Sound City tells the tale of a very infamous recording studio in Van Nuys California.  It's dirty and outdated but many of the most famous rock albums were recorded there.  The secret?  The employees treat the band like family and the whole neighborhood reeks of beer.  While those two things are true.  The real star of both the movie and the studio is the console.  A very rare custom model made by Neve.  Ever listen closely to the drums in Fleetwood Mac's Rhinnon?  There's an echo to them that you just don't hear elsewhere.  I always thought it was a reverb or other studio effect.  Nope.  Pure analog tape and live performances were captured thru the Neve.  According to the movie, the secret to any good recording studio is getting the drums right.  Sound City always did this and it's still audible on Kid Rock's Born Free from just a few years ago.  Basically if you are a fan of rock music you will enjoy this movie.  One warning though, you may just buy the soundtrack upon finishing this one:)  Oh and if you buy it on 180g Vinyl, you also get the MP3 version in 320k.

Magic Mike (2012) **

Yes this is the movie your wife or girlfriend is begging you to watch with her.  Yes this movie has a bunch of guys better looking than you with their shirts off.  Yes it's a decent movie.  Wait... what?  Believe it or not it's not so bad.  There actually is a plot and a decent story behind all of the flesh.  So, go ahead and make your gal happy.  Give it a try.  Oh yeah, Olivia Munn is in this too:)

Starring:  Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer

Runtime: 1 hour 51 minutes

Hunger Games (2012) (Zero Stars)

I have no idea how people can pay attention to movies like this one.  Boring and lame are the only words I can use to describe the 30 minutes I forced myself to sit through this travesty.  Jennifer Lawrence really made it big with this movie and I just don't get it.  She was quite entertaining on The Bill Engvall Show which ended way too early in my opinion.  Perhaps she should try another comedy.  Regardless of what others tell you about how great this movie is, ignore them and save your time. 

Runtime is 142 minutes if you can make it that long.

The Pill (2011) *

To put it simply.  A man has unprotected sex with a stranger and then spends the next day following her around trying to ensure she takes the morning after pill.  That's pretty much it in a nutshell.  If that brief synopsis sounds good then give it a try. 
His current girlfriend is a overbearing witch and his one night stand is psycho.  One thing is for certain, after watching this I certainly do not miss the single life. 

Guilt Trip (2013) **

• Sometimes your parents really are just looking out for your best interest.  
• You're never too old to learn something from your parents.  
• Parents learn just as much from their kids as they teach them.

Those along with 12 other cliche's sum up this movie staring Seth Rogan & Barabara Steisand.  Let me start by saying that Seth Rogan plays himself like he does in most of his movies.  Barbara plays an overbearing nagging mother very well.  The basic plot involves a road trip from New Jersey out to California with Seth trying to sell a non-poisonious cleaning agent to uninterested companies along the way.  If you can sit thru the first half of the movie, it pays off by the end.  

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

I know I haven't officially started the 52 weeks yet but a friend of mine on Facebook recommended this one.

His direct comment was that he believes that every American should see this film by the time they are 16.  So what did I think of the movie?  I would give it a 4.5 out of 5.  What's not to like here?  Triumph, tragedy and the American spirit too. 

The only caution I would have is that there is a lot of blood (of course) and the story can be tear-jerking at times too.  If you have any family members who have served, this can really shed alot of light on what they have been through.

A big thanks to all of the men and women out there who have risked their lives to defend my freedom.

Looking forward to 2014

Starting the first week of 2014 I will be reviewing one movie per week.  There is no rhyme or reason to the movies chosen the only specification is that they must be new to me at the time.  There will be some new releases, some classics but most will be fairly recent as in within the last few years.  Recommendations are always accepted.