New Roger Ebert Television Show

[Sabin]

This is some awkward turtle action over here. Ignatiy is clearly a very intelligent young man who may very well overcome some of his initial visible on-camera jitters, but he has zero chemistry with Christy Lemire. In all fairness, who could? The producers of the previous show clearly strained for an "A.O. Scott is a nerd and Michael Philips is just like you" arc, which is likely more rooted in the truth than not. I don't think a show necessarily needs something like that, but Ignatiy and Christy are tiptoeing around each other very awkwardly. They have found a very awkward way to balance middle and highbrow.

[Greg]

From the beginning of the clip, it sounds like Ignatiy liked No Strings Attached.

[anonymous1980]

An interesting interview with Ignatiy and Roger Ebert's wife.

[Johnny Guitar]

Here is a page with lots of links to IV's writing. He's also the best writer I know on contemporary action cinema - parsing the differences between Bruckheimer, Tony Scott, Neveldine/Taylor, the EuropaCorp movies, Stallone, Van Damme, etc., finding beauties or oddities in the work, not necessarily making ambitious claims for them as works of art ... but simply as intriguing, complex objects if one bothers to look at them at all.

[Johnny Guitar]

The news that Ignatiy - whom I know personally a bit, not really well though - will be "the new Ebert" on TV is about as mind-blowing as finding out that ABC will screen a double feature tonight of Philippe Garrel's L'Enfant secret and Joe D'Amato's Porno Holocaust. It's almost impossible for me to comprehend, even though I know it's happening.

He's absolutely one of the brightest, most deeply cinephilic people publishing reviews & essays these days. And his criticism is very much contrary to the entire practice Ebert helped canonize - the "consumer review," thumbs up or down approach to writing. IV's really invested in questioning received wisdom. (And I must say it is to Ebert's credit that he recognized this talent and has put this faith in Ignatiy.)

Damien, you'll like this quote:

“I’ve never been terribly fond of Pauline Kael,” Vishnevetsky said. “There’s a sense with her reviews that everything about movies has always been settled, that the battle for movies is over and now we just need to say whether they’re good or bad. That’s not criticism. In fact, it’s the opposite of criticism.”

[rain Bard]

He's someone I've been impressed by for a while. I first encountered his impressive mind making comments on the posts of a few of my favorite cinephile blogs (including our own Johnny Guitar's). I'm certainly intrigued to see what he'll be like on television - for the first time I find myself wondering what station this show will be on...

[Damien]

Well, anyone who can find some consistency in Archie Mayo's ouevre has something on the beam -- although there seems to be a bit of straining and show-offishness in his writing. Still, a 24-year-old familiar with Allison Skipworth should be interesting.

[Big Magilla]

Here's a sample of Vishnevetsky's writing from CINE-file.com:

Archie Mayo's NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (American Revival)
Doc Films (University of Chicago) - Thursday, January 6, 7pm
NIGHT AFTER NIGHT is a textbook Pre-Code flick, lightly saucy (with a side of Archie Mayo's usual brutishness), where wisecracks are delivered to a brawny camera, but its claim to fame is the casting of George Raft in his first lead role and Mae West in her first film role, period. Raft is still trying to figure out how to combine his gangster looks with his dancer's build (he'd solve that in time to make THE BOWERY the next year), but West arrives fully-formed; whether or not this is a good thing depends on your taste for her proto-campy double entendres. That isn't to say this is entirely West's film; the comic proceedings are interrupted by double-exposure-heavy montage delirium, and, as per usual, the show is really stolen by Alison Skipworth, one of the great comic "grand dames" of 30s Hollywood (it's a real shame she and Margaret Dumont never made a picture together--but maybe that just would've been too much?). (1932, 73 min, 35mm) IV

[Kova]

He's 24?

Damn, I'm old.

[Damien]

From the NY Times:

New Critic Named for New Ebert Movie Program
By RANDY KENNEDY

Roger Ebert announced Tuesday that he had chosen a young and relatively unknown Russian-born movie critic, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, to serve as a host of his new movie-review program, “Ebert Presents At the Movies,” which will have its premiere Jan. 21 on public television stations around the country.

Mr. Vishnevetsky, 24, is a contributor to The Chicago Reader and a critic and essayist for MUBI.com, a new Web site that operates as a kind of screening room and social networking forum for movie lovers. He will host the show with Christy Lemire, the film critic for The Associated Press.

Mr. Ebert announced last year on his blog for The Chicago Sun-Times that Elvis Mitchell, a former film critic for The New York Times, would be Ms. Lemire’s co-host. But Chaz Ebert, Mr. Ebert’s wife and an executive producer of the new show, told reporters by e-mail Tuesday that Mr. Mitchell was no longer associated with the program.
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I'm not familiar with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, but the fact that he writes for the Chicago Reader, which has been home to such stalwarts as Dave Kehr and Jonathan Rosenbaum, is a good sign. Christy Lemire, on the other hand, is a dunderhead.