The Notebook

Sep 29, 2018 — This “lean but evocative allegory” can be read in a surprising number of ways.

Feb 8, 2018 — “Is there a full-length feature film in the dramatic but blink-and-it’s-over incident of three young Americans subduing a heavily armed terrorist determined to kill as many people as possible on a Paris-bound fast train two years ago?” asks the Hollywood...

Sep 25, 2017 — Last year, I Am Not Madame Bovary premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the Special Presentations award from the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) and would go on to win the top award at the...

Sep 19, 2017 — Film Comment editor Nicolas Rapold has posted his overview of this year’s Venice International Film Festival, and a “Telluride 2017 Journal” from the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Eugene Hernandez is up there, too. But FC’s gone all out on...

Sean Gilman is a film critic based in Tacoma, Washington. He has written extensively on East Asian film for MUBI’s Notebook, In Review Online, and his own site, the Chinese Cinema.

Nov 25, 2025 — Having broken through in over-the-top horror movies, Kier turned in arresting performances in films by Fassbinder, Lars von Trier, and Gus Van Sant.

Oct 2, 2025 — The festival presents new films from Gianfranco Rosi, Kahlil Joseph, Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, and Lucrecia Martel.

May 18, 2026 — Critics are taking to Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, Radu Jude’s The Diary of a Chambermaid, and Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid.

Apr 15, 2026 — The festival presents winners of top prizes in Rotterdam and Locarno as well as highlights from Cannes and Berlin.

Dec 18, 2025 — Checking in on lists of the best films, performances, scenes, scores, restorations, and more.