New Film Reviewer

[The Tropic Blog is adding a new local reviewer, Craig Wanous]

Film reviewer has farmer, editor, captain resume
By SEAN KINNEY
skinney@keynoter.com
Posted - Friday, May 06, 2011 11:01 AM EDT

 Craig Wanous, whose resume includes catfish farmer, restaurateur, charter boat captain and magazine editor, can now add film critic to that lengthy list.

Wanous, who grew up traveling the country with his parents' event production company, landed in Key West in 2007 and by day is the manager of the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center.

But by night, Mondays in particular, Wanous hosts classic film screenings at the Tropic Cinema. A recent series paid tribute to Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor with showings of National Velvet, Suddenly Last Summer, A Place in the Sun and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

 In some ways Wanous has come full circle, assuming the role of actor Bill Kennedy who hosted the long-running, titular program "Bill Kennedy at the Movies."

"He would introduce a movie and at every commercial break he would give some interesting trivia and tidbits, talks about the scene coming up, point out stars, that sort of thing," Wanous told the Keynoter.

"I've kind of fulfilled that Bill Kennedy role of looking up and researching a movie and the people in it and the trivia about it."

Spurred by Kennedy and the availability of movie theaters wherever his parents' work took him, Wanous developed a love of film in his early teens that has endured to this day.

"Movies were always kind of an escape for me," he said. "I've always really enjoyed the entire movie experience. Even bad movies can be fun."

And, that attitude is what will come through in his upcoming reviews for L'Attitudes, the arts and entertainment section of The Florida Keys Keynoter and the Upper Keys Reporter.

Wanous said his focus is not on the technical cinematic process, but rather "geared toward the everyday person and whether I think it's worth their time and money to go see the movie.

"When I read a movie review, I want to know whether the reviewer thinks it's worth me spending my $10-a-head to go see. A lot of reviews you read and they go into so much detail about the film, but they never really give you the answer about whether you should see it or not."

Asked to give his "on the spot top five favorite movies," Wanous didn't hesitate in coming up with a diverse mix: the Vietnam-era satire "MASH"; gripping thriller "Alien," which provided a break-out role for Sigourney Weaver; "Amelie," a visually-stunning French film; "Catch-22" based on the novel by Joseph Heller; and "Moon," from 2009, a complex sci-fi movie starring Sam Rockwell.

[From The Keynoter - www.keysnet.com]