Kicking the Seat

This month we set our sights on Umberto Lenzi's 1975 thriller, Eyeball (aka "Gatti Rossi in un Labirinto di Vetro")!A maniac killer in a red cape and hood is killing off American tourists on a tour bus by gouging out their (you guessed it) eyeballs. This very special episode features a guest appearance by horror historian extraordinaire, Troy Howarth, who not only lends his Eyeball expertise to the discussion, but also teases his upcoming book about director Umberto Lenzi!Join Ian, Troy, Bryan, and Jon (plus AC, who pops up in the chat) for a look at a film that isn't held in the highest esteem, but which first-time viewer Ian finds to be a charming, forward-thinking, and, yes, occasionally very silly take on the shadowy, knife-wielding killer genre!"Accademia Giallo" is Kicking the Seat's monthly deep dive into Italian Horror's "giallo" sub-genre. And this ain't no private school, either: the chat is open to everyone who wants to chime in about the movie and all things giallo!Show LinksWatch the Eyeball trailer.Further your fearful education at Horror 101 with Dr. AC!Follow Jon down into Kitley's Krypt!And listen to Jon's great new 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!Check out Troy Howarth's giallo book series, So Deadly, So Perverse! AND...as mentioned in the show, both Troy and Jon have been nominated for this year's Rondo Hatton Horror Awards! Check out the full ballot, and if you're so moved feel free to vote for Jon in the "Best Column" cateory, and for Troy in the "Book of the Year--Nonfiction" category!Catch up on past lessons with our "Accademia Giallo" YouTube Playlist!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and David enjoy a damned strange conversation about Studio 666!When The Foo Fighters move into an abandoned Encino mansion, evil forces threaten to tear the band apart before they can complete their 10th album.In this spoilerific review, the guys ask what possessed Dave Grohl and director BJ McDonnell (Hatchet 3) to conjure this cringe horror comedy--and they even come up with some answers! Also spinning: the mistake of casting musicians as themselves; intentionally bad movies versus just plain bad movies, and how Studio 666 plays into a struggling film industry's recovery!Note: Late in the show, Ian unfairly maligns director BJ McDonnell as having also helmed Hatchet 3, a movie he doesn’t remember caring for. After re-reading his nine-year-old review, Ian realized that he’d confused the quality of Hatchet 2 with Hatchet 3, and so offers a huge apology to Mr. McDonnell (who is definitely, without any doubt whatsoever, going to see this).Show Links:Watch the Studio 666 trailer.Follow David's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Read Ian's Hatchet 3 review and enjoy watching the egg stream down his face.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and Cole execute one of their finest "Page2Screen" shows with a look at The Green MIle!Stephen King's serialized 1996 novel follows the guards in a Depression-era southern prison who welcome two new guests on death row. One is a convicted murderer with magical powers; the other is a highly intelligent mouse who takes a...shining to one of the inmates.Despite a sprinkling of the supernatural, The Green MIle finds King returning to the rich well of insightful male-bonding storytelling that he exhibited in "The Body" (which was adapted into the film Stand By Me) and "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" (shortened to simply The Shawshank Redemption for the big screen).In this detailed discussion, the guys look at Frank Darabont's film adaptation as a moving yet puzzling take on the book. From the excising of a poignant bookend device, to the stripping of every female character's agency/poignancy, and an unforced error in fully realizing King's grand thesis of man's relationship to the divine--there's a lot to talk about (including an especially effective addition to the story on Darabont's part)! Show Links:Watch The Green MIle trailer.Keep up with all of Cole's literary criticism at The Quill to Live.And read his most recent Tor.com articles:"Five Book-to-Screen Adaptations That Carved Out Their Own Identity" "What I Learned from Breaking Up with D&D"Check out Cole's TikTok channel, BookRush.Start your own "Page2Screen" journey withThe Green MIle novel Warner Bros' recently released 4K Ultra HD release of the filmAs a bonus, check out Kicking the Seat Podcast #407 to hear Ian and Mike Crowley of YPA Reviews discuss Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian welcomes back Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk for a look at the umpteenth COVID-era Bruce Willis movie, Gasoline Alley!Devon Sawa stars as Jimmy Jayne, an ex-con/tattoo artist who finds himself suspect number one when several call girls are discovered dead in a seedy motel room. Two cops, played by Willis and Luke Wilson, give Jimmy an especially hard time. Could it be that one of them is connected to the murders?Finding out is a race against the run-time, as crosses are doubled, secrets are revealed, and your trusty critics brew coffee by the gallon! In this very spoilery look at a film that doesn't open 'til Friday, the guys look at Willis' fascinating career trajectory; stand up for one of his recently maligned films, and dig into the frustration of watching Gasoline Alley trip over its own potential at almost every turn.Gasoline Alley opens Friday, February 25th in select theatres and On Demand.Show Links:Watch the Gasoline Alley trailer.Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.And keep up with his maniacal minute-long movie reviews on TikTok!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

