Kicking the Seat

Earlier this week, Ian had the opportunity to join a critics round table for the new movie, Home.Writer/director Franka Potente and stars Kathy Bates and Aisling Franciosi spoke about their captivating indie drama, in which Marvin (Jake McLaughlin) returns home from prison after 17 years to find an ailing mother (Bates) and a town that despises him--including Delta (Franciosi), whom he discovers has a surprising connection to his crime.This spoiler-lite interview covers the origins of Home (Potente's feature-directorial/writing debut); the cast's methods for creating realistically damaged characters; and how the creators supported each other during filming (even when that support included going full-on "method").Home is now playing in select theatres and is available On Demand from Gravitas Ventures. Show Links:Watch the Home trailer.Watch Ian and Keeping Reel's David Fowlie review Home.And be sure to follow my fellow round table critics!Paul Salfen of AMFM MagazineKristin Ciliberto of Mac Movie ReviewsPatrick Gibbs of Slug MagazineJim Alexander of Reel TalkerSubscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and David Fowlie of Keeping it Reel look at one of the year's best films, Franka Potente's Home.Potente (star of Run Lola Run and The Bourne Identity) makes her feature-writing/directing debut with the story of Marvin (Jake McLaughlin), who returns home from prison after 17 years. He finds an ailing mother (Kathy Bates) and a town that despises him--including Delta (Aisling Franciosi), whom he discovers has a surprising connection to his crime.In this spoiler-lite review, the guys discuss the many ways in which Potente avoids the narrative pitfalls of similar movies; what Home gets right about its themes of masculinity, religion, and forgiveness; and the one scene that feels slightly out-of-place--but which neither critic would actually want to change.Home is now playing in select theatres and is available On Demand from Gravitas Ventures.Show Links:Watch the Home trailer.Watch Ian participate in a Home round table interview with writer/director Franka Potente and stars Kathy Bates and Aisling Franciosi!Follow David's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Join us for another LIVE "Sunday School" edition of "Accademia Giallo" as your favorite students of the sinister review Death Walks on High Heels!In Luciano Ercoli's 1971 thriller, a French stripper is entrusted with her thieving father's last score: a million dollars worth of diamonds. She flees to England in the company of a doctor, but danger (and murder) follows! That synopsis is way more exciting than this (extremely) slow burn of a movie, which Ian actually changed his mind on during this conversation!Watch as the guys talk him into loving shopping montages, seafood fetishes, and a third act reveal so convoluted it makes the latter Saw entries look like Blue’s Clues! "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 Death Walks on High Heels 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!Continue your education with our "Accademia Giallo" YouTube Playlist!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and David are midway-bound with their review of Edmund Goulding's 1947 carnie-noir, Nightmare Alley!In advance of Guillermo Del Toro's new adaptation of the William Lesley Gresham novel, the guys look at its cult-classic predecessor. Tyrone Power stars as Stanton, a carnival laborer who teams up with a fake psychic to fool the rubes and rake in the cash. One double-cross follows another, and soon Stanton finds himself building a small empire of deceit among Chicago's high society!Things get weirder from here, and in this spoiler-filled exploration, Ian and David talk about whether or not Nightmare Alley qualifies as "film noir"; what makes it such an unusual candidate for cult status; and why Del Toro's vision for the material makes Ian a bit nervous.Plus: David shares some of his favorite special features from the recently released Criterion Collection Blu-ray.Show Links:Watch the Nightmare Alley (1947) trailer.Watch the Nightmare Alley (2021) trailer (discussed in the show).Buy Nightmare Alley on DVD or Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.Order the novel on which Nightmare Alley was based (also discussed in the show).Follow David's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and David cross the streams all over Ghostbusters: Afterlife!Jason Reitman's direct sequel to his father Ivan's revolutionary 1984 horror-comedy ignores the 2016 reboot (and, oddly, 1989's Ghostbusters 2) in serving up a scaled-back family dramedy that sees cute kids battling Gozer on an Oklahoma farm. In this no-holds-barred spoiler discussion, the guys break down the myriad ways in which Reitman and company soil the legacy of a beloved film through misguided characterizations; a fundamental misunderstanding of what made the original great; and more references than you can shake a Twinkie at (GET IT?!?!).They also talk about the movie's allegedly amazing opening-weekend box office, which may not mean what many people think it means.Show Links:Watch the Ghostbusters: Afterlife trailer.Follow David's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Read Ian's exhaustive and incendiary written review of Ghostbusters: Afterlife.Listen to Ian, David, and several other critics review Ghostbusters 2016.Listen to Ian and Cole Rush re-evaluate Ghostbusters in a surprising installment of "Late Screening".Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and Aaron approach the outer limits of Hammerland with their review of Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell!Director Terence Fisher and star Peter Cushing bid farewell to Baron Victor Frankenstein in one of the series' most conflicted entries. Shane Bryant plays Simon Helder, a brash young scientist who follows in the footsteps of the demented, long-dead doctor. When he's arrested on charges of "sorcery" and sentenced to a mental institution, he comes face to face with his idol--who has changed his identity and turned the inmates into an unwitting pool of organ donors! Gruesome hijinks ensue as Helder and "Dr. Carl Victor" create a brute super-human in secret, aided by the mute daughter of the institution's administrator.Yes, it's all a bit soapy and convoluted, and Ian and Aaron place Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell in the greater context of the Hammer "Frankenstein" movies--without dropping a single Friday the 13th reference!Join us next month, as Hammerland comes to its thrilling conclusion--and gives way to even more gruesome goodness in 2022!Show Links:Watch the Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell trailer.Keep up with all of Aaron's reviews at Horror 101 with Dr. AC.Dying for more? Check out our “Hammerland” playlist!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and Sujewa look at Olivier Assayas' wonderfully weird movie-about-indie-movies, Irma Vep!This electric 1996 dramedy stars Maggie Cheung as a Hong Kong actress arriving in France to film a remake of a 1916 silent film serial about jewel thieves and hypnosis. Between an off-the-rails and over-schedule production; a director on the verge of a nervous breakdown; and back-stabbing crew politics, it's no wonder Maggie's grip on reality becomes as tenuous as her director's grasp of the script.Ian and Sujewa dig into the many layers on which Assayas' witty and fast-moving screenplay works; the tensions between Hollywood blockbusters and world cinema at large; and Ian's skepticism at the recently announced Irma Vep TV series in development at HBO!Plus: Sujewa shares some big announcements and bigger ambitions for 2022 regarding his recently completed film, The Secret Society for Slow Romance!Show LinksWatch the Irma Vep trailer.Watch the Secret Society for Slow Romance trailer.Watch a clip from Slow Romance.Learn more about Slow Romance at the film's website.Keep up with all of Sujewa's projects.Watch Irma Vep on The Criterion Channel or buy the Blu-ray from criterion.com.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian and Pat continue their look at Melvin Van Peebles' filmography. Criterion recently released Melvin Van Peebles: Essential Films, a packed and gorgeously packaged Blu-ray set that contains Watermelon Man (which they talked about in February) and the writer/director's groundbreaking follow-up, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song! The 1971 proto-Blaxploitation movie centers on a sex worker named Sweetback (Van Peebles) who finds himself on the lam after beating up two White cops in defense of a Black Panther, whom they rough up while in custody. Using his connections, cunning, and, um, natural talents, Sweetback evades the authorities while igniting a revolutionary spirit in a community that's fed up with police harassment and disenfranchisement.In this charged and very wide-ranging discussion, Ian and Pat talk about the film's shocking content; Van Peebles' cutting edge use of editing and meta-storytelling; and why it spawned a vital 1970s movie genre. They also delve into modern issues of race, inspired by questions the film raises, and look ahead to next month's annual holiday movie review.It's a weird, messed-up, poignant show--or as we like to think of it, "Baadasssss"!Timestamps:Intro: 0:00 - 1:09Sweet Sweetback Discussion: 1:10 - 54:08George Carlin and "Guilty White Liberals": 54:09 - 1:05:56Holiday Cheer (Planning Our Annual Christmas Movie Review): 1:05:57 - 1:16:08Outro: 1:16:09 - 1:18:33 Show Links:Watch the Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song trailer.Order Melvin Van Peebles: Essential Films from The Criterion Collection.Watch Ian and Pat discuss Van Peebles' Watermelon Man (recorded earlier this year).Keep up with Pat at HollywoodChicago.com.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Earth's Mightiest Critics re-team to take on the Eternals!Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao directs Marvel's millennia-spanning epic, in which ancient super-beings come together to stop other ancient super-beings from destroying reality...or something. Eternals has an ambitious scope, star power to spare, and more controversy surrounding it than any MCU film in recent memory.Find out what the EMC has to say about all of it--including whether or not the film itself is worth all the chatter!And stay til the end for details on our next weekly livestream series...coming soon!Show LinksWatch the Eternals trailer.Support Earth's Mightiest Critics! Keep up with our rotating panel of guests 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.Get to know Mike Crowley at You'll Probably Agree.And check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.Plus: Read Ian's lengthy defense of the film, "8 Reasons Why (Almost) Everyone's Wrong About Eternals"!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

Ian talks with director Rob Christopher, whose new documentary Roy’s World: Barry Gifford’s Chicago will have its Windy City premiere this Saturday at the Chicago Critics Film Festival!Roy’s World follows the early life of writer Barry Gifford, whose prose and poetry have been influential for decades, inspiring films such as Wild At Heart and Lost Highway (in collaboration with David Lynch). Gifford spent his formative years in Chicago, and through montage, pristine vintage footage, and animation, Christopher paints vivid pictures of how the "tough" city forged a bold, literary heart.Rob Christopher talks about the film's unconventional genesis; his collaboration with friend/colleague/Chicago indie-film magnate Michael Glover Smith; how he landed a trio of brilliant narrators in Lili Taylor, Willem Dafoe, and Matt Dillon; and what Gifford's work means to him, personally.You'll also learn more about Saturday's very special screening, which will be a full-blown event within the Chicago Critics Film Festival!Show Links:Watch the Roy’s World: Barry Gifford’s Chicago trailer.Purchase tickets to the Chicago Critics Film Festival.Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!