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Fellowship of the hip-hop: Watch 'The Lord of the Rings' cast reunite in an epic rap battle

lord of the rings, lotr, stephen colbert, lord of the rings anniversary, fellowship of the ring

Like many a fantasy-loving adolescent, I was completely obsessed with "The Lord of the Rings" growing up. It had everything: honorable heroes, compelling storylines and a rich, captivating world full of lore and intrigue. It helped me, and many others, escape to a place where good guys would win and where magic was undeniably real.

Every year, my grandmother and I would head out Thursday night to catch a midnight showing … which coincidentally always fell on a testing day at school the following morning. But nothing could stop us from experiencing Peter Jackson’s undaunted, bold and ultimately touching movie trilogy masterpiece.

So to see The Fellowship unite together once again on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" … let's just say it filled my nerdy heart to the brim. Along with countless others.

The fact that it was part of an epic rap battle made things even better.


Colbert jokingly complained that he would not be on air to celebrate the 20th (yes 20th) anniversary of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." In case you didn’t know, Colbert is a loud and proud LOTR fan.

Noting that the “just okay” Harry Potter franchise marked its anniversary with a cast reunion, Colbert lamented that “Peter Jackson’s towering achievement” got no such honor. To be fair, LOTR was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. So there's that.

Either way, Colbert decided to create his own anniversary tribute … in the form of a rap, appropriately titled “#1 Trilly.”

Next thing you know, we see a puffy jacket sporting Colbert delivering a brilliant rap alongside not one, not two, but all FOUR hobbits. That’s Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood, people!

Plus a Gollum, everyone’s favorite arrow-shooting elf and the rightful King of Gondor: Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen.

Anna Kendrick even has a hilarious cameo. Not to mention Method Man and Killer Mike playfully trash talking other, lesser franchises. You know, titles like “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Boring.” Savage.

Of course, I haven’t mentioned the video’s MVP yet: Hugo Weaving, who raps. In Elvish. Yes, dreams really do come true.

You can catch the amazing spectacle below:

Thank you to Colbert and the cast for giving us something to smile about. It truly was “one celebration to rule them all.”

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In a flurry of heavy headlines that constantly inundate our feeds, acts of good connect us back to our faith in humanity. Witnessing just one person go out of their way to make the world a better place is a powerful healing salve against apathy. It reminds us all of what we are collectively capable of creating. This is the philosophy that Upworthy wholeheartedly believes in, hence why we’re always sharing uplifting stories of people giving kindness, generosity and support to their fellow humans.

That’s also why we’re partnering with P&G, the maker of some of our favorite household products like Tide, Always and Pampers, to bring you the 2023 Acts of Good Awards, and celebrate the individuals who are giving back and strengthening their communities.

Think of it like the Oscars of kindness. Half as formal but twice as feel-good.

