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A few months back we shared news about the former Champaign-Urbana<\/strong>\/Savoy<\/strong> resident Gerry Kissell<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, who is reviving his critical voice as both a reviewer and, evidenced by this GoFundMe<\/strong> campaign<\/span><\/a> to help afford new recording gear, a vlogger. The piece inspired us to look around for the folks in our neck of the prairie who might be presenting their filmic findings on screen via the Internet or television, and \u2026 there are very few. It is<\/em> a bit stupefying in context, yes? These same Twin Cities, serving as a defining influence on the best known, Roger Ebert<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, and a college stop for one of the more distinctive, Gene Shalit<\/strong>, have presumably produced a solid number of writers and talent who ply their trade in the professional mass media. Even then, in a virtual space cluttered with commentators and so-called influencers who upload slicker-than-the-next videos and podcasts of their viewpoints, analyses, and gossip, we don\u2019t see that kind of material on the cinema coming out of the C-U on the regular that we could easily locate.<\/p>\n We\u2019re arguably moving away from the days when traditional newspaper critics doubled up with a radio or television station to broadcast their viewpoints. For immediate examples, Ebert had presence on WLS-TV Channel 7<\/strong> (ABC<\/strong>) in Chicago<\/strong> for many years as did Gene Siskel<\/strong> on rival WBBM-TV Channel 2<\/strong> (CBS<\/strong>), while Shalit enjoyed nearly 40 years on NBC<\/strong>\u2019s THE TODAY SHOW<\/strong>. One hardy individual has managed well enough to keep the cross-platform tradition alive in east central Illinois. Chuck Koplinski<\/strong>, a language arts instructor at Urbana Middle School<\/strong>, leads quite the second life as a film aficionado. Long a mainstay in print downstate with the Illinois Times<\/span><\/strong> in Springfield<\/strong><\/a><\/span> and \u201cThe Screening Room<\/strong>\u201d weekly feature in the News-Gazette<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a>, he covers new releases on the \u201cMorning MIX<\/strong>\u201d show airing on Mix 94.5 FM<\/strong><\/span><\/a> as well as both the \u201cMorning Show<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cciLiving<\/strong>\u201d on WCIA-TV Channel 3<\/strong> (CBS<\/strong>)<\/span><\/a>. His output is prolific and the breadth of it enhanced greatly by memberships in groups like the Chicago Film Critics Association<\/strong> (CFCA), which allow access to industry events, celebrity interviews, and pre-release screenings.<\/p>\n Lately, Koplinski has paired with suburban critic Pamela K. Powell<\/strong><\/span><\/a> for many of the WCIA and Mix 94.5 segments. Herself a member of CFCA and co-founder of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle<\/strong>, Powell writes for the Kankakee Valley Daily Journal<\/span><\/strong>, reports for FF2 Media<\/strong> and Fete Lifestyle Magazine<\/span><\/strong> with a stress on women in film, and guests on WGN AM 720<\/strong>. The team-up has been branded \u201c\u2018Reel Talk\u2019 with Chuck and Pam<\/strong>\u201d<\/span><\/a> for their social media accounts and public appearances, the latter of which have recently included a visit to New York City<\/strong> and a table at the Critics\u2019 Choice Awards<\/strong> in Santa Monica, CA<\/strong>, for both, plus a snowy sojourn to the Sundance Film Festival<\/strong> in Park City, UT<\/strong>, for Powell. It seems the handle first appeared in a pilot episode for a movie debate program that was taped in 2017 and is present among the videos on the pair\u2019s YouTube<\/strong> channel. Opening with an upbeat montage filmed in downtown Champaign that echoes the credits sequences from Siskel and Ebert\u2019s tenures with PBS<\/strong> and Disney<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, the cohosts converge at the Art Theater<\/strong> and settle into front row seats for a familiar back-and-forth session on then-current releases such as BABY DRIVER, THE BEGUILED<\/strong>, and SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING<\/strong>.<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n