{"id":2753,"date":"2011-01-26T14:00:25","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T20:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=2753"},"modified":"2014-09-06T14:54:58","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:54:58","slug":"atm-11-ignatiy-throws-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=2753","title":{"rendered":"ATM ’11: Ignatiy throws down!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, we watched the premiere of EBERT PRESENTS AT THE MOVIES<\/strong> on Friday night. Sure, we liked it. Heck no<\/em>, we\u2019re not going to obsessively recap or debate each episode here on C-U Blogfidential<\/strong> because it isn\u2019t a local program. (If our Chicago <\/strong>columnist Michelle Kaffko<\/strong> wishes to revisit ATM<\/strong>, then we\u2019ll budge.) However, given the tangential \u201cRoger Ebert<\/strong> pedigree\u201d our fair twin cities perpetuate year after year, we\u2019ve decided to offer some initial thoughts about the revival engineered by Urbana<\/strong>\u2019s favorite pop culture son since we\u2019re going to be asked about it a multitude of times anyways\u2026<\/p>\n

First and foremost, we\u2019re simply happy to see AT THE MOVIES<\/strong> back on the air. It is hardly surprising that Ebert chose to retain the familiar title but he obviously feels the show\u2019s surefire format in its Eighties-Nineties prime was never broken, so why fix what you can gently upgrade instead? Episode #1.1 is relatively polished despite the odd CGI-extended theater set in which sit new hosts Christy Lemire<\/strong> and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky<\/strong> who, while not flawless this first round, prove to be quite likeable on screen. It will be important for them to establish a repartee that both honors and distinguishes from the exchanges made famous by Ebert and the late Gene Siskel<\/strong>; we have a hunch they\u2019re quite capable.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lemire is the veteran voice of this AT THE MOVIES<\/strong>, having logged more than a decade of Associated Press<\/strong> movie writing, yet she is matched by an assured Vishnevetsky who offers well-considered observations honed by writing for MUBI<\/span>.com<\/strong> as well as various Chicago based media outlets and societies. The 24-year-old lad will probably earn his stripes in short order but may need to tone down eager beaver tendencies to keep the Internet gadflies at bay. His overuse of an exuberant \u201cBut I disagree!\u201d while nearly falling out of his aisle seat, for instance, could quickly become the movie critic equivalent to young Anakin Skywalker\u2019s infamous \u201cYipee!\u201d from STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE<\/strong> if not reined in a bit.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s honest engagement that will endear Vishnevetsky to AT THE MOVIES<\/strong> viewers because we can sense a love for cinema dripping from every word he speaks. Lemire brings an expected poise and maturity to her role although she found herself inadvertently stuck in a \u201cbad cop\u201d position this time. Episode #1.1 featured split decisions through the entire run of current features \u2013 NO STRINGS ATTACHED, THE COMPANY MEN, THE WAY BACK, THE GREEN HORNET<\/strong>, and THE DILEMMA<\/strong> \u2013 all of which she adamantly thumbed down while Vishnevetsky awarded them thumbs up, begrudgingly in certain cases. We will see how this relationship develops in the near future.<\/p>\n

Drop-in segments included: a retrospect of Carol Reed<\/strong>\u2019s THE THIRD MAN<\/strong> by Web columnist and noir <\/em>fanatic Kim Morgan<\/strong>, a winsome anime<\/em>-style presence and \u201cEbertfest<\/strong>\u201d moderator who is married to Winnipeg<\/strong> auteur Guy Maddin<\/strong> (BRAND UPON THE BRAIN!<\/strong>); a clever recreation of the \u201cbackstage\u201d teaser trailer for CITIZEN KANE<\/strong> introducing ATM <\/strong>main contributors Lemire, Vishnevetsky, Morgan, Omar Moore, Kartina Richardson<\/strong>, and \u201cthe boss\u201d Chaz Ebert<\/strong>; and a \u201cRoger\u2019s Office\u201d segment featuring Ebert reviewing the animated film MY DOG TULIP<\/strong>, his glowing opinion recited by none other than the prolific filmmaker and perennial Ebertfest guest, Werner Herzog<\/strong>! Nice touch, folks.<\/p>\n

After a Vishnevetsky pronouncement that \u201cthe balcony is closed,\u201d AT THE MOVIES<\/strong>\u2019 closing credits scrolled alongside a vintage recording of Siskel and Ebert opening the very first episode of the show\u2019s original 1975 incarnation, OPENING SOON AT A THEATER NEAR YOU<\/strong>. Like the best outings of its storied past, ATM <\/strong>flew by efficiently and delivered the goods. Current episodes, vintage shows, and bonus material will most likely appear on this just-launched Web site<\/a> so keep a close eye on it.<\/p>\n

~ Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n

p.s.<\/em> As of this post, it looks like all of Episode #1.1 has been uploaded to the Ebert Presents<\/strong> site as multiple segments. Unfortunately we\u2019re not finding code that allows us to embed sample videos here, but you can easily compare the final incarnation with this AT THE MOVIES<\/strong> \u201cdemo\u201d produced early last year, pairing Lemire with her previously announced co-host, Elvis Mitchell<\/strong> of National Public Radio<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Despite nearly all-new subject matter discussed by fresh hosts and correspondents, this is pretty much your mother and father’s AT THE MOVIES set to a slightly more rapid beat. And it makes us happy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,24,30],"tags":[605,604,607,585,606,1703],"class_list":["post-2753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alums-done-good","category-critique-du-c-u","category-roger-ebert","tag-christy-lemire","tag-ebert-presents-at-the-movies","tag-gene-siskel","tag-ignatiy-vishnevetsky","tag-kim-morgan","tag-roger-ebert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2753\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}