• Matthew Thorsen
• Rick Kisonack

The Roger Ebert of the North Country? While he may not have a Siskel-like foil, Seven Days film critic Rick Kisonak has been reviewing flicks on TV since 1984, the year that brought us Footloose and Amadeus. His show, “Art Patrol,” aired weekly for nearly a quarter-century on WPTZ before it was canceled last December. But now he has a new home on Mountain Lake PBS, which will start airing “Screen Time with Rick Kisonak” on Thursday, February 4, as part of the new extended version of host Thom Hallock’s award-winning weekly news program “Mountain Lake Journal.”

As a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Kisonak sometimes hears his critiques quoted by celebrities presenting at the annual Critics’ Choice Awards. “I love reviewing films for print, radio and the Internet,” he says. “The big difference between working in those mediums and TV is, on television, you’re not limited to using just your own words to get ideas across; you’ve got the actual movie footage to play with, and that adds a whole new palette of possibilities.”