The virtual mailbag overfloweth! Join Ian as he rags on B/W GDT, marvels at an episode title that could have been, and stands up for one of his dearest friends and colleagues!If you've got burning questions or fiery comments (we take compliments, too!), feel free to post on any video, audio podcast, or written review from the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel, kickseat.com, or the Kicking the Seat Facebook Fanpage.For best results, please keep things civil and specific!Show Links:Check out the shows that inspired all this lucid/ludicrous feedback!The Boba Fett Book Club: Chapter 7Nightmare Alley (2021) Movie ReviewThere's No Stalgia Like Nostalgia: Wayne’s WorldIndieSeen: Goodbye, Dragon InnMoonfall Movie ReviewSubscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and David walk Marry Me down the aisle...straight to the electric chair!Jennifer Lopez plays a global pop sensation. Owen Wilson plays a Luddite New York school teacher. They get married as part of a botched publicity stunt and must navigate each other's very different worlds...for some reason.Kat Coira's mixed-up movie wants to be a throwback to the golden era of early-2000s romcoms--as well as a commentary on the mutated media culture that emerged from that time, starring two actors who are at least twenty years past believability in these roles.And it's a comic book movie, to boot!Your crusading, crusty critics dig into the highs and lows of a film that spends more time checking boxes and rehashing Notting Hill than justifying its own existence.Won't you be our Plus One?Marry Me is now playing in theatres and streaming on Peacock.Show Links:Watch the Marry Me trailer.Follow David's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Romance is old hat. Bromance is where it's at! And on today's very special installment, Ian and Pat McDonald revisit one of the all-time great "I Love You, Man" movies, Wayne’s World--which opened exactly thirty years ago today!Yes, we're switching it up a bit, focusing on a movie that was a big part of Ian's formative years (and, as it turns out, to the broader pop culture landscape all the way through the mid-2000s).Though they're not worthy to do so, the guys heap praise on this feature-length SNL skit, marveling at its concept, interweaving of "bits" into a perfectly orchestrated narrative whole, and the punk-rock spirit that director Penelope Spheeris brought with her from the days of helming punk docs like The Decline of Western Civilization.So gather some friends, gas up the car, and fire up "Bohemian Rhapsody" (after you listen to our show, of course): it's time to party on!Show Links:Watch the Wayne’s World trailer.Keep up with Pat at HollywoodChicago.com.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Kicking the Seat gets ready for gameday by talking with Kevin Downes, producer of the Erwin Bros' Kurt Warner biopic, American Underdog!The film stars Zachary Levi as a modern-day legend whose journey to the top was fraught with hardships both external and self-imposed. With their exciting and inspirational film, Jon and Andrew Erwin capture the essence of a man driven by family, faith, and an unwavering commitment to football.In this brief but enlightening interview, the guys talk about putting American Underdog together during a pandemic, a bona fide production miracle, and what fans can expect from the film's February 22nd home video release.Also, Ian shares what happened to his FIRST filmed conversation with Kevin, which took place late last year!Show Links:Watch the American Underdog trailer.Learn more about American Underdog, including where you can stream it right now and pre-order the 2/22 home video release.Learn more about Kevin's production company, Kingdom Story Company.Read Ian's American Underdog review.Watch Ian's interview with co-directors Jon and Andrew Erwin about The Jesus Music, a documentary they produced with Kevin Downes in 2021.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

This month, Ian and Sujewa look at a very unusual movie about movies: Ming-Liang Tsai's Goodbye, Dragon Inn!The guys return to their Slow Cinema roots with this glacially paced drama centering on the closing of a Taiwanese art theatre. Sujewa says it works as a rare example of Buddhist art-as-cinema. Ian appreciates its commitment to capturing a very specific cultural moment in time.But does it work as a movie?Find out in this lively lesson in patience and world religions--which also features a surprising update on Sujewa's film, The Secret Society for Slow Romance! Timestamps:Intro: 0:00 - 0:10Slow Romance Update: 0:11 - 13:11Goodbye, Dragon Inn Discussion: 13:12 - 45:43Outro: 45:44 - 48:29Show Links:Watch the Goodbye, Dragon Inn trailer.Rent Goodbye, Dragon Inn from Metrograph through 6/22/22.Watch Nick Pinkerton's video essay on Goodbye, Dragon Inn (referenced in our conversation).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.Keep up with all of Sujewa's projects.Follow Sujewa on Twitter.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and David talk about Roland Emmerich's disastrous new disaster movie, Moonfall!The director of Independence Day and 2012 returns with a new bucket of sci-fi popcorn starring Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, and John Bradley star as the only people on Earth who can stop the moon from crashing into it.Oh, and they also uncover the mysteries of ancient aliens...In this spoilerific review, the guys talk about Emmerich's recent Scorsese-esque comments regarding comic book movies and Star Wars films; how Moonfall's silliness fails where some previous disaster movies succeeded, and look at the subtle ways in which the filmmaker appears to strain against his own reputation--perhaps aiming for (dare we say it?!) brainier entertainment! Show Links:Watch the Moonfall trailer.Read the Den of Geek interview with Moonfall director Roland Emmerich.Follow David's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!