It was about nine months ago when the pilot episode of Gotham premiered to an excited and enthusiastic crowd at San Diego Comic Con. Since then,…
Author: Brent Hankins
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.
The Fast and Furious franchise has been a box office juggernaut, with the last three installments taking in a collective total of $1.7 billion at the…
One of the standout offerings from the 2015 Phoenix Film Festival was Khalil Sullin’s sci-fi drama Listening, which explores the moral and ethical issues that arise…
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was a smash hit at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, premiering to a standing ovation and garnering rave reviews throughout…
Director Marcus Nispel certainly knows horror – he directed 2003’s stellar remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and was also behind the camera for the imaginative Friday…
There’s no denying that Beach Boys songwriter Brian Wilson is one of the most talented and influential musicians of the 20th century, and it’s a bit…
Get Hard is a shining example of a finished product not being greater than the sum of its parts. The idea of bringing together two comedic heavyweights isn’t…
The 15th Annual Phoenix Film Festival occurs this year from Thursday, March 26th to Thursday, April 2nd. Continually breaking attendance records since its inception, last year’s…
The Final Girls was one of my favorite movies from the 2015 SXSW Film Festival, and seeing it with a late-night audience at the Paramount Theater…
Although not a runaway success, Divergent did quite well at the box office, and one year later we’re getting the second installment, Insurgent, based on the book of the same…
Constance Zimmer is probably most recognizable for her role as Dana Gordon in the hit HBO series Entourage – although her portrayal of political reporter Janine Skorsky in…
Petting Zoo, director Micah Magee’s intimate portrait of a young woman from a low-income family coping with an unexpected pregnancy, premiered earlier this year at the Berlin…
While I generally enjoy most music biopics, it’s hard to argue with the fact that most of them tend to subscribe to a very familiar pattern.…
It was only a matter of time before screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) found himself stepping behind the camera, and he takes a fresh…
The combination of horror and comedy is always a volatile recipe, and the failure to mix those ingredients just right can often result in disaster. But every…
To call Russell Brand a polarizing figure in the realm pop culture would be something of an understatement. Over the years, the comedian, actor and author has concocted…
The latest installment in what promises to be a long parade of live-action updates to classic Disney stories, Cinderella revisits the beloved fairy tale with a…
The horror genre has gotten increasingly stale over the past few years, with a seemingly endless onslaught of films featuring paranormal hauntings or demonic possessions -…
The year is 1871, and Dutch immigrant Jon (Mads Mikkelsen) is anxious for his wife and son to finally arrive in America. His joy is short-lived,…
Six years ago, South African director Neill Blomkamp burst onto the scene with District 9, a captivating sci-fi tale featuring a breakout performance from Sharlto Copley,…
As the voice of Pam Poovey, a human resources director whose idea of mediation involves a dolphin hand puppet, and who would rather be shoveling food…
An iconic figure in the world of professional wrestling, Jake “The Snake” Roberts enjoyed a storied career before falling victim to alcoholism and drug addiction. His…
WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts joins Brent for a chat about his wrestling career, his recovery from addiction, and his future in the…
After successfully translating Kick-Ass to the big screen, comic book writer Mark Millar and director Matthew Vaughn have teamed up once more to bring another of…
With over 100 million copies in print, the Fifty Shades of Grey book series is an undeniable phenomenon, and it didn’t take long for Hollywood to…
JUSTIFIED star Jacob Pitts returns to the podcast to discuss the show’s final season, his thoughts on working with guest stars Sam Elliott and Garret Dillahunt,…
Time travel is always a tricky subject for a filmmaker to tackle. It’s been done countless times, with countless interpretations, and most attempts struggle to show…
Sometimes, watching a bad film – and in my case, subsequently writing a review of a bad film – can be an enjoyable experience. There are some…
From the original theatrical review: In a wise move that pays dividends in the finished product, Flynn herself was tapped to write the adaptation, stripping the…
We’re kicking off 2015 with special guest Lucky Yates, the voice of Dr. Algernop Krieger on FX’s hit animated series, ARCHER. Lucky tells us about working…
The Phoenix Critics Circle proudly announces its winners for the best films and performances of 2014.
It’s time (again) for Peter Jackson to say goodbye to his cinematic Tolkien universe that he created with such passion and vision over a decade ago. The Hobbit:…
The Phoenix Film Critics Society is pleased to announce the winners of our 2014 Annual Awards.
The Phoenix Critics Circle proudly announces nominees for its inaugural awards. Members narrowed the films from 2014 to the top three to five nominees in each…