No mainstream artist has captured my fan heart over the last eight years like Spacey Kacey. From classic country revivalism, through excursions into disco diva, cottage core and electro-pop, I ride with it. Middle of Nowhere packages all the elements into a cohesive LP.

She adds more western touches like pedal steel, cowboy cornpone, and Mariachi to her brew, grounding the album in her East Texas roots. Mimicking that geography, themes explore expanse, isolation and the duality of joy and pain of being alone.

Most will herald a “return,” but for me, I keep riding the Rose Wave.

Buy it.

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Song of the Summer? It’s got prerequisites: A breezy melody, a chantable chorus, laconic raps and a great video. Peak Vile jam as the weather warms and pollen proliferates.

Greg “Oblivion” Cartwright supplies backing vocals and solos, his aching Memphis drawl unmistakable for us old heads.

The track is from the forthcoming album Philadelphia’s been good to me and the video captures a Philly Saturday night in Fishtown. It's fun, features Schooly D and other cameos you can google. You’ll be joyfully singing the vocal hook out the car window this Summer: “Old time, lo-fi, DIY, Rock & Roll…Nights!”

Loop it.

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See 100 Word reviews of previous episodes here

After the self-contained season premiere, the second episode slapshots the plot, skating most characters back into action. We even get a phone call from Sanguinet, whom we haven’t seen since season three. Don’t get too excited, Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat is not returning.

The Blueberry Bulldogs’ league is shutting down, their barn is flipping to basketball, the Europeans are beating North American teams, and Shoresy is back in the television studio. Shoresy is a generational talent at banter.

This show is too smart to play the upcoming xenophobia straight to the net. Stay tuned. And, oh yeah, Wayne Gretzky.

Stream it.

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Episodes 1-3 (Spoilers)

See review of episodes 4-6 here

Based on G.R.R. Martin's Dunk & Egg novellas, the chemistry between Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his tiny squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) powers this funny, bawdy, warm medieval sitcom. 

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms balances its tonal shifts with the familiarity of Baratheon and Targaryen names and Westerosi lore. Budget constraints help reduce the grandeur; money saved from a RenFair set is applied to bursts of spectacle in thunderous jousts and boss armor. 

The episode-three Egg twist takes the story into more familiar GOT territory; hopefully, it brings the small folk with it. 

Watch it. 

#KnightOfTheSevenKingdoms #GameOfThrones #HBO #DunkAndEgg #GRRMartin #PrestigeTV #FantasyTV #TV #Television #TVReview #Larrys100 #100WordReview #100DaysToOffload

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Nominated for Best Documentary Feature 

A visceral ride-along to its obvious and tragic end in the ongoing battle between a local Karen and the rest of her suburban Ocala, Florida neighbors. 

Gandbhir only uses police body- and interrogation-room cameras, court recordings, and 911 call audio to piece together the lead-up, chaos, and aftermath of the crime without reenactments, talking heads, or other documentary filmmaking methods. The result is like a ninety-minute Instagram Reel. 

Beneath the crime-blotter rubbernecking is a brutally honest depiction of contemporary American life with its toxic stew of racial animus, late-stage capitalist sprawl, shoot-first culture, and inept public safety infrastructure. 

Stream it.

#Film #Oscars2026 #ThePerfectNeighbor #GeetaGandbhir #Documentary #BestDocumentary #TrueCrime #Film #MovieReview #Larrys100 #100WordReview #100DaysToOffload

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IMDB Film Details

Train Dreams is haunting and poetic, capturing America when the old ways transitioned to the new. Bentley’s story is difficult to place on a historical timeline, leaving only visual hints, such as the introduction of chainsaws to logging or an astronaut orbiting Earth.

Logger Robert Grainier's melancholy journey allows us to witness the lives of those on the Northwest Frontier, from homesteaders to foreign workers to blue-collar philosophers to a feminist intellectual. Robert experiences trauma from white supremacist violence and tragedy from an unforgiving land. The film's message? Rugged individualism was a boondoggle that has always ensnared us.

