NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 11: Musician Michael Stipe attends the Patrick Ervell Spring 2012 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Milk Studios on September 11, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Skip Bolen/WireImage) Michael Stipe says he doesn’t know what he’s going to do now that R.E.M. is no more, but he can rule out becoming a solo act. “It’s unfathomable to me right now,” he tells Rolling Stone.

Chronicle. In a different reality, we’d right now be in the midst of Hollywood’s blockbuster season, enjoying the nearly weekly unveiling of a major-event movie, including much-anticipated sequels (F9) and new installments of beloved properties (No Time to Die). Instead, well, you’re cooped up in your place trying to figure out what to watch while not going stir-crazy. This is where we come in. On a regular basis, we’ll be presenting “The Replacements”: a list of five alternative choices for every big tentpole you’d been excited to see before COVID-19 changed our lives.

The public, petty firing of Rory and Mal from the Joe Budden Podcast coupled with accusations of workplace sexual harassment seem like the latest bout of self-sabotage for the rapper turned podcaster. Joe Budden signed to Def Jam at a peculiar juncture in the history of the venerable hip-hop label, arriving just as late-’90s and early-aughts heavy hitters like DMX, Ja Rule, and Ashanti had reached the twilight of their platinum hit streaks but before the middle-aughts influx of movers and shakers like Rihanna, Kanye West, Jeezy, and Ne-Yo.

There’s a specific point in the trajectory of every musical act with stadium-size ambitions where they start conceptualizing the live show from the studio, where Coldplay starts tracking down U2’s producers, where Arcade Fire seeks input from James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. Populist appeal, the logic seems to follow, involves touching as many demographics as possible, and bands that come in with a strong but very specific sound all seem to grow peculiar new interests right around album four.

Tonight at 11 p.m., The Approval Matrix — a panel show based on the famous New York magazine feature — premieres on the Sundance Channel, and at the helm is comedian Neal Brennan. Unlike many of his peers, hosting a TV show was never on his radar as a possibility. Brennan got his start in comedy in the early ‘90s not as a stand-up, but as the doorman of a New York comedy club.

the industry July 9, 2008 Ron Weasley to Play Someone Other Than Ron WeasleyPlus: Stephin Merritt’s Neil Gaiman musical is ready for the stage.ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7t8HLrayrnV6YvK57zZ6urGeemratecaaoKaZnmSMtMDAq6t2bWA%3D

When will the buttholes break their silence? Jennifer Hudson’s high notes, back away. The only memory from Cats we’re interested in are all the CGI buttholes seared into the mind of one VFX artist. Word of a Cats “Butthole Cut” hit the internet last month, and no one has stopped to think about anything else since. New reporting fromThe Daily Beast indicates that some version of the “Butthole Cut” might be real.

Nice! Noah Schnapp, the actor best known for playing Will Byers on Stranger Things, has seriously (unseriously) come out of the closet. Schnapp posted a TikTok on January 5 lip-syncing the audio “You know what it never was? That serious” with text reading “When I finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years and all they said was ‘we know.

The Little Mermaid OG animated version. Isn’t it neat? Disney’s The Little Mermaid was just added to the National Film Registry for preservation along with some other eclectic 2022 inductees. Its inclusion means even more excitement around the upcoming Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey, and pressure to live up to the beloved original. The animated film was one of 25 films chosen for the registry. “Selected for their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage, the newest selections include a vibrant diversity of American filmmakers, as well as landmark works in key genres and numerous documentaries,” the press release said.

Time to go through his phone, Cardi. Pop quiz! If you were a talented computer hacker and you got the opportunity to sneak into the email account of a famous and wealthy rapper, thus granting you access to many of his accounts, what would you do? A) Find a way to send yourself money. B) Leak music. C) DM the woman his wife is accused of assaulting allegedly in retaliation for sleeping with him “Miss u fr,” wait half a day and then tweet “I’m gay y’all.