Brent Hankins

Brent Hankins has been blogging and writing film reviews online since 2011. He joined the Phoenix Film Critics Society in 2013, and was a founding member of the Phoenix Critics Circle the following year, where he currently serves as President. Brent also hosted the weekly Drinks and Discourse podcast for nearly 5 years, and is currently the editor-in-chief at The Lamplight Review. He resides in Tempe, AZ with his wife and son.

Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Dwayne Johnson, Awkwafina and Jack Black in Jumanji: The Next Level

Movie Review: ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’

Franchise reboots are something of a risky proposition, with many beloved properties failing to connect with audiences in the same way as their ...

By Brent HankinsDecember 10, 20190

Taylor Swift, Miss Americana, Sundance 2020

Sundance 2020: First Wave of Films Announced

We’re just over a month away from the 2020 edition of the Sundance Film Festival, scheduled to take place in Park City, UT ...

By Brent HankinsDecember 4, 20190

Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon and Toni Colette in Knives Out

Movie Review: ‘Knives Out’

After cutting his teeth on 2006’s Brick, a brilliant throwback to Dashiell Hammett detective noir set in a suburban high school, writer-director Rian ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 27, 20190

Robert De Niro in The Irishman

Movie Review: ‘The Irishman’

Over the past few weeks, acclaimed director Martin Scorsese should have been making the press rounds and discussing his monumental new film, The ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 25, 20192

Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Movie Review: ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’

For an in-depth look at the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved host of long-running children’s show Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, you ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 20, 20190

Frozen 2 supervising animator Justin Sklar on the film's craziest scene

Interview: ‘Frozen II’ animator Justin Sklar on the film’s craziest sequence

It’s a sunny November afternoon in Phoenix, and Frozen II supervising animator Justin Sklar is seated in a massive downtown conference room. “I ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 19, 20190

Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell in Frozen II

Movie Review: ‘Frozen II’

Walt Disney Animation Studios boasts something of a shaky record when it comes to sequels: we’re not terribly far removed from the mostly ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 14, 20190

Matt Damon and Christian Bale in Ford v Ferrari

Movie Review: ‘Ford v Ferrari’

After shaking up the superhero status quo with 2017’s violent and visceral neo-Western Logan, director James Mangold is back with something a bit ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 13, 20190

Adam Driver in The Report

Movie Review: ‘The Report’

“It’s been very consuming,” says Daniel Jones (Adam Driver) in the opening moments of The Report. He’s just been asked about his work ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 12, 20190

Scott Z. Burns and Daniel J. Jones talk whistle-blowing vs truth-telling in The Report

Interview: Scott Z. Burns and Daniel J. Jones on whistle-blowing vs truth-telling in ‘The Report’

Scott Z. Burns is no stranger to crafting riveting, edge-of-your-seat cinematic fare — his writing credits include The Bourne Ultimatum, The Informant, Contagion ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 12, 20190

Disney+ Launch Day Reviews

As if the streaming wars weren’t combative enough, a new player is entering the fray this week as the Walt Disney Company throws ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 11, 20190

Ewan McGregor in Doctor Sleep

Movie Review: ‘Doctor Sleep’

Film critics, connoisseurs and historians may disagree on many fronts, but one universally accepted truth is that Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film The ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 7, 20190

Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator: Dark Fate

Movie Review: ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’

After multiple disappointing entries over the past couple of decades, you wouldn’t expect the latest installment of the Terminator franchise to warrant much ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 31, 20190

Thomasin McKenzie and Roman Griffin Davis in Jojo Rabbit

Interview: Thomasin McKenzie talks ‘Jojo Rabbit’ role

Taika Waititi’s latest effort, the World War II comedy Jojo Rabbit, follows a young Nazi devotee who discovers that his mother has been ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 29, 20190

Eddie Murphy in Dolemite is My Name

Movie Review: ‘Dolemite is My Name’

It’s been two decades since Eddie Murphy headlined an R-rated comedy (the last was 1999’s Life, with Martin Lawrence), but lest there be ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 25, 20190

Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson in The Lighthouse

Movie Review: ‘The Lighthouse’

A frantic fog-enveloped fever dream about isolation, paranoia and madness, The Lighthouse is director Robert Eggers’ follow-up to his acclaimed feature debut, The ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 24, 20190

Mufasa and Simba in Disney's The Lion King

DVD & Blu-Ray Reviews

Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Lion King’

