Michael Curtis Nelson

Michael Curtis Nelson has a Ph.D. from Indiana University, where he is Director of Publications and Graphics.
Night Riders and Matinee Movies: The Relationship Between the KKK and American Film

Night Riders and Matinee Movies: The Relationship Between the KKK and American Film

This book could not be timelier, given the nativist and racist rhetoric inflaming discourse among America's Republican Party presidential hopefuls.
‘The Annotated Poe’ Is So Thoroughly Poe

‘The Annotated Poe’ Is So Thoroughly Poe

Kevin J. Hayes' thorough analysis includes backgrounds on when and where each poem was first published, its contemporary reception, and critical assessments since.
There’s No Resting in Peace in Roger Corman’s ‘Premature Burial’

There’s No Resting in Peace in Roger Corman’s ‘Premature Burial’

So burdened is Ray Milland by the trappings of horror convention that you marvel he doesn’t smother on the spot, even though he is safely above ground.
‘A Year in Champagne’ Is All Fruit and No Acidity

‘A Year in Champagne’ Is All Fruit and No Acidity

There's plenty of dazzle but little depth in this champagne documentary.
Revolvers, Redemption, and Yasujiro Ozu’s Silent Film Crime Drama

Revolvers, Redemption, and Yasujiro Ozu’s Silent Film Crime Drama

Yasujiro Ozu, like Hitchcock, provides a fascinating case study of how established silent film conventions coexisted alongside emerging sound.

‘The Wild Angels’ Lays Out the Rules of the Biker Film

‘The Wild Angels’ Lays Out the Rules of the Biker Film

Roger Corman's 1966 film is the storytelling legacy that works of cinema and television such as Sons of Anarchy draw from.
‘Through a Lens Darkly’ Should Have Let the Pictures Tell the Story

‘Through a Lens Darkly’ Should Have Let the Pictures Tell the Story

Through a Lens Darkly surveys the often hidden or forgotten history of African Americans as photographic subjects as well as photographers.
All of the Citizens of ‘Nuclear Nation’ Are Forced to Be Expats

All of the Citizens of ‘Nuclear Nation’ Are Forced to Be Expats

Like spent fuel rods, refugees of the Fukushima nuclear disaster are handled delicately, considered toxic, and unwelcome anywhere they go.
‘Uranium Drive-In’ Reveals How Fake Facts Shape Reality

‘Uranium Drive-In’ Reveals How Fake Facts Shape Reality

Suzan Beraza's documentary captures the contours and stubborn endurance of myths about uranium mining, as well as the evidence of their tenuous connection to reality.
Greydon Clark’s Sci-Fi ‘Without Warning’ Can’t Resist the Camp

Greydon Clark’s Sci-Fi ‘Without Warning’ Can’t Resist the Camp

Four writers were involved in Greydon Clark’s sci-fi film Without Warning and not one of them could resist the camp.

Have Our ‘Hearts and Minds’ Really Changed?

Have Our ‘Hearts and Minds’ Really Changed?

There are lessons aplenty about Vietnam in Hearts and Minds—it's a shame we still haven’t learned them.
A Tree Grows in Stoningham: ‘All That Heaven Allows’

A Tree Grows in Stoningham: ‘All That Heaven Allows’

There’s no scenery chewing in All That Heaven Allows, just very eloquent décor.