New TV Host Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Is Kinda Cute

You are probably wondering, OK....who the heck is Ignatiy Vishnevetsky?  You are probably not wondering why he is kinda cute, as that is pretty obvious.  :) As to who he is exactly, Ignatiy is a big film nerd from Chicago who got his start working at a video store there, founded a movie site called MUBI and now is the new co-host of "At The Movies" on PBS.

I caught the new iteration of the show that originally starred the inimitable Siskel and Ebert.  The show was languishing until last year when Ebert decided to take the show over as producer and hire new talent.  The new movie review duo was going to be Christy Lemire, from the AP, and Elvis Mitchell, from NPR.  Mitchell was dropped (or quit?) and critic Ignatiy got a film critics' role of a lifetime...all at the ripe age of 26.

The show started airing on PBS a couple weeks ago and, having seen the 3 episode on Friday, it's not too bad.  They had a nice choice of indie films and the rapport was intelligent and sharp, with some disagreements but nothing stagey.  Ignatiy has grown a half-beard to try and age-up a bit.  He doesn't need it though. He speaks commandingly of his love for cinema and has the breadth of knowledge for this sort of gig.  So the fact that he is also kinda cute too boot is merely a bonus.