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.

Phoenix Critics Circle Announces 2017 Award Nominations

The Phoenix Critics Circle proudly announces nominees for its annual awards. Members have narrowed the films from 2017 to the top nominees in ...

By Brent HankinsDecember 12, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Darkest Hour’

Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk provided audiences with a gripping look at one of the most harrowing moments of World War II, told from the ...

By Brent HankinsDecember 7, 20170

Movie Review: ‘The Disaster Artist’

Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space is often regarded as the worst film in the history of cinema, but if you set ...

By Brent HankinsDecember 6, 20170

‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Trailer: This Does Put a Smile on My Face

Even since the first Avengers film (and arguably, even before that), the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building toward a showdown between the ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 29, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Coco’

Pixar’s 19th animated feature starts from a familiar place, centered around a young boy named Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) with only one passion: to ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 20, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’

On a lonely stretch of road in the Midwest, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) drives a beat-up station wagon past a trio of dilapidated ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 19, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Murder on the Orient Express’

It’s been 43 years since the release of Sidney Lumet’s star-studded adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express – not to mention more ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 10, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Lady Bird’

“The only exciting thing about 2002 is that it’s a palindrome,” bemoans Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan), a high school senior at an all-girls ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 10, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Thor: Ragnarok’

Of the various franchises which make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Thor series was probably the top candidate for a new vision, ...

By Brent HankinsNovember 3, 20170

Movie Review: ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’

Opening with images of a still-beating heart and blood-stained surgical scrubs before cutting abruptly to a conversation in which two hospital employees discuss ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 26, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’

On the surface, Goodbye Christopher Robin – about author A.A. Milne’s creation of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories which would become a worldwide phenomenon – ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 23, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Marshall’

Before he became the first African-American to serve on the Supreme Court, and before he successfully argued a landmark civil rights case in Brown ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 12, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Professor Marston and the Wonder Women’

With a long-overdue big screen adventure for Wonder Woman generating huge box office returns earlier this summer, casual fans who find themselves curious ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 11, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Blade Runner 2049’

In an age where Hollywood seems hell-bent on remaking, rebooting and sequelizing nearly every property with a recognizable name, Denis Villeneuve’s stunning Blade ...

By Brent HankinsOctober 3, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Battle of the Sexes’

One of the most important tennis matches in history – and one of the sport’s most iconic and influential figures – finally gets ...

By Brent HankinsSeptember 20, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is the second movie in as many months to boast Channing Tatum affecting a good ol’ boy Southern drawl ...

By Brent HankinsSeptember 19, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Columbus’

The significance of Columbus, Indiana’s architectural landmarks was lost on me as a young man growing up a rural part of the state. ...

By Brent HankinsSeptember 18, 20170

Movie Review: ‘mother!’

There are myriad ways in which one can interpret Darren Aronofsky’s latest, the sure-to-be-polarizing psychological thriller mother! Is it a parable about toxic ...

By Brent HankinsSeptember 13, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Crown Heights’

Wrongfully accused of murdering a fellow teenager in a drive-by shooting, Colin Warner (Lakeith Stanfield) was arrested in August of 1980, and despite ...

By Brent HankinsSeptember 8, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Death Note’

The theme of absolute power eventually leading to corruption isn’t exactly fresh, but Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata managed to examine it through an ...

By Brent HankinsAugust 25, 20170

Movie Review: ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’

If you’re the kind of person who thinks the mere utterance of the F-word is cause for a chuckle, then rush out to ...

By Brent HankinsAugust 17, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Logan Lucky’

After taking a four-year hiatus from the world of feature films (unless you count his work as cinematographer on Magic Mike XXX), Steven ...

By Brent HankinsAugust 16, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Wind River’

After penning the critically acclaimed thrillers Sicario and Hell or High Water – the latter of which led to Oscar and Golden Globe ...

By Brent HankinsAugust 10, 20170

Fantasia 2017 Movie Review: ‘Deliver Us’

The notion of demonic possession and exorcism has long provided fodder for the horror genre to exploit, but these seemingly archaic rituals meant ...

By Brent HankinsAugust 9, 20170

Fantasia 2017 Movie Review: ‘Darkland’

Fenar Ahmad’s brooding revenge drama Darkland centers on successful surgeon Zaid (Game of Thrones alum Dar Salim), an Iraqi immigrant living in Denmark and ...

By Brent HankinsAugust 8, 20170

Fantasia 2017 Movie Review: ‘Tokyo Idols’

Anyone with an interest in Japanese pop culture is no doubt familiar with the “idol” industry, which turns young girls into pop music ...

By Brent HankinsAugust 1, 20170

Fantasia 2017 Movie Review: ‘Ron Goossens, Low Budget Stuntman’

Four years after their last offering, Dutch filmmakers Steffen Haars and Flip Van der Kuil are back with another hilariously irreverent comedy filled to ...

By Brent HankinsJuly 31, 20170

TV Review: ‘Ballers’ Season 3

After a tumultuous journey that nearly found him out of a job last season, Ballers protagonist Spencer Strasmore (Dwayne Johnson) is back in ...

By Brent HankinsJuly 23, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’

Twenty years after The Fifth Element became a critical and commercial success, Luc Besson is back for another wildly imaginative sci-fi romp through ...

By Brent HankinsJuly 19, 20170

D23 Expo 2017: ‘Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge’ Photos

Last weekend, Disney fans from across the globe descended on Anaheim, California for the 2017 D23 Expo, and one of the biggest attractions ...

By Brent HankinsJuly 17, 20170

SXSW 2017 Movie Review: ‘Baby Driver’

Premiering at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival ahead of its August release date, Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver nearly blew the roof off the ...

By Brent HankinsJune 27, 20170

Movie Review: ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’

After delivering a stunning and emotional sequel in 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, director Matt Reeves returns to close out ...

By Brent HankinsJune 26, 20170

Movie Review: ‘Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press’

When Gawker Media made the decision to post excerpts from a sex tape featuring iconic pro wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan, they couldn’t have ...

By Brent HankinsJune 23, 20170

TV Review: ‘GLOW’

As someone who grew up watching the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling with my grandmother, the news that Netflix would be producing a new ...

By Brent HankinsJune 12, 20170

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