“I wanted to simply echo the sentiments of Sherry Luft in her May 1 letter regarding the current state of movie reviews at Mountain Xpress [‘Experienced Movie Critics Wanted’].”

“I wanted to simply echo the sentiments of Sherry Luft in her May 1 letter regarding the current state of movie reviews at Mountain Xpress [‘Experienced Movie Critics Wanted’].”
“I personally prefer the present mode of reviewing movies, barring the return from the grave of Cranky Hanke.”
“As a movie fan, I appreciate an educated and critical reviewer who is also a skilled writer.”
“Recently, in my opinion, each week the reviews contain less content and depth.”
“The continuation of the Asheville Film Society in Asheville (and in a downtown location) helps to enrich our culture here, and its demise would be a sad thing.”
“I’d like to echo a request for more thorough and less academic reviews that are addressed to those of us in the Asheville area who look forward to getting some good ol’ useful, if cranky, advice from reviewers at the Xpress.”
“These guys clearly know their stuff. I appreciate their reviews, but then I have learned to appreciate my way through life, because it is ever so much more enjoyable when I do, LOL.”
“I really do not care how big the reviewer’s vocabulary is, I just want to know if the movie is worth seeing or not.”
When long-time Mountain Xpress movie critic Ken Hanke passed away in late June, the Asheville film community lost an irreplaceable asset. In honor of Ken and his contributions to cinematic culture and criticism, his favorite film, Ken Russell’s Tommy, will be screened three times at the Fine Arts Theatre on Wednesday, Sept. 14. Shows start […]
By Marion Thullbery
I grew up with Ken Hanke. He was my best friend in elementary school, and we remained good friends all through high school and into our college and young adult years. During that time, we watched movies — all kinds of movies.
In 2002, I was 19 and had just gotten a slightly-above-minimum-wage job at “The Carmike.” After my first shift, a Saturday during the opening weekend of the latest Star Wars epic, I went home and considered never going back. I felt uncomfortable there with all those strangers, and the pay was awful. But I knew […]
One less Crank[e] amongst us: On the passing of Ken Hanke, by Jeff Fobes Out-riffing us all: Remembering Ken Hanke, by Marc McCloud
“I feel like I have lost a comrade in arms, a fellow lover of cinema and history, another movie buff who saw something more in those moving images than just stars and simple stories.”
The inimitable Ken Hanke died yesterday evening. He had been ailing from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for some years and was feeling ill in the last few days. Ken informed, entertained, challenged, irritated and enthralled readers for years with his movie reviews, thousands of them. He was also an inspiring force behind the Asheville Film […]
“Hey, Mr. Hanke — ever heard of the phrase ‘spoiler alert’?”
When I moved back home to Asheville after a lengthy sojourn in the [Research ] Triangle, I was thrilled to find that Asheville had its own film critic and that he actually reviewed real movies that played in real movie theaters that real people went to see. You see, in the Triangle at that time, […]
The topics of “what frightens you” (vice presidential candidates aside) and “have you really ever been scared by a movie” came up in conversation last week and I decided to explore it a bit, and at the same time put out a call to readers to offer their own answers.
There’s been a lot of talk this summer about how certain disappointing movies—namely Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Star Wars: The Clone Wars—have tainted fans’ enjoyment of the original films.
I’ve always had a strange relationship with the works of Joel and Ethan Coen.