Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
{{Short description|U.S.-based Russian film critic, writer and essayist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{family name hatnote|Igorevich|Vishnevetsky|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
| native_name = Игнатий Вишневецкий
| native_name_lang = ru
| birth_name = Ignatiy Igorevich Vishnevetsky
| birth_date = {{birth date and age |1986|9|5|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
| occupation = {{hlist|Film critic|essayist}}
| citizenship = {{hlist|Russia|United States}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Theresa Roberts|January 10, 2011}}
| subject = Film
| children = 2
| parents = Igor Vishnevetsky (father)}}
Ignatiy Igorevich Vishnevetsky ({{IPAc-en|ɪ|ɡ|ˈ|n|ɑː|t|i|_|ˌ|v|ɪ|ʃ|n|ə|ˈ|v|ɛ|t|s|k|i}};{{cite AV media |date= May 6, 2016|title=Our critics address Captain America: Civil War and the state of the Marvel union|language=en|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcJf80wKtCQ&t=14s|access-date=September 4, 2016|time=0:14|publisher=The A.V. Club|author=The A.V. Club|via=YouTube}} {{langx|ru|link=no|Игнатий Игоревич Вишневецкий}}; born September 5, 1986){{cite web|last=Vishnevetsky|first=Ignatiy|url=http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/2322|title=Time Indefinite: A Talk with Sergei Loznitsa|website=Mubi|date=September 28, 2010|access-date=January 7, 2011|archive-date=March 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110327121258/http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/2322|url-status=live}} is a Russian-American film critic, essayist, and columnist. He has worked as a staff film critic for The A.V. Club and written for Mubi.com and the Chicago Reader.{{cite web|url=https://kinja.com/vishnevetsky|title=AV Club articles by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky|website=The A.V. Club|date=February 13, 2023|access-date=January 8, 2018|archive-date=September 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930011736/https://kinja.com/vishnevetsky|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Zeitchek|first=Steven|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/01/roger-ebert-pbs-show-critics-ignatiy-vishnevetsky.html|title=Who is Ignatiy Vishnevetsky?|website=The Los Angeles Times|date=January 4, 2011|access-date=January 7, 2011|archive-date=August 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826052732/https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/01/roger-ebert-pbs-show-critics-ignatiy-vishnevetsky.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Kohn|first=Eric|url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/futures-at-the-movies-co-host-ignatiy-vishnevetsky-243816/|title=FUTURES: At the Movies co-host Ignatiy Vishnevetsky|date=January 19, 2011|website=IndieWire}}
Vishnevetsky co-hosted Roger Ebert Presents: At the Movies, a nationally syndicated film criticism television show,{{cite web|last=Ebert|first=Roger|url=http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/01/ebert_presents_at_the_movies.html|title=Ebert Presents at the Movies|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109024612/http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/01/ebert_presents_at_the_movies.html|archivedate=January 9, 2011|website=Chicago Sun-Times|date=January 3, 2011}} with Christy Lemire.{{Cite web|last=Braun|first=Liz|url=http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/tv/2011/01/04/16759991.html|title=Ebert chooses 2nd host for 'Movies'|website=The Toronto Sun|date=January 4, 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930220441/http://torontosun.com/entertainment/tv/2011/01/04/16759991.html|archive-date=September 30, 2012}}
Early life and education
Vishnevetsky was born in Moscow, the son of Russian poet Igor Vishnevetsky.{{cite web|last=Christopher|first=Rob|url=http://chicagoist.com/2011/01/04/and_the_co-host_of_roger_ebert_pres.php|title=And the Co-Host of Roger Ebert Presents Is...|website=The Chicagoist|date=January 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171105100350/http://chicagoist.com/2011/01/04/and_the_co-host_of_roger_ebert_pres.php |archive-date=November 5, 2017 }} He has said that his paternal ancestors were Don Cossacks, and he is of Polish descent through his maternal ancestry.{{cite tweet|number = 1282457276180307970|user = Vishnevetsky|date = July 12, 2020|accessdate = March 5, 2022|title = Jokes aside, my ancestors were Don Cossacks who adopted the name. Unfortunately, I am still descended from wretched Polish nobility on my mother's side.|last = Vishnevetsky|first = Ignatiy}} He moved to the United States at the age of eight, following his parents' divorce.{{cite web|last=Metz|first=Nina|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/01/20/roger-ebert-is-back-on-tv-with-a-new-man-on-deck/|title=Roger Ebert is back on TV, with a new man on deck|website=Chicago Tribune|date=January 20, 2011}} Although he did not formally study English in school while living in Russia, Vishnevetsky claims that he learned the language "entirely from TV and American TV commercials I watched constantly".
