Sound City 2013

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: If it doesn't break any ground as a documentary, it's a heartfelt testament to a place he considers among the most hallowed halls of rock. Read more

Neil Genzlinger, New York Times: Mr. Grohl has put a lot of affection into this film, and it shows. Read more

Charles Cross, Seattle Times: A joyous ode to a lost era of music making that will delight music buffs and those who appreciate a well-done documentary. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: I didn't jump out of my chair and pump my fist till 24 minutes in. Read more

Melissa Maerz, Entertainment Weekly: Dave Grohl's terrific new doc, Sound City, profiles the studio where some of the greatest music of the past four decades was born. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: The first-time director smartly sees Sound City as a surrogate for the overall industry at any given point in the past four decades, and he varies the tone of the interviews from fondly-regarded serendipity to deep-seated regret. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: An exhilarating history of the studio that spawned countless rock classics, not to mention a welcome reminder to aspiring musicians to step away from the laptop once in a while. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: High-spirited, emotional and funny, "Sound City" is, of all things, a mash note to a machine. Not just any machine, however, but one that helped change the face of rock 'n' roll. Read more

Howard Cohen, Miami Herald: Dave Grohl remains unflappable as a first-time director in his entertaining and informative documentary Sound City, a loving tribute to a defunct Van Nuys recording studio. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: A cocky, affectionate and very musical documentary that may make its central point a few times too often. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: A celebration of just how unbelievably awesome it is to make rock music for a living - not to mention being so successful at it that you can get your childhood heroes to come over and jam. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Grohl's aim is to explore the aura of a place, but what he winds up proving is that people make the magic. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: In his directing debut, Dave Grohl shows the instincts of a real filmmaker. Sound City hits you like a shot in the heart. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Even if you don't know what [Grohl's] talking about when he says a room gives "great decay," or when somebody else extols "24-track sensibility," the passion of this project really pops right out of the groove. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: The beautiful thing here is the way Sound City enlivens some fairly snobby ideas about the glories of analog tape without resorting to mere mansplaining. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: Grohl treats us to just more than an hour celebrating the history of Sound City, the Van Nuys dump where a clutch of rock's great records were bashed out-but the movie's 107 minutes long. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: In Sound City, a raucous yet sweetly romantic documentary, dinosaurs do indeed rock the Earth again. Read more