Rating: 
Summary: I've changed my mind
Review: I had originally given Stone Reader a positive review despite reservations about the director's dubious 'search' for a missing novelist and his annoying attempts to upstage the publishing people he interviews. What changed my mind was a recent newspaper story about how he sent our thousands of e-mails begging others to leave favorable reviews at amazon.com, even if they had never seen the movie. Trickery of this sort lowers my opinion of both the director and his film. Neither is worthy of our consideration.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful exploration of novels and their impact
Review: "Stone Reader" was one of my favorite documentaries of 2003. Salinger's Holden Caulfied says something to the effect that you know that a book is truly great when you wish the author were a friend so that you could call him up and quiz him on the details of the story. Mark Moskowitz clearly felt that Dow Mossman's "Stones of Summer" was a novel of that stature and so didn't give up on his quest until he could have those conversations for himself. I found Moskowitz's passion and some of his discoveries along the way interesting and in some cases, quite moving. (Whether or not the book "Stones of Summer" is any good is an entirely separate issue for me.) There are some very strange things going on with the reviews down below, which I won't bother commenting on except to say that some folks have clearly decided to try to impact this film negatively in a way that bewilders me.
Rating: 
Summary: A middling docuymentary I don't trust
Review: I consider myself an objective reviewer in regard to Stone Reader. I've seen it twice, once at a film festival in New York and once on DVD. I found it an average film, about 45 minutes too long. Much too much screentime was devoted to the director and his studied emptiness. As far as questions regarding whether this film has a latent gay message, I will not speculate. I will say that I liked some of the interviews with writers, but those were few and far between. As farfetched as I found the story, I suspended my disbelief. I accepted what I saw as truth.
I have since watched the DVD and read the Times article about how the filmmaker sent out 3,000 e-mails requesting that people post postitive reviews on Amazon, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY HAVE ACTUALLY WATCHED THE FILM. I find this outrageous. Stone Reader may have fooled me, but many of its reviews here do not.
Rating:
Summary: From 2/14/04 NY Times on Scamming the System:
Review: As the Amazon sites expand their visitors are seen as an increasingly important. Mark Moskowitz, an independent filmmaker, sent an e-mail message to about 3,000 people this week asking them to review the DVD of his film "Stone Reader," which goes on sale soon. "If you didn't see it but heard it was good, go ahead and post anyway, (what the heck)," Mr. Moskowitz told them. "It doesn't obligate you for anything, even the truth." Not even the truth? I beg to differ. . .
Rating:
Summary: Odious
Review: Couldn't believe so many critics (but not all) were taken in by this. More a mockumentary than anything else, since the film purports to document real events, but in fact sets up ridiculous shots of, for example, Moskowitz and friends going to their mailboxes to retrieve copies of the book. And then, of course, the fake "search" for Mossman - a lovely, troubled man who seems to have had, despite everything, a real, lifelong engagement with literature - who, it seems, could probably have been found in 10 minutes, rather than months. The literary critics and writers interviewed are all interesting, but by the end it wouldn't have surprised me if the filmmaker had asked, " What would you say if I told you I had Dow Mossman in the trunk of my car?"
Rating: 
Summary: A book lover's tribute
Review: This film is a gem for anyone who spent their youth in the library, reading under the bedsheets late at night with a flashlight, hiding a good book inside your math book so you could continue reading. Moskowitz captures the essence of the joy of reading. In 2 hours, this films transports the viewer across the United States as Moskowitz talks to some of the literary legends of our times, including the people behind the scenes. I won't spoil the best parts but there are some perfect "reading" moments that make the viewer wonder why we stop reading. This is a must see for readers of all ages!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful documentary for lovers of literature and cinema
Review: A well-crafted exploration of readers and writers, Mark Moskowitz's documentary has been appearing in myriad top-ten lists for 2003. It chronicles Moskowitz's attempts to locate the writer Dow Mossman and, en route, it calls upon a score of writers and former associates of Mossman. The success of the film is this journey, a celebration of why we read and why we write. It makes you want to go home and start reading immediately--maybe dust off one of those books you've been holding onto for years without having read. Some literary masterpieces may not strike us until we are ready to appreciate them. Moskowitz couldn't breach Mossman's book when he first bought it, but found himself lost in its poetic imagery much later in life. Fans of film and reading will love this documentary. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.
Rating:
Summary: overlooked for a good reason
Review: i have never written one of these reviews on amazon before, but feel compelled to add my two cents. i saw this documentary last year at the overlooked film fest in chicago and walked out about 2/3 of the way through. in my opinion the film was much ado about nothing, though the puffed-up director evidently thought otherwise. i am writing now even though i am not one of the 3,000 people (as reported last week by the new york times) who received an e-mail from the director asking them to write a rave review of stone reader on amazon, even if they have not seen it. well, i saw it, and was not impressed. nor am i impressed by the underhanded e-mail campaign.
Rating:
Summary: There's no there here
Review: Stultifyingly boring hack-job. Grossly manipulative. Obvious to the extreme. Laughably predictable. Void of talent. The whole film looks as if it was pieced together from the outtakes of various dysfunctional-family morning talk-shows with stereotypes of a down and out writer, a fat overbearing mother and a Dr. Phil impersonator thrown in to make the entire project seem ironic and "artful." I don't think I've seen a more amateurish piece of work in years. A real symptom of the growing degeneration of modern independent film-making. The moral: Just because you CAN put a film camera in the hands of an emotionally complicated wanna-be these days...it doesn't mean you SHOULD.
Rating:
Summary: How weird are the reviews mentioning gay subtext!?
Review: This is a wonderful exploration of the creative instinct and the pain that can ensue when it comes face to face with reality and the commercial imperative. It is also a delightful examination of one man's obsession in tracking down the source of the river of language that is "The Stones of Summer". How on earth a group of weird reviewers formed the opinion that there was some form of homosexual agenda in the whole process is beyond me. It seems to say a lot more about either their twisted bigotry or probable own sexual suppression than it says about the wonderful creative men involved in this documentary.
| 
