It is, of course, of immense archival value, but the effect of the sheer weight of such a vast store of media, layered upon itself like an enormous cake of pure information, is far more metaphysical than mere archival utility.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 9, 2020

Stokes is a fascinating, elusive protagonist - she was a recluse who enjoyed daily martinis and felt a kinship with Steve Jobs. Yet Wolf treats her archive with reverence, rather than writing her off as an eccentric.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 7, 2020

Dips in the second half but well worth your time.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 5, 2020

Obsession, intellect, consumerism, conspiracy, all are here - and encompassing them is the white noise of the mass media, the bedlam hum of 24-hour television news.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 4, 2020

This documentary shows Stokes to have the fanatical energy of a hoarder, the zeal of an evangelist and the intensity of a visionary.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 4, 2020

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project, which is skillfully directed by Matt Wolf, is an example of the type of documentary that can be a true hidden gem.

| Jul 12, 2020

The documentary is at its best when it contrasts how Stokes's recording was received at the time versus how the value of her work has appreciated.

| Jun 17, 2020

Recorder could have easily withstood the inclusion of an additional 25 minutes of material, if only to make these two disparate half-movies into a more complete profile of an under-appreciated mind.

| Mar 17, 2020

"Recorder" shows the link between Stokes' brilliance and her craziness, and the damaging effects of obsessive behavior to the quality of a life lived. She was documenting the story, but "Recorder" shows how, in a way, she became the story.

| Original Score: B | Mar 7, 2020

Stokes remains something of an enigma, but watching Recorder, one thing becomes clear: We can learn a lot from the ability to rewind.

| Feb 25, 2020

Clips from Stokes' collection are seen throughout, turning this weird but rewarding movie into a kind of review of 30 years of history.

| Feb 14, 2020

While the documentary doesn't live up to its promise, Marion's 35 years of work appears to have found the right home and will reward researchers, and curious members of the public, for years to come.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Feb 6, 2020

Press play and be amazed.

| Jan 7, 2020

In Recorder, Wolf paints a compelling portrait of a woman whose unambiguous hoarding tendencies made it difficult to identify her enormously valuable media archival project as anything beyond yet another obsession

| Dec 19, 2019

The Marion Stokes Project captures both the inherent humor and the utter absurdity of what this single-minded woman devoted her life to. Buried within all those hours of footage are gems and relics to capture a time and place in an unprecedented fashion.

| Dec 18, 2019

Its main focus, as established by director Matt Wolf, is to paint this one eccentric, often prickly woman as a keeper of the flame of truth.

| Original Score: B | Dec 10, 2019

The camera doesn't love Stokes, but it certainly respects her. The intensity of her presence is unmistakable. That intensity is attested to, not always favorably, by the various people we hear from in "Recorder."

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 3, 2019

This is a really fascinating documentary... The movie gets into these definitions of what is the difference between calling someone a hoarder or a collector?

| Dec 3, 2019

But more than its occasional resemblance to a very special episode of "Hoarders," Wolf's strange, sad and finally exhilarating portrait is one of radical consumerism turned into a searchable legacy - the viewer as activist.

| Dec 1, 2019

What makes Recorder so utterly compelling and beautifully textured is the absolute compassion and sympathy that director Matt Wolf has for his subject

| Dec 1, 2019