He lived with his father, stepmother, and stepbrother in Decatur, Georgia, and, four years later, relocated to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, where he graduated from Wauwatosa East High School{{cite web|last=Dudek|first=Duane|url=http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/113220594.html|title=At The Movies hosts a Wauwatosa East alum|website=Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel|date=January 10, 2011|access-date=January 16, 2011|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214923/http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/113220594.html|url-status=live}} and then moved to Chicago, where he briefly attended Columbia College Chicago, studying film directing.
Career
Before working as a film critic, Vishnevetsky worked as a translator, movie theater usher, and laundromat attendant. Beginning in 2004, he became involved with Chicago's cinephile community, many of whose members he met through the now-defunct video rental store Odd Obsession.{{cite web|last=Cuddy|first=Allison|url=http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/young-chicago-critic-tapped-host-%E2%80%98roger-ebert-presents-movies%E2%80%99|title=Young Chicago critic tapped to host Roger Ebert Presents at the Movies|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122182808/http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/young-chicago-critic-tapped-host-%E2%80%98roger-ebert-presents-movies%E2%80%99|archivedate=January 22, 2011|website=WBEZ|date=January 19, 2011}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/the-death-of-a-video-store-1843188673|title=The death of a video store: A former clerk on Chicago's Odd Obsession|website=The A.V. Club|date=May 7, 2020|first=Ignatiy|last=Vishnevetsky|access-date=May 7, 2020|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507172812/https://film.avclub.com/the-death-of-a-video-store-1843188673|url-status=live}} He was involved in a screening space called North Western Avenue, whose participants later co-founded the film website Cine-File.info, to which Vishnevetsky contributed.{{cite podcast|title=Episode 128 - Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (Part 1)|url=https://www.archive.org/details/podcast_film-focus_episode_128-ignatiy-vishneve_1000108391884|website=Film in Focus|date=December 7, 2011|via=Internet Archive}}
In 2006, Vishnevetsky wrote and directed a 45-minute short film;{{cite web|last=Cangialosi|first=Jason|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/news/interview-ignatiy-vishnevetsky-movies-20110128-151900-814.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209185114/http://movies.yahoo.com/news/interview-ignatiy-vishnevetsky-movies-20110128-151900-814.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2013|title=Interview with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky|website=Yahoo! Movies|date=January 28, 2011}} he also served as the film's editor and cinematographer. Soon after a final cut was completed, a hard drive failure destroyed much of the footage. In an interview with the podcast Film in Focus, Vishnevetsky stated that the experience led him to pursue film criticism full-time. Vishnevetsky published a film zine called Zero for Conduct before joining the NYU-based film journal Tisch Film Review and then MUBI.
In the fall of 2010, he was approached by Roger Ebert and his wife, Chaz Ebert, about auditioning for their new television show, Ebert Presents: At the Movies. After several months of auditions, Vishnevetsky was announced as the show's co-host alongside Christy Lemire. Vishnevetsky replaced critic Elvis Mitchell, who had appeared in the show's pilot but left the production for undisclosed reasons.
