FILM

Nobody Asked for Eminem's Surprise Oscars Performance

The rapper performed his hit "Lose Yourself," which won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2003.

Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA/Shutterstock

Considering what many considered to be an overwhelmingly white and male nominee pool, the 92nd Annual Academy Awards ended up being...not that bad?

Korean thriller Parasite made history by becoming the first foreign language film to take home an Oscar for Best Picture, and its director Bong Joon Ho was adorable on numerous occasions. Joaquin Phoenix, after being named Best Lead Actor, continued his streak of spicy acceptance speeches with a condemnation of the animal agriculture industry. Janelle Monáe's opening number saluted snubbed films like Us and Midsommar. Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph were, well, just as funny as you'd expect.

But there was one appearance at the Oscars that had many attendees and viewers perplexed. At the end of a montage celebrating iconic songs made famous by movies, clips of 8 Mile were projected on the screen as the instantly recognizable chug of "Lose Yourself" played along. And then—for reasons widely unbeknownst to the audience—Eminem himself appeared onstage to perform the 2002 No. 1 hit.

While some audience members in the Dolby Theatre happily rapped along, many seemed dumbfounded by Eminem's seemingly random appearance.

"Lose Yourself" became the first rap number to win the Oscar for Best Original Song back in 2003, but Eminem didn't attend that year because he didn't think he had a chance of winning. Although the reason for his delayed appearance is unclear, it seems Eminem just figured he was better late than never: "Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity... Thanks for having me @TheAcademy," he tweeted. "Sorry it took me 18 years to get here."

We're glad Slim Shady finally got his second shot, but why 18 years late? At this point, it feels like a pathetic and haphazard promotion of his eleventh studio album, Music to Be Murdered By, which received backlash for its audacious reference to the bombing at Ariana Grande's 2017 Manchester concert. A clip of old audio also recently resurfaced in which Eminem claimed he'd "side with Chris Brown" on the issue of Brown's infamous assault of Rihanna. Why are we continuing to bait Eminem's constant hunger for relevancy?

These audience reactions say it best:


MUSIC

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Lonely Island Pulled a Lemonade

The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience is the baseball parody musical that the Lonely Island calls a "visual poem."

Last night, the Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone) teased a Netflix surprise that turned out to be a visual rap album, reimagined from the perspective of the Oakland A's Jose Canseco (Samberg) and Mark McGwire (Schaffer).

The baseball-themed musical-comedy, titled The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience, dropped at midnight on Netflix alongside a full original album.

Rest assured, if you haven't gotten a chance to watch the full 30-minute Netflix special, which the Lonely Island boys are calling a "visual poem," they've uploaded two of the videos on YouTube: "Uniform On," a high-energy rap intro that boasts of taking steroids, and the, uh, performance issues that can come along with it; and "Oakland Nights," a slightly smoother cut that features Jenny Slate and Hannah Simone as working girls who don't "date ball players," and Sterling K. Brown as Sia. McGwire adds, "The greatest aphrodisiac is physical fitness."


The Netflix release comes ahead of their first-ever U.S. tour next month. The comedy troupe's debut album, Incredibad, came out over a decade ago. Since breaking out through their SNL skit masterpieces, the "I'm On A Boat" singers haven't stopped creating. The Bash Brothers special is the first filmed project they've put out since the 2016 mockumentary, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. Behind the scenes, the Lonely Island guys have helped produce some of the best new comedy series. from PEN15 to the enormously funny sketch series, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.

The full album is available on Spotify, and while it's full of their signature, absurdly vulgar irreverence, it's actually a pretty solid collection of songs. Sonically, it's an impressive range of tracks––no matter how ridiculous––featuring the amped-up Beastie Boys-styled rap of "Let's Bash", the pulsating "Focused AF," and the mumbly, SoundCloud-rap reminiscent "Focus on the Game." Lyrically, they sing about everything from bench-pressing bikini babes on "Bikini Babe Workout" to roid-raging about puka shells on "IHOP," which transitions to the funky pastiche "IHOP Parking Lot" featuring Haim & Maya Rudolph (honestly, a standout bop). The album ends on the autotuned warble of "Daddy," a song that gets oddly emotional, despite being about little league days.

