In celebration of the 20th anniversary of his classic album, The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem held a live streaming party on his website, hosted by Spotify. During the stream, Eminem joined fans in the chat, answering questions about his favorite verses on the album, music he enjoys right now, and which rapper he thinks is most underrated. Em also revealed which rapper he most wants to collaborate with before retiring.

The answers weren’t super surprising, considering he’s spoken on some of those topics before, but illuminating for hardcore fans — seemingly the only kind of fans Eminem even has. He admitted that his favorite rhyme from The Marshall Mathers LP is the second verse from “I’m Back,” on which he ponders his impact on listeners. In the time since he exploded into the mainstream with the Slim Shady LP, he was derided as a negative influence on young fans, addressing the fraught climate with, “I take each individual degenerates head and reach into it / Just to see if he’s influenced by me if he listens to music.”

As far as what he’s listening to right now, Em doubled down on his support of Brooklyn rapper Young M.A., shouting out her recently-released EP, Red Flu. He previously admitted to missing the meanings behind some of her double entendres on their collaboration “Unaccommodating” from Em’s recent Music To Be Murdered By album, so it looks like he’s been studying up.

Meanwhile, his most underrated rapper probably won’t shock anyone who’s followed him for some time; it’s Kxng Crooked, aka Crooked I, the former member of Slaughterhouse and Shady Records signee who is releasing a joint album with fellow veteran rapper Joell Ortiz this Friday. The rapper Eminem most wants to collaborate with, though, is none other than Andre 3000.

You can stream The Marshall Mathers LP complete with remastered music videos of the album’s singles on Eminem’s website here.

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Remember vacations? Large gatherings of people? Live wrestling events and rock shows? As the country very slowly begins to open again amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s hard to know when such social activities will become commonplace again. Chris Jericho is hoping you’ll be ready and things will be relatively normal by February of next year. Today he announced his third cruise event: Chris Jericho’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea: Triple Whammy, which will sail from Miami to Grand Bahama Island from February 1 to February 5, 2021.

Here’s the official announcement:

HERE’S WHAT TO EXPECT

Chris Jericho’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea: Triple Whammy is setting sail for the third round of the most exciting vacation experience to ever hit the high seas! Join the Friends of Jericho community as we take over an entire ship and sail from Miami to Grand Bahama Island February 1-5, 2021 on Norwegian Pearl. The history-making event includes wild wrestling matches, rockin’ musical performances, activities with onboard talent, live podcast recordings, paranormal activities, comedy shows, and so much more. Get pumped for your best vacation ever with your cruise captain Chris Jericho and a ship full of like-minded friends and fans!

Grab your crew, your sunglasses, and your favorite wrestling shirt and prepare for non-stop action and fun during this unique four-day event. From the wrestling ring on the Pool Deck to never-before-seen activities, live band performances, and a few thousand ragin’ fans living it up together on the open seas – the world has never seen anything else like Chris Jericho’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea: Triple Whammy!

In addition to music from Fozzy and All Elite Wrestling shows, the cruise also promises Candice Michelle as a Guest Cruise Director, and appearances by Ted DiBiase, Bully Ray, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Whether fans will sign on in the same numbers as the past two years remains in question. We can be hopeful that large crowds and travel feel safer by next year, but let’s be honest, cruise ships have a reputation for being vectors of infection at the best of times. Plus, a lot of people have less money to spend. On the other hand, there are already people packing beaches and lakes across the nation, so by next winter maybe it won’t even seem like a big deal.

Despite The Mandalorian being a breakout hit and cultural phenomenon after debuting on Disney+ in 2019, actor Pedro Pascal found himself ineligible for a Golden Globes nomination thanks to his character being in a helmet for the vast majority of the first season. (Spoiler Alert: He briefly takes it off for one scene in the final episode.) However, according to Variety, the unusual nature of Pascal’s performance reportedly prompted a rules change that clarifies how eligibility for overly helmeted roles will be determined in the future.

Announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Wednesday, “voice-only performances are not eligible in any acting category.” That means even if characters are physically in the scene, actors whose faces are not visible are not eligible in any acting category. In “The Mandalorian,” which aired last fall, Pascal was in costume and hidden under a helmet throughout the show’s eight-episode first season. It’s not until the season finale that the character’s helmet is removed and Pascal is finally seen for the first time.