Vishnevetsky directed a short film, Ellie Lumme, which premiered in 2014.{{cite web|last=Metz|first=Nina|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/ct-chicago-closeup-cuff-20140403-column.html|title=Underground films see the light through fest|website=The Chicago Tribune|date=April 3, 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913121710/http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/ct-chicago-closeup-cuff-20140403-column.html|archive-date=September 13, 2014}}
Critical style
He has described himself as "more of an optimist for the future of cinema than for the future of movies", stating that in his view the two were not synonymous. Comparing Vishnevetsky with his co-host, Christy Lemire, Time writer Steven James Snyder wrote that Lemire was "more preoccupied with finesse and plot points", while Vishnevetsky was "more interested in structure, experimentation and mood".{{cite magazine|last=Snyder|first=Steven James|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2011/01/24/roger-eberts-new-tv-show-two-new-thumbs-one-long-overdue-comeback/|title=Roger Ebert's New TV Show: Two New Thumbs, One Overdue Comeback (Video)|magazine=Time|date=January 24, 2011|access-date=November 17, 2024|archive-date=July 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707075944/https://entertainment.time.com/2011/01/24/roger-eberts-new-tv-show-two-new-thumbs-one-long-overdue-comeback/|url-status=live}}
Preferences
In the February 11, 2011, episode of Ebert Presents At the Movies, Vishnevetsky stated that the greatest influence on his work as a critic was Jean-Luc Godard's video project Histoire(s) du cinéma.{{cite web|url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=13534|title=Ebert Presents - Movies That Made Us Critics - 2011|website=Siskel And Ebert Movie Reviews|access-date=February 7, 2022|archive-date=December 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231033945/https://siskelebert.org/?p=13534|url-status=live}} In the same episode, he named the silent films True Heart Susie and Foolish Wives; the Holocaust documentary Shoah; and Jacques Tati's Playtime as the movies that made him want to become a film critic. In a blog post presented as an "appendix" to the episode, he revealed that he writes the majority of his film criticism by hand and will sometimes "edit together" essays out of notes and parts of unpublished texts.{{cite web|last=Vishnevetsky|first=Ignatiy|url=http://soundsimages.blogspot.com/2011/02/appendix-to-episode-104.html|title=Appendix to Episode #104|website=Sounds, Images|date=February 8, 2011}}
Vishnevetsky participated in the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll, where he listed ten of his favorite films as follows: Blow Out, Days of Being Wild, Dead or Alive 2: Birds, Hotel America, The Lady from Shanghai, Modern Romance, Mysteries of Lisbon, Red Viburnum, RoboCop, and Some Came Running.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/531|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222060546/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/531|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 22, 2016|title=Ignatiy Vishnevetsky | BFI}} Vishnevetsky compiled his list by writing 90 of his favorite titles on scraps of paper and then drawing ten from a bowl.
Personal life
Vishnevetsky has retained his Russian citizenship,{{cite web|last=Stingl|first=Jim|url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/116544203.html|title=From Stingl's kitchen to Ebert's orbit|website=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=February 19, 2011|access-date=February 20, 2011|archive-date=October 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013122215/http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/116544203.html|url-status=live}} and obtained American citizenship in 2017.{{cite tweet|user = vishnevetsky|number = 1226940908198879232|date = February 10, 2020|last = Vishnevetsky|first = Ignatiy|access-date = February 16, 2020|title = I became a naturalized US citizen in 2017, and it's been nerve-wracking to watch the rest of my family experience the abrupt erosion of official attitudes and policies toward immigrants. And they're among the lucky ones.}} {{As of|2011}}, he lives in Chicago. He married Theresa Roberts, a sculptor and installation artist, in January 2011.{{cite web|url=https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/dear-roger|title=Dear Roger on Notebook|website=MUBI|last=Vishnevetsky|first=Ignatiy|date=April 5, 2013|access-date=November 26, 2016|quote=On December 31st [...] I was married in the basement of the county courthouse 11 days later.|archive-date=August 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826052726/https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/dear-roger|url-status=live}} They have two children together.{{Cite web|url = https://twitter.com/vishnevetsky/status/559487337550581761|title = Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on Twitter: "Siblings meet for the first time."|date = January 25, 2015|access-date = May 21, 2015|website = Twitter|last = Vishnevetsky|first = Ignatiy|archive-date = March 5, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305120728/https://twitter.com/vishnevetsky/status/559487337550581761|url-status = live}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{wikiquote}}
- {{Twitter}}
- {{IMDb name|4252151}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110127041722/http://www.ebertpresents.com/critics/ignatiy-vishnevetsky Ebert Presents At the Movies biography]
{{The Onion}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy}}
Category:21st-century American essayists
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:21st-century Russian writers
Category:American film critics
Category:American male bloggers
Category:American people of Polish descent
Category:American people of Jewish descent
Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States
Category:People from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Category:Russian emigrants to the United States
Category:Russian male essayists
Category:Russian people of Polish descent
Category:Russian people of Jewish descent
Category:Russian television presenters