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.

Tim Allen, Tom Hanks and Christina Hendricks in Toy Story 4

Movie Review: ‘Toy Story 4’

Fans of the Toy Story series have long been apprehensive about the notion of a fourth installment. The series had seemingly wrapped up ...

By Brent HankinsJune 13, 20190

Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth in Men in Black International

Movie Review: ‘Men in Black International’

If you had told me the onscreen pairing of Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth, who showcased tremendous comedic chemistry in Thor: Ragnarok, would ...

By Brent HankinsJune 12, 20190

Emma Thompson in Late Night

Movie Review: ‘Late Night’

When Emmy Award-winning talk show host Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) finds herself on the verge of being replaced by a smug young standup ...

By Brent HankinsJune 7, 20190

Sophie Turner in Dark Phoenix

Movie Review: ‘Dark Phoenix’

When 20th Century Fox first plucked the X-Men from the pages of Marvel comic books and thrust them onto theater screens around the ...

By Brent HankinsJune 4, 20190

Taron Egerton in Rocketman

Movie Review: ‘Rocketman’

The notion of condensing Elton John’s storied 50-year career into a two-hour film seems like an insurmountable task, one that could only lead ...

By Brent HankinsMay 31, 20190

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Movie Review: ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’

I was largely a fan of the 2014 Godzilla reboot, thanks in no small part to the efforts of director Gareth Edwards, who ...

By Brent HankinsMay 30, 20190

Timothy Olyphant and John Hawkes in Deadwood: The Movie

Movie Review: ‘Deadwood’

When HBO’s acclaimed Western drama Deadwood signed off in 2006 at the end of its third season, the cliffhanger ending seemed to promise ...

By Brent HankinsMay 29, 20190

Mena Massoud and Will Smith in Aladdin

Movie Review: ‘Aladdin’

Let’s get this out of the way right from the beginning: as the exuberant magic wielder in Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin, Will ...

By Brent HankinsMay 22, 20190

Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever in Booksmart.

Movie Review: ‘Booksmart’

A hilarious story about a pair of overachievers trying to party with the cool kids at the end of their senior year, Olivia ...

By Brent HankinsMay 17, 20190

Keanu Reeves and Halle Berry in John Wick Chapter 3

Movie Review: ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’

The three key elements of the John Wick franchise are bullets, bloodshed and badassery, a simple yet effective recipe that generated a considerable ...

By Brent HankinsMay 10, 20190

Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton and Ryan Reynolds in Pokemon Detective Pikachu

Movie Review: ‘Pokemon: Detective Pikachu’

Confession: I’ve never really been a Pokemon fan. Sure, I got caught up in the Pokemon Go craze a few years back, just ...

By Brent HankinsMay 8, 20190

Nicholas Hoult in Tolkien

Movie Review: ‘Tolkien’

A period drama about the early years of the celebrated author who penned The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien stars ...

By Brent HankinsMay 7, 20190

Judi Dench in Red Joan

Movie Review: ‘Red Joan’

When we first encounter Joan Stanley (Judi Dench), she seems like a run-of-the-mill octogenarian, pruning rose bushes in her front yard or pausing ...

By Brent HankinsApril 26, 20190

Chris Evans as Captain America in Avengers Endgame

Movie Review: ‘Avengers: Endgame’

One year ago, Avengers: Infinity War accomplished the unthinkable as a decade of storytelling in the Marvel Cinematic Universe coalesced into a thrilling, ...

By Brent HankinsApril 23, 20190

We Believe in Dinosaurs

Movie Review: ‘We Believe in Dinosaurs’

“This is a fossil created during Noah’s flood,” says Doug Henderson, lead exhibit designer at the Creation Museum. He’s referencing a complete Allosaurus ...

By Brent HankinsApril 19, 20190

Amy Madigan, Gerard Canonico, Arden Cho, Omar Chapparo and Ashanti in Stuck

Movie Review: ‘Stuck’

New musical Stuck, directed by Michael Berry and adapted from the stage production of the stage name, purports to teach us that we ...

By Brent HankinsApril 17, 20190

Elizabeth McGovern in The Chaperon

Movie Review: ‘The Chaperone’

Louise Brooks was an icon of the Jazz Age, a trendsetting star of the silent screen whose bob hairstyle and short skirts became ...

