Fourteen years ago, a fictional Kazakh journalist became a box office sensation in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Audiences…
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.
Like 40 million others adults in the United States alone, Winona (Jessica Barden) suffers from an anxiety disorder — she just doesn’t realize it yet. Recently…
The all-virtual edition of AFI Fest 2020 kicked off in spectacular fashion Thursday evening with I’m Your Woman, a gritty 70s-era crime thriller from director Julia…
Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 Gothic romance novel Rebecca is no stranger to adaptation: among others, Alfred Hitchcock’s version won the Academy Award for Best Picture in…
“In a moment of crisis, the world’s most powerful nation didn’t rise to the occasion, it descended into division and chaos.” This quote, from the early…
There’s something chilling about watching uniformed police officers confront a group of protestors, remove their badges and nameplates, then wade into the crowd indiscriminately swinging fists…
Millie Bobby Brown has been pegged for superstardom ever since turning heads with her breakout role in hit Netflix series Stranger Things, and this week she…
The slow-motion, single-take opening of Antebellum, arriving this week on VOD after its original April theatrical release was cancelled in the wake of a pandemic, sets…
“Some people were born just so they could be buried.” This quote from The Devil All the Time, the latest offering from Antonio Campos (Christine), is…
1998 adventure Mulan isn’t quite regarded with the same reverence as other classics from the Disney Renaissance, like Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast, but as…
“I wanted to do a love letter to wrestling,” David Arquette tells me about his new film, You Cannot Kill David Arquette, a documentary that charts…
Having been in various stages of development since at least 2010, a third installment of the Bill and Ted series has often felt destined to exist…
On April 25, 2000, 29-year-old Hollywood star David Arquette won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, widely considered to be one of professional wrestling’s most prestigious titles.…
An impressive feat of physical endurance exists at the center of Crazy Samurai Musashi, as lead actor Tak Sakaguchi cuts his way through nearly 600 opponents…
After debuting at the top of the Chinese box office last year, Sam Quah’s Sheep Without a Shepherd makes its way to North American audiences as…
Enjoying its North American premiere as part of the 2020 Fantasia International Film Festival, director Ivo van Aart’s The Columnist is a sharply written examination of…
As more than 1100 young men from Texas gathered for a week-long experiment in self-governance — part of an annual program sponsored by the American Legion…
In May 2016, I managed to convince my wife that we should deplete the majority of our savings account in order to fly to New York…
Written and directed by former Daily Show host Jon Stewart, Irresistible turns a playful yarn about a small-town mayoral race into an indictment of the division,…
Stuffed to the gills with great performances and spectacular production design, Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood — arriving on Netflix this weekend — posits a version of post-war…
Theatrical distribution may have come to a screeching halt due to the COVD-19 pandemic, but that doesn’t mean film enthusiasts are left without options. Indeed, new…
Originally scheduled to hit theaters last fall, The Hunt became mired in controversy shortly after the release of its first trailer, which featured a group of…
Director Gavin O’Connor is no stranger to sports dramas, with two superbly crafted genre entries already under his belt (2004’s Miracle and 2011’s Warrior). Reuniting with…
Despite what Sonic the Hedgehog might have you think, family films don’t have to be full of bad jokes, cringe-worthy dialogue and product placement. They don’t…
In last year’s Uncut Gems, Dinah (Idina Menzel) tells estranged husband Howard (Adam Sandler) “you’re the most annoying person I’ve ever met.” It’s easy to see…
Warner Bros. got off to a shaky start with some of the early films in their DC Extended Universe: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice underperformed…
Three years ago, Dees Rees wowed audiences at the Sundance Film Festival with Mudbound, a haunting examination of racial and familial relations in the 1940s Deep…
Adrift in the complacency of long-term marriage, Pete (Will Ferrell) and Billie (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) embark on a vacation to an upscale European ski resort with their…
Once upon a time, Cassie (Carey Mulligan) was a med school student at the top of her class, but dropped out after a mysterious event and…
To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never seen a film based on a series of Tweets before today, but Aziah “Zola” Wells’ epic recounting of…
Writer-director Guy Ritchie burst onto the scene at the end of the millennium with a pair of densely-plotted gangster comedies, 1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking…
GLENDALE — “Deja fuckin’ vu, huh?” quipped Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan after the opening number of their show at Gila River Arena on Saturday. The…
The story of John Dolittle, a physician with a unique ability to understand and communicate with animals, has gone through numerous adaptations for the stage and…
The fact that Bad Boys for Life actually made it to the big screen feels like a small miracle. The previous film, Bad Boys II, was…