel meets Wallace (Matthew Maher), a former color separator for Image Comics who wants nothing to do with the awkward, starry-eyed kid asking him for pointers.In this spoiler-lite conversation, the guys indulge their inner (and, frankly, outer) comics geeks while heaping praise on this hard-to-watch gem, which feels plucked straight out of the pre-millennial arthouse scene--or the grotesquely liberating autobiographical comix of underground pioneers like R. Crumb and Harvey Pekar.Funny Pages is now playing in select theatres and is available On Demand.Show Links:Watch the Funny Pages trailer.Follow David's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Chicagoans! Catch Funny Pages starting this weekend at the historic Music Box Theatre!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian welcomes back Chad Hawks for a long-overdue look at Neil Marshall's Dog Soldiers!The 2002 action thriller stars Kevin McKidd and Sean Pertwee as members of a Scottish military unit whose routine training exercise becomes a life-and-death struggle against murderous lycanthropes.This is one of Chad's favorite films, which Ian only recently watched, thanks to Scream Factory's new 4K Ultra HD release. The guys' spoiler-lite conversation looks at the many aspects of Marshall's ambitious, scrappy, and imaginative first film that make it the gold standard for modern supernatural siege flicks!Show Links:Watch the Dog Soldiers trailer.Order Scream Factory's new Dog Soldiers 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray Combo Pack.Order Janine Pipe's book, Sausages: The Making of Dog Soldiers (referenced in the show).Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and Pat crack open their used books and wade through the ivy for a look at Back to School!Alan Metter's blockbuster 1986 comedy stars Rodney Dangerfield as Thornton Melon, a wildly successful businessman who buys his way into his son Jason's (Keith Gordon) college as a way of patching up their strained relationship. Hijinks ensue, of course, as Thornton unleashes his irreverent party animal antics on an unsuspecting (but very receptive) campus. But can Thornton schmooze and spend his way out of a cheating scandal?This episode is much more than a book report about a classic 80s comedy. Pat and Ian discuss how their perceptions of the film have changed in the nearly four decades since its release--considering matters as trivial as diving team regulations, and questions as profound as whether or not Back to School is a cosmic prequel to the 2016 election!Show Links:Watch the Back to School (1986) trailer.Read Ian's written review of Back to School from 2015 (mentioned in the show).Keep up with Pat at HollywoodChicago.com.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Your favorite nightmare know-it-alls are back with an "Accademia Giallo" look at The Girl Who Knew Too Much!In Mario Bava's 1963 thriller (also called Evil Eye), a mystery novel-loving American tourist witnesses a murder in Rome, and soon finds herself and her suitor caught up in a series of killings.Widely regarded as the first giallo film, Bava's thriller plants the seeds for a genre that would later explode with lurid sex, graphic killings, and countless pairs of black leather gloves. This comparatively tame but phenomenally engrossing mystery, features great performances, breathtaking cinematography, and a deft balance of horror and humor (without being classified as a "horror-comedy").Ian and the frightful faculty look at how thrillers changed after Girl; discuss the wild differences between the Italian release and the American International Pictures release, and put to rest once and for all Sean Cunningham's claims that Bava's work in no way influenced Friday the 13th!Also, Ian engages in his own life-and-death struggles with his webcam!"Accademia Giallo" is Kicking the Seat's monthly deep dive into Italian Horror's "giallo" sub-genre. Join us LIVE in the chat for laughs, lessons, and lots of bad accents! Class begins promptly at 2pm CST!Show LinksWatch the Girl Who Knew Too Much trailer.Support ALL of our terrifying teachers' axe-tracurricular activities!Get professorial with Aaron Christensen at Horror101 with Dr. AC! Follow Jon down into Kitley's Krypt!And listen to his great podcast, Discover the Horror!Check out Bryan Martinez's YouTube show, The Giallo Room!And follow The Giallo Room on Instagram for your daily gialli fix!Buy Blake's "Scored to Death" Volume I and II on Amazon.…And catch up with classic episodes of his Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers podcast!Study up on past lessons with our "Accademia Giallo" YouTube Playlist!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian talks with filmmaker/actress Emily Lape about leaving Hollywood and finding a vibrant community in Chicago's indie film scene.The writer/director of 2018's Mercy’s Girl opens up about putting together her debut feature (which draws on several difficult real-life experiences) and how landing a pivotal role in Michael Glover Smith's 2022 film Relative helped her rediscover the joys of creating art with grounded, talented people.This wide-ranging conversation touches on growing up a pastor's daughter; the writings of Sam Shepard; an uptick in indie filmmakers tackling the supernatural, and what's next on the horizon for Emily!Chicagoland Friends! Join Ian and Emily next Monday night (8/22/22) at the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove, IL, for a special After Hours Film Society screening of Relative!Following the 7:30pm show, Keeping it Reel's David Fowlie will host a Q&A with Emily and co-stars Elizabeth Stam, Melissa DuPrey, and writer/director Michael Glover Smith! It'll be a night to remember!Click here for tickets and more information!Show Links:Watch the Mercy’s Girl (2018) trailer.Watch the Relative (2022) trailer.Read Rebecca Martin's 2019 Cinema Femme interview with Emily (mentioned in the episode).Read Matt Fagerholm's 2019 Indie Outlook interview with Emily and Mercy’s Girl co-star Alison Hixson (mentioned in the episode).Read Ian's written review of Relative.Watch Ian and David Fowlie of Keeping it Reel review Relative.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!