By Brent HankinsApril 13, 20190

Lily James and Tessa Thompson in Little Woods

PFF 2019 Movie Review: ‘Little Woods’

Like the other residents of Little Woods, North Dakota, Oleander “Ollie” King (Tessa Thompson) does what she needs to survive. In the past, ...

By Brent HankinsApril 11, 20190

Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench in All is True

PFF 2019 Movie Review: ‘All is True’

You’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of William Shakespeare than Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh: for thirty years, he’s been directing ...

By Brent HankinsApril 10, 20190

Pet Sematary

Movie Review: ‘Pet Sematary’

Stephen King is arguably the most well-known horror writer of all time, and certainly the most successful, but Hollywood adaptations of his work ...

By Brent HankinsApril 5, 20190

2019 Phoenix Film Festival Preview

The 2019 Phoenix Festival gets underway this week, kicking off ten days of programming with a lineup that includes a few Sundance hits, ...

By Brent HankinsApril 3, 20190

Brie Larson in Unicorn Store

Movie Review: ‘Unicorn Store’

“I don’t know how to be a grownup” laments Kit (Brie Larson) about halfway through Unicorn Store, a candy-coated comedy whose central character’s ...

By Brent HankinsApril 3, 20190

Crown the Empire performs at the Marquee Theater in Tempe, AZ on March 29, 2019. Photo by Brent Hankins

Concert Reviews

PHOTOS: Crown the Empire at The Marquee Theater

TEMPE — Less than five months after their last appearance, Crown the Empire returned to the Marquee Theater on Friday for a co-headlining ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 30, 20190

We Came as Romans perform at the Marquee Theater in Tempe, AZ on March 29, 2019. Photo by Brent Hankins.

Concert Reviews

PHOTOS: We Came as Romans at The Marquee Theater

TEMPE — Post-hardcore outfit We Came as Romans returned to Arizona on Friday night, performing at the Marquee Theater as part of their ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 30, 20190

Eva Green in Dumbo

Movie Review: ‘Dumbo’

Over the past few years, Walt Disney Studios has taken a number of characters and stories from their animated classics and updated them ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 26, 20190

Garth Brooks performs at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ on March 23, 2019. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Concert Reviews

Review: Garth Brooks rocks record-breaking crowd at State Farm Stadium

Country music superstar Garth Brooks returned to the Valley on Saturday night with a sold-out show at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 24, 20190

Zachary Levi and Jack Dylan Grazer in Shazam

Second Opinon: ‘Shazam’

The doom and gloom of the DC Extended Universe’s first few efforts is beginning to feel like a distant memory, and the course ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 23, 20190

Colson Baker, Douglas Booth, Daniel Webber, and Iwan Rheon in The Dirt

Movie Review: ‘The Dirt’

The past few years have sparked something of a resurgence in music biopics, with Hollywood tackling subjects ranging from Beach Boys genius Brian ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 22, 20192

Lupita Nyong'o, Evan Alex, and Shahadi Wright Joseph in Us

Movie Review: ‘Us’

Sketch comedy star Jordan Peele shocked the world with his 2017 directorial debut Get Out, a brilliant undertaking that was equal parts thriller, ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 20, 20190

Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgard in The Hummingbird Project.

Movie Review: ‘The Hummingbird Project’

Making an engaging film about the mundane details of Wall Street trading is no easy feat. Adam McKay managed to pull it off ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 19, 20190

Emily Blunt, Joel Dawson, Pixie Davies and Nathanael Saleh in Mary Poppins Returns.

DVD & Blu-Ray Reviews

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Mary Poppins Returns’

Taking a break from its ongoing quest to update each of its classic animated films into live-action/CG hybrids, Walt Disney Studios dusts off ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 18, 20190

Elizabeth Holmes in The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

SXSW 2019 Movie Review: ‘The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley’

“I don’t have many secrets,” says Elizabeth Holmes in the opening moments of Alex Gibney’s riveting new documentary, The Inventor: Out for Blood ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 13, 20190

Akio Sakurai in Mr. Jimmy. Photo courtesy of SXSW

SXSW 2019 Movie Review: ‘Mr. Jimmy’

In a crowded, dimly lit Tokyo club, a guitarist rips through nearly three hours of Led Zeppelin covers. But the versions of “Stairway ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 9, 20190

Brie Larson in Captain Marvel

Movie Review: ‘Captain Marvel’

Despite a whopping twenty films under its banner, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a bit late to the party when it comes to ...

By Brent HankinsMarch 5, 20192

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