A new documentary emphasizes the political intrigues of Da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
Dan Schindel
Dan Schindel is a freelance writer and copy editor living in Brooklyn, and a former associate editor at Hyperallergic. His portfolio and links are here.
Posted inBook Review
Eadweard Muybridge and the Making of the Motion Picture
A new comic book is as much a social history of photography and its relationship to culture during the 19th century as it is one man’s life story.
Posted inFilm Review
The Darkness of Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light
One of a new documentary’s most intriguing strands is the way that brand seemed to eclipse the man, according to his own family.
Posted inInterview
Art Spiegelman Is “Learning How to Do This Comics Thing Again”
On the occasion of a new documentary, the artist talks with Hyperallergic about the legacy of Maus, comics techniques, Gaza, collaboration, and more.
Posted inGuide
What to Watch at MoMA’s Doc Fortnight Festival
From Cauleen Smith’s trilogy on volcanos to Philippe Parreno’s intimate exploration of Goya, here’s what to watch.
Posted inFilm
The Existential Crisis of Free Leonard Peltier
The film was made to agitate for the release of the wrongly imprisoned Indigenous activist. Despite last-minute edits after his clemency, it still shows some cracks.
Posted inFilm
Zodiac Killer Project Is a Parody of the True Crime Genre
The documentary is an incisive critique of how cliché-bound the genre has become, encouraging viewers to ask more from it.
Posted inInterview
The Story of the Godfather of Asian-American Media, Told by His Son
“The best film I could make was one that only I could tell as his son,” Tadashi Nakamura told Hyperallergic about legendary director Robert Nakamura.
Posted inGuide
Not-to-Miss Documentaries at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Several nonfiction works playing at the festival are timely, whether in their current subject matter or relevant reflections on the past.
Posted inNews
David Lynch, Conjurer of the Uncanny, Dies at 78
The visionary film director and artist was an institution unto himself — primarily of cinema, but also painting, music, photography, and culture at large.
Posted inFilm
The Emotional Valences of Brutalism
Historically, cinema has invoked the architectural movement as an easy shorthand for villainy. In The Brutalist, though, it embodies a proletarian dream.
Posted inFilm
Werner Herzog’s Anticlimatic Exploration of the Human Brain
The filmmaker seems out of his depth in Theater of Thought, too willing to let his subjects make questionable claims without pushing back or delving deeper.