100WordReview

The Baltimorons 2025, Duplass Brothers Productions, Directed by Jay Duplass (4 out of 5 Hot Chocolates)

Pluribus Episode 8: Charm Offensive

See 100 Word reviews of previous episodes here

Responding to Carol's plea in episode seven, Zosia and the Others return to Albuquerque. The episode centers on Carol and Zosia's slow-burning love story. Carol’s urging of Zosia to use “I” statements felt like a clue. The sexual tension edged right up until the collective consciousness deduced Carol needed to get laid.

To me, Pluribus is an allegory of the AI debate. Manousos rejects all utility of the hive-mind, while Diabaté embraces its spoils. Carol shares Manousos’ moral outrage but is developing more nuanced, self-serving rules of engagement. This mirrors the camps lining up for the AI wars.

Watch it

Pluribus7

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Oh. What. Fun. Amazon 2025 (1.75 out of 5 Hot Chocolates)

Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Dennis Leary, Felicity Jones, Dominic Sessa, Joan Chen, and Jason Schwartzman. Directed by Michael Showalter

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This movie is a holiday party eggnog left out to curdle. I imagine an Amazon exec dumping 1970s gender stereotypes, check-collecting stars, and meanness as 'satire' into the blender and thinking “Yum.” Gross.

Borrowing plot and themes from The Family Stone, Home Alone, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, writer/director Michael Showalter doesn’t like the genre enough to craft a compelling family dramedy. It's slice-and-bake Christmas cookies sold as “from scratch.”

Every year, streamers throw money and stars at the Christmas TV movie template, attempting to legitimize something that doesn’t need it. A holiday message: More isn’t always better.

Skip it

OhWhatFun

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Pluribus Episode 7: The Gap

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Following Carol and Manousos on their journeys is both meditative and harrowing. Carol is drowning in abundance and loneliness; Manousos is on a glass-huffing vision quest. Carol’s resolve cracks, Manousos’ resolve almost kills him.

The episode reminded me of a prestige version of The Last Man on Earth (Will Forte), like when Carol copped a Georgia O'Keeffe painting from a museum to replace her poster at home. Both shows asked, “What would you do if?”

This was one of the most soulful and quixotic episodes of television I have seen. Director Adam Bernstein and writer Jenn Flower, wow. Watch it.

Pluribus7

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Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper Hallmark, 2025 (4 out of 5 Hot Chocolates)

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The season’s first banger. Atypical male lead, fresh story beats, and riffing on zany Anchorman-style comedies. The romance is a Christmas Ale buzz. You root for leads Ted and Hope.

Supporting cast matters in holiday movies. From Ted’s high-strung sibling to the Sole Sisters, an a-hole newsman nemesis, and Hope’s straight-talkin' coworker, this movie has a fruitcake of an ensemble.

The plot had a third-act problem with an asinine Three’s Company miscommunication “conflict.” Hope is unnecessarily mean, as she delivers a brutal, undeserved Ted takedown. Justice for Ted! But the hot, handsy, elongated on-camera make-out scene saved Christmas. Watch it.

Ted

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An Alpine Holiday, Hallmark Channel 2025 (2.5/5 Hot Chocolates)

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Two aspects differentiate An Alpine Holiday: authentic French Alps sets (no fake snow!) and a story that focuses more on sibling relationships than romantic entanglements.

A last wish sends two sisters on a quest to retrace their grandparents' alpine love story. Ashley Williams, a Christmas movie regular with quirky comic timing, plays one of the sisters. Their tension drives the plot, each carrying a sleigh full of grievances and regrets to unwrap.

The rest? Weak romance cider. One gets a limp French tour guide, and Williams has a nonsensical marriage epiphany about her dweeb back home.

Only for Hallmark Heads.

An Alpine Holiday

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Pluribus Episode 6: HDP

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Episode 5 cliffhanger revealed: Carol turned vlogger and documented the frozen, shrink-wrapped body parts that fuel the Others' Human-Derived Protein drink. The cannibalism is explained by the body, mouth, but not the brain, of John Cena.

Diabaté returns in a glorious scene. He informs Carol that she is not in the private chat.

Motivated by Carol’s video, Manousos in Paraguay sets off to find her, but runs into “Mom.”

Gilligan served the obvious while shrugging it off. No narrative-changing reveals, just practical explanations of the Hive’s moral code. He provides plot answers, leaving us with bigger philosophical questions.

Watch it.

pluribus

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The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities Wayne Kramer 2018, read by author

Note: Part of my ongoing #AudioMemoir series reviewing author-read memoirs. Previous: Neko Case, Cameron Crowe. and Evan Dando. Coming: Larry Charles.

The late Brother Wayne Kramer's narration of his life was a liminal listening experience for me. Hearing his voice made him alive, even though I knew he wasn't. The back-from-the-grave narration started with a Michigan youth and ended in L.A. as a father and Punk icon.

Kramer laid bare addictions, crimes, and failures while celebrating resilience as a guitar gunslinger. The MC5 saga was covered, as was prison time with Jazz musician Red Rodney, and too much junkie business with Johnny Thunders. His reflections on being a roofer and woodworker balanced the Rock 'n' Roll excess.

Listen to it.

wayne kramer

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Stranger Things Season 5, Part 1 Netflix

The Stranger Things franchise is a hot mess. Bloated, convoluted plot, a chorus of characters to track, and the stars are now adults playing teens. But by the fourth episode of Part 1, I was back in.

The epic Boss Battle of Part 1 is the best action sequence I’ve watched all year. The Sorcerer twist was a solid payoff of nine years of loyalty and character development.

The show is a crockpot stew of nerd nostalgia, 80s revivalism, and theme-park thrills. That flavor remains even as the show expands, both in the story and its megawatt popularity.

Finish it

Part 1

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A Merry Little Ex-Mas, Netflix 2025

3.5/5 Hot Chocolates

So begins Larry's 100 Holiday Movie Season! My family and I have been studying the genre for a decade, and for the past five years, I have been reviewing them on my Instagram. I am now applying the Drable/100 Word review format and cataloging them here. But don't worry, Instagram Fam, I will still post them there to preserve this cherished tradition.

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Notable Stars: Alicia Silverstone, Jameela Jamil, and Melissa Joan Hart. Silverstone, Hart produced for Mellisa Joan’s Mom’s Heartbreak Films production company.

Alicia Silverstone joins the Christmas Movie industrial complex.

Consciously uncoupling Silverstone and Oliver Hudson attempt to maintain post-breakup holiday normalcy with their young adult children, new paramours, friends, and Granddads. Awkward festive gatherings, hurt feelings, and rekindled emotions ensue.

After years of trying, Netflix got its version of the Hallmark Christmas RomCom right, mimicking the look/feel with a few meta inside jokes while tweaking the Young Professional Female Gets Stuck In Wintertown trope.

Middle-aged “what now” angst and Silverstone's puppy-dog eyes ground the plot, and the writing sprinkles the story with core genre elements: humor, empathy, warmth, and baking.

Stream it.

A Merry Little Ex-Mas

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