New Ebert Protege Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Fails Movie Quiz — How Would You Do?

I applaud him for playing along and testing his mettle, but there's no doubt that Ignatiy Vishnevetsky -- the new 24-year-old co-host on Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies -- crashed and burned while taking The Daily Beast's 10-question movie quiz. He compensated with a slick harangue to Aaron Sorkin midway through question eight, but still, he biffed. Would you have fared better?

Mr. Vishnevetsky, who earned the job on At the Movies thanks to his Chicago Reader reviews, answered three questions correctly out of ten. Here's the list:

1. Name the last 10 winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture.

2. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, the stars of Blue Valentine, got their start in TV. Can you name a TV series that each actor starred in prior to hitting it big?

3. Since you're Russian, born in Moscow, can you name three movies by Andrei Tarkovsky, arguably the greatest Russian filmmaker?

4. Prior to being a film critic, you worked as a translator and a Laundromat attendant. In what film did Johnny Depp play a translator? And in what film, set largely in a Laundromat, helped launch the career of Daniel Day-Lewis?

5. Could you name two of the four films Roger Ebert scripted?

6. One of the frontrunners this Oscar season appears to be Natalie Portman for her performance in Black Swan. Can you name her real name, as well as her debut feature film?

7. You dropped out of Columbia College at one point. Can you name three films that were released this past year that contain any scene at a school?

8. The Oscar frontrunner for Best Picture this year appears to be The Social Network. Can you name three films, other than The Social Network, that were scripted by the great Aaron Sorkin?

9. Colin Firth seems to be a lock for the Best Actor Oscar this year, but he's probably best known for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice. Can you name three films where Firth has poked fun at his Darcy persona?

10. The late icon John Hughes set many of his films in what fictional town just outside of Chicago?

I feel particularly smug about knowing all ten Best Pictures, but I should feel lonely. Sorry I'm not sorry!

Of course, I don't mean to suggest that Vishnevetsky is unqualified for the job. Roger Ebert has always been supportive of young journalists, and Vishnevetsky's critical chops speak for themselves. It's just that -- well -- for some of us, Michelle Williams's tenure on Dawson's Creek is as important a filmic milestone as her post-Jen Lindley output. That's all I'll say. Because I'm crying.

· Roger Ebert's New Co-Host Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Takes Our Movie Quiz [The Daily Beast]