With a worldwide gross of $1.6 billion, Disney’s remake of The Lion King –which eschewed hand-drawn animation in favor of the same digital ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 22, 20190

Taika Waititi and Roman Griffin Davis in Jojo Rabbit

Movie Review: ‘Jojo Rabbit’

After a commercially and critically successful foray into big-time Hollywood filmmaking with Thor: Ragnarok, director Taika Waititi is back with Jojo Rabbit, a ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 22, 20190

Abigail Breslin, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg in Zombieland Double Tap

Movie Review: ‘Zombieland: Double Tap’

Comedy sequels — particularly those arriving more than a decade after the original film — can be something of a risky proposition, often ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 16, 20190

Angelina Jolie in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Movie Review: ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’

After Maleficent grossed $758 million worldwide — building the foundation for the seemingly endless parade of remakes, revisions and reimaginings of the studio’s ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 15, 20190

Will Smith and Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Gemini Man

Movie Review: ‘Gemini Man’

Much of the buzz surrounding Ang Lee’s Gemini Man has focused on the revolutionary new technology that allows for Will Smith to face ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 10, 20190

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker

Movie Review: ‘Joker’

Todd Phillips’ Joker has been courting controversy since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it took home the prestigious Golden Lion ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 2, 20198

Ben Platt in The Politician

TV Review: ‘The Politician’

Since the age of seven, Payton Hobart (Ben Platt) has been fixated on becoming the President of the United States. As an Ivy ...

By Brent HankinsSeptember 23, 20190

Maika Monroe and Bill Skarsgard in Villains

Movie Review: ‘Villains’

Mickey (Bill Skarsgard) and Jules (Maika Monroe) aren’t so different from other young couples in their mid-twenties: crazy in love and overflowing with ...

By Brent HankinsSeptember 19, 20190

Mena Massoud and Will Smith in Aladdin

DVD & Blu-Ray Reviews

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Aladdin’

After grossing more than $1 billion at the global box office, Disney’s live-action update of beloved animated classic Aladdin heads to home video ...

By Brent HankinsSeptember 13, 20190

Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu in Hustlers

Movie Review: ‘Hustlers’

Hustlers, the latest from writer-director Lorene Scafaria (Seeking a Friend of the End of the World), is one of those rare “inspired by ...

By Brent HankinsSeptember 13, 20190

Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise in IT: Chapter Two

Movie Review: ‘IT: Chapter Two’

Two years after director Andy Muschietti’s acclaimed adaptation of Stephen King’s IT, which narrowed the massive scope of the novel to focus solely ...

By Brent HankinsSeptember 5, 20190

Isabela Moner and Eugenio Derbez in Dora and the Lost City of Gold

Movie Review: ‘Dora and the Lost City of Gold’

If you think beloved children’s cartoon Dora the Explorer seems like an odd choice for the big-screen live-action treatment, you’re not alone. The ...

By Brent HankinsAugust 9, 20190

Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in Hobbs and Shaw

Movie Review: ‘Hobbs and Shaw’

The Fast and Furious franchise has always enjoyed a somewhat tenuous relationship with the laws of physics, and that relationship has grown more ...

By Brent HankinsJuly 31, 20190

leonardo dicaprio brad pitt once upon a time in hollywood

Movie Review: ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’

As Quentin Tarantino lurches ever closer to his self-imposed maximum of ten films — an arbitrary limit meant to ensure the revered writer ...

By Brent HankinsJuly 25, 20190

kevin feige sdcc 2019

SDCC 2019: Marvel Studios panel recap and photo gallery

Marvel Studios made their triumphant return to San Diego Comic-Con this year with a massive 90-minute presentation in Hall H, where studio chief ...

By Brent HankinsJuly 22, 20190

danai gurira sdcc 2019

SDCC 2019: ‘The Walking Dead’ panel recap and photo gallery

Hot on the heels of Fear the Walking Dead San Diego Comic-Con panel, AMC’s original zombie series The Walking Dead also held a ...

By Brent HankinsJuly 21, 20190

maggie grace sdcc 2019

SDCC 2019: ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ panel recap and photo gallery

AMC’s hit series Fear the Walking Dead returned to San Diego Comic Con’s Hall H this year for a discussion with the cast ...

By Brent HankinsJuly 21, 20190

clark gregg chloe bennett ming-na wen sdcc 2019

SDCC 2019: ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ panel recap and photo gallery

With the end of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on the horizon — next year’s seventh season was recently confirmed as the last — ...

By Brent HankinsJuly 19, 20190

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