Of course, part of the excitement is closely tied to the nostalgia that the Lonely Island brings out in all of us. They came up in a time when being on the Internet felt more innocent, when goofy music videos about Jack Sparrow and premature ejaculation were enough to make us laugh––simpler times. the Lonely Island videos were among the first online SNL content to go viral. This is all to say that as much as the Lonely Island are a remnant of the mid-aughts parody video culture, they're also really talented comedians who know how to write some solid bangers. Kudos, boys.

FILM

Now in Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend of May 10th

The first live-action Pokémon movie finally hits theaters with Detective Pikachu.

POKÉMON Detective Pikachu - Official Trailer 2 - Warner Bros

via youtube.com

Welcome back to "Now in Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend."

This weekend we want to be the very best, like no one ever was. Because Pokémon.

WIDE RELEASE:

Pokémon Detective Pikachu

POKÉMON Detective Pikachu - Official Trailer 2www.youtube.com

Pokémon: The First Movie came out in 1999, right at the height of Pokémon fever. For 90s kids, it was the event of the decade. Everyone and their mother (literally, we were too young to go to the movies unattended) went on opening day, not just to see Mewtwo duke it out with Mew, but to get the promo card included with every ticket. Two decades later and there still hasn't been a single good live-action video game movie. Enter Pokémon Detective Pikachu to break the trend. Featuring a fuzzy, realistic Pikachu voiced by Ryan Reynolds and a brand new promo card with every ticket, I expect to see every fellow trainer at the movies this weekend.

Oh, and here's the full movie in its entirety, leaked by Ryan Reynolds himself:

POKÉMON Detective Pikachu: Full Picturewww.youtube.com

The Hustle

THE HUSTLE | Official Trailer | MGMwww.youtube.com


In The Hustle, Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star as a pair of scam artists. Anne Hathaway, coming off her similarly scammy role in Ocean's 8, plays a master trickster, expertly ripping wealthy men off for everything they're worth. Rebel Wilson, on the other hand, is a low-level criminal who steps into the role of protege. I love a good female-oriented comedy, and the two leads here are both fully capable of carrying a movie on their own. The Hustle probably won't be groundbreaking, but it looks fun.

Poms

Poms | Official Trailer [HD] | In Theaters Fridaywww.youtube.com


Every year, without fail, we get like three old people movies. Old people movies are always about Dame Judy Dench or Diane Keaton doing old people stuff but with a spicy twist––things like going to an old people resort and smooching (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) or having a book club where they read erotica (Book Club). This presumably makes viewers, all of whom are also old people, feel like there's still more to their lives than watching FOX News and soiling their pants. Anyways, if you're an old person who wants to vicariously pretend you could still be a cheerleader, Poms is for you.

Tolkien

TOLKIEN | Official Trailer | FOX Searchlightwww.youtube.com

J.R.R. Tolkien is easily one of the most defining figures of Western literature. His imaginative tales about a men's walking club have captivated readers for generations and established much of the groundwork for the entire fantasy genre. The biopic, however, appears unimpressive. On top of sporting a pretty boring trailer, Tolkien's estate has publicly stated they had no connection with and do not endorse the movie. Early reviews suggest Nicholas Hoult does a fine job as the famous author, but otherwise, the narrative seems to fall short.

LIMITED RELEASE:

Wine Country

Wine Country | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflixwww.youtube.com


Directed by Amy Poehler and starring a slew of SNL alums including Maya Rudolph and Tina Fey, Wine Country is a comedy about female friendship and alcohol. It looks like the kind of movie that might really speak to middle-aged people wrestling with doubts about their lives and relationships, but I'm not the target audience for that so what do I know? Luckily, this one will be debuting on Netflix, so if you don't feel like going out this weekend, you can watch it at home.


Dan Kahan is a writer & screenwriter from Brooklyn, usually rocking a man bun. Find more at dankahanwriter.com


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