Since Pascal does make a very brief appearance in the final episode, the HFPA confirmed to Variety that, even with this latest clarification, the actor should have been eligible for a 2019 nomination. But here’s the thing: Pascal wasn’t hidden under a helmet throughout the entire season. In fact, he was rarely onset due to other commitments. While Lucasfilm has been initially secretive about this information, stuntman Brendan Wayne revealed to Vulture back in December that he handled the majority of the physical acting work for Mando, and Pascal himself admitted to Yahoo! Movies in April that he was brought in late in the production as the voice of the character.

The extent of Pascal’s actual work has been further revealed in Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, which has been airing on Disney+ and provides an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the groundbreaking show’s production. During a recent episode, Pascal credited Wayne and stuntman Lateef Crowder, who did the more acrobatic action scenes, for bringing Mando to life, while Pascal is shown doing voiceover work entirely separate from the set. At one point, he’s even seen holding a pillow to capture the feeling of cradling Baby Yoda. For the record, Pascal is shown filming the pivotal scene where Mando removes his helmet in the final episode, which seems to be his only time in costume.

Of course, none of this changes the fact that Baby Yoda was absolutely robbed by both the Golden Globes, Emmys, and let’s say the Grammys, too, just to be safe.

(Via Variety)

Love Life (HBO Max) — So HBO Max is finally here and if you’ve been able to figure out how to get it — or if you already have it as an HBO subscriber — then congratulations! You now have access to a smorgasbord of movies and TV shows ranging from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Friends, but one of the better original offerings available at launch is this Paul Feig created, Anna Kendrick-starring anthology series about finding love in all the wrong (and right) places.

The 100 (CW, 8:00 p.m.) — The show explores the headache-inducing concept of time travel tonight as Hope leads Echo and Gabriel through the Anomaly and on a journey of her past, which includes glimpses of Diyoza and Octavia raising her on a mystery planet and ends with the arrival of a new big bad.

Thor: The Dark World (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) — Out of all the Marvel flicks they could’ve chosen, ABC decided the worst Thor movie was what fans deserved to see tonight. On the bright side, after watching this, you’ll have a newfound appreciation for what Taika Waititi did with Thor: Ragnarok.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC, 10:00 p.m.) — Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. kicks off its final season tonight with Coulson and the crew being thrust back in time and stranded in 1931 New York City. How did this happen? Your guess is as good as theirs.

What We Do in the Shadows (FX, 10:00 p.m.) — Nadja and Laszlo revive their musical act as Guillermo is forced to find a new master to serve when Nandor’s old familiar returns.

As the NBA nears a final plan to return to play in Orlando this summer, the most pressing matter is how many teams are involved and what the structure of the remainder of the season will be. It appears the league is one step closer on that front as of Wednesday, as Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported the most likely scenario would be a fully postseason, in addition to a competition for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

Throughout conference calls with owners and players this week, NBA commissioner Adam Silver is leading many to “become increasingly skeptical of the league bringing back all 30 teams to complete the season,” according to the ESPN report. Weeks ago, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters his team was operating as if their season was over, so this would lead to the same conclusion.

According to ESPN, the most likely plan would leave the East playoff seeding as is, but incorporate Nos. 9-12 in the West standings in a “playoffs-plus” format that would likely include a play-in tournament for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. This comes after Damian Lillard publicly said he would not be interested in playing out the year if there was no chance his Trail Blazers could make the postseason.

Players will need to begin congregating either in their home markets or in Florida in the next week or two if this plan goes forward, so the NBA is likely to cement the finer points of the 2019-20 Orlando basketball extravaganza in the coming days.

Last night, Deonna Purrazzo became the first of the WWE workers laid off last month to officially take the next step in her career – or at least the first that the public knows of. In a promo on the latest episode of Impact on AXS TV, Purrazzo declared that she’s headed to Impact Wrestling, and she’s keeping her Virtuosa gimmick. You can watch the promo here:

That’s a lot of math!