Watch it.

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This Norwegian award-season juggernaut builds a universe within a family, their ancestors, and the good bones of an old house. Stellan Skarsgård plays the prodigal patriarch, a sensitive and selfish filmmaker returning to Norway to reconnect with his daughters after their mother’s death. And make a movie with an American movie star.

Trier shape-shifts tones, languages, and characters, crafting a layered viewing experience. Meta-awareness pervades the film, with commentary on modern cinema, the rise of fascism, and the liminality of art, life, and love. Not vignettes, not linear either – funny moments coexist with tension, sadness, and sweetness.

Rent it.

#Oscars2026 #SentimentalValue #JoachimTrier #NorwegianCinema #BestInternationalFilm #Film #MovieReview #Larrys100 #100WordReview #100DaysToOffload

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Music presents a dilemma, both timeless and immediate. I listen to a lot of albums spanning almost 100 years, multiple media, and in varied social settings. But it also has an immediacy: new releases, critical buzz, and the excitement of NOW! A year-end best-of tells a partial listening story, but alas:

2025 Superlatives

Best Album: Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band – New Threats from the Soul  Best Single & Video: Elderberry Wine by Wednesday Best Debut: Annie DiRusso – Super Pedestrian  Best Comeback: The Lemonheads – Lovechant Best Concert: Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band/Snocaps – Bowery Ballroom, Manhattan

Fourteen 2025 releases on heavy rotation, in no particular order:

• Snocaps - 'Snocaps' (Anti-): Twins Sisters Powers Reactivate

• Jeff Tweedy - 'Twilight Override' (dBpm Records): A box set of new material? Jeff writes a lot of songs

• Wednesday - 'Bleeds' (Dead Oceans): I slept on this band before Bleeds, awake now

• Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band – 'New Threats from the Soul' (Sophomore Lounge): Can't stop listening  The Larry’s100 review

• Kurt Vile/Luke Roberts - 'Classic Love EP' (Verve): Played almost as much as Ryan Davis The Larry’s100 review

• Lemonheads - 'Love Chant' (Fire Records): Cell Phone Blues was almost my song of the year  The Larry’s100 review

• Kathleen Edwards - 'Billionaire' (Dualtone Records): A full-throated and tuneful platter of rugged individualism

• The Bug Club – 'Very Human Features' (Sub Pop): Second great album in 3 years

• Rose City Band - 'Sol y Sombra' (Thrill Jockey): Meditations with steel pedal

• Annie DiRusso - 'Super Pedestrian' (Summer Soup Songs): Punchy, energetic first record. Her Tiny Desk is a must-watch

• Dean Wareham - 'That's the Price of Loving Me' (Carpark Records): Crazy, this is his first solo album

• Superchunk - 'Songs in the Key of Yikes' (Merge): On one of the best post-hiatus runs in indie rock history

• Neil Young - 'Ocean Side/Country Side' (Neil Young Archives): Never before released, even though you know all the songs. Great to hear them, as it was originally conceived and tracked

• Kacey Musgraves - 'Deeper Into The Well' (MCA Nashville): Seven new tracks!

#music #albums #2025BestOf #MusicReviews #BestOfMusic #Larrys2025FavesMusic #NewMusic #NowPlaying #100WordReview #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload #Larrys2025Faves

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I fell short of my goal of 35 books, petering out at 26. Maybe reading goals are dumb. I wrote more, listened to more music, and grew fatigued by the counting. I had a plan to finish nine more in December, then thought, 'What am I doing here?' Rethinking for 2026, maybe genre challenges? Read Beowulf?

2025 Superlatives

Best Read: Death of the Author – Nnedi Okorafor 

Runner Up: Playground – Richard Powers 

Note: Both have similar plot twists and themes 

Best Debut: Brooklyn Motto – Alex Johnson 

Best Non-Fiction: The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir – Neko Case

For books, I don't restrict to 2025 releases; this is a list of all books consumed, in random order:

1. Red Sonja: Consumed - Gail Simone: Red Sonja done right Larry’s 100 review

2. Death of the Author - Nnedi Okorafor: Wow Larry’s 100 review

3. I Wouldn't Say It If It Wasn't True: A Memoir of Life, Music, and the Dream Syndicate - Steve Wynn: Not the casino owner

4. Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside - Nick Offerman: Clowning on Jeff Tweedy was the highlight

5. Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers That Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe - David M. Perry, Matthew Gabriele: Proving elites have always been annoying Larry’s 10 Review

6. River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Road - Cat Jarman: Academic but approachable history

7. Between Two Fires - Christopher Buehlman: Macabre historical fiction

8. The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource - Chris Hayes: Well researched and compelling, if a little obvious

9. Brooklyn Motto - Alex Johnson: Pre cell phone wonderland Larry’s 100 review

10. Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism – Sarah Wynn-Williams: Dishy dystopia origin story

11. The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir - Neko Case: Stark but resilient Larry’s 100 review

12. The Blacktongue Thief - Christopher Buehlman: My fave author discovery of 2025 Larry’s 100 review

13. Blind Owl Blues: The Mysterious Life and Death of Blues Legend Alan Wilson - Rebecca Davis: Sad ending to a fascinating Blues Rock introvert

14. Playground - Richard Powers: There and back again through the AI funhouse mirror

15. Comedy Samurai: Forty Years of Blood, Guts, and Laughter - Larry Charles: Soul searching for laughs through some TV/Movies biggest comedies

16. William Blake vs the World – John Higgs: Diary of a madman

17. The Great Courses: The Viking Age: New Perspectives on History and Culture - Jennifer Paxton: Paxton is my fave public lecturer, Folk singing Dad Tom must be proud

18. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin: Twee, emo and overrated

19. The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities - Wayne Kramer: Ghost listen Larry’s 100 review

20. A Kiss Before Dying - Ira Levin: I am going to read a Levin a year

21. The Uncool: A Memoir - Cameron Crowe: Almost Famous: The Writer's Cut Larry’s 100 review 

22. The Conan Chronicles #1: The People of The Black Circle - Robert E. Howard: Hail Crom

23. Rumors of My Demise - Evan Dando: He can talk, and he told us Larry’s 100 review 

24. The Bloodsworn Saga #1: The Shadow of the Gods - John Gwynne: Viking X-Men

25. The Bloodsworn Saga #2: The Hunger of the Gods - John Gwynne: High gore content

26. The Bloodsworn Saga #3: The Fury of the Gods - John Gwynne: A heck of a yarn

#books #reading #2025BestOf #BookReviews #BestOfBooks #Larrys2025FavesBooks #BookRecommendations #AmReading #100WordReview #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload #Larrys2025Faves

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Bad year for movies. Or a bad year for me seeing movies. Award season rules push studios to cram releases at year’s end, and it's hard to keep up. I will catch up with films I missed in Jan-March.

My list, ranked, with microreviews:

1. One Battle After Another: Brilliant, has a tragic flaw 2. Sinners: Juke Joint Cinema 3. Pavements: Larry’s100 Review 4. Weapons: Campy, creepy, freaky 5. Baltimorons: [Larry’s100 Review] (https://larrys100.writeas.com/the-baltimorons-2025-duplass-brothers-productions-directed-by-jay-duplass-4) 6. The Ballad of Wallis Island: Tim Key is brilliant 7. KPop Demon Hunters: Trust the phenom 8. John Candy: I Like Me: Sadder than you’d think 9. Fantastic Four: Didn’t suck 10. Nonnas: More sweet than savory

#Oscars2026 #movies #film #2025BestOf #FilmReviews #BestOfFilm #Larrys2025FavesFilm #Cinema #MovieReviews #100WordReview #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload

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