Impact is one of the few American wrestling promotions currently holding events, and the only one besides WWE and AEW taping wrestling TV. They’ve also been adding to their women’s division over the past few months; the company signed former AEW wrestler Kylie Rae to a long-term contract in March and indie standouts Kimber Lee and Tasha Steelz recently made their Impact debuts. So far there’s no word whether Purrazzo will be with Impact long-term, or just for a few appearances.

Since getting cut from the NXT roster, Purrazzo has spoken positively about Impact and its history of promoting women’s wrestling. She’s also explained why she had considered asking for her release from WWE, creative difficulties she had in the company, and that she thinks she was hired during a period of talent-hoarding.

On Wednesday, Walt Disney World unveiled its plans for a phased reopening of the Orlando Disney parks over the summer, along with SeaWorld who has plans to open their three Orlando parks on June 11th. Both theme parks follow Universal Studios Orlando’s lead, who announced a short-phased reopening that would begin on June 1st and open to the general public by June 5th.

This follows Disney reopening Shanghai Disneyland earlier this week with strict social distancing and hygiene rules in place. And if news reports of the park are any indication, people look ready to ride the teacups again in China.

Back in Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports that Walt Disney World will reopen its Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom parks on July 11th, followed by Hollywood Studios and Epcot by July 15th.

All three theme park franchises will reopen with increased safety measures echoing those in Shanghai that include temperature checks, limited capacity, cashless payment options, and staggered parking, according to Deadline. Universal plans on closing all interactive play areas throughout their theme parks as well as remove water and mist elements from attractions, which might remind you that Universal Studios is always trying to throw mist your way any chance they get. What’s up with that?

According to the Orlando Sentinel, both SeaWorld and Disney World will require guests and employees to wear masks and include changes to the attraction line layouts in order to promote social distancing. Disney is also apparently developing a social-distancing squad, whose sole task will be reminding guests to keep a safe distancing between one another.

(Via Orlando Sentinel)

In a time when we’ve watched people fight over toilet paper, argue over mask-wearing and storm government buildings with firearms, a nice random act of kindness story is always appreciated. And when that random act of kindness happens to someone who is famous-adjacent, the impact somehow seems all the more pure.

Actor Nathan Fillion, best known for his starring roles in the TV series Firefly (and subsequent movie, Serenity) and Castle, shared one such story on Facebook this week—and people are loving it.

He wrote:

Somebody needs to get this kid his own show, immediately.

A video shared by Khary Kimani Turner on Facebook shows a kid at a computer desk with a microphone, narrating his online schooling in the style of a charismatic preacher—and holy goodness, it’s hilarious. It’s not made clear in the video, but the scene appears to be a mom filming her son, Ramone (spelling unknown), over her shoulder while he starts a school video.

He has the impassioned reverend bit down, from the vocal inflections to the banging the mic on the table to the singing and feet-shuffling when he really gets going. Even the content of his narration is entertainingly on point. When the school video is unable to connect, he sees it as a sign from the Lord telling him “Ramone, take a rest.”

And somehow, his mom stays miraculously straight-faced and calm as her kid performs one of the best impromptu comedy routines ever. When he paused the school video and sang about how God paused it, she said matter-of-factly, “I need you to stop putting stuff on God. God didn’t pause it.” But the best part is when Ramone really got going:

“You know I don’t wanna do the work. You know I don’t wanna do the work. Cuz God is doin’ the work in me. How am I supposed to be doin’ the work when he’s workin’ in me? I need to rest so he has a stable foundation to upgrade on. When I’m movin’ how am I going to get upgrades? When a car is getting upgraded it’s in a garage and it’s standing still. When a superhero is being upgraded, it’s in a garage and it’s standing still. IIIIIIIIII need to be still…”

Then a male voice from off screen gets in on the action, egging on Ramone with, “Tell ’em about the oil!”

And what ensues is even more hilarity, as the spirit overtakes Ramone and his mom finally breaks into giggles at his antics. Everything about this video and the family in it is just too good. Watch on repeat. You won’t be sorry.

Seriously, those are some skills. Somebody give this kid a church and a TV show and a break from his schoolwork ASAP. Amen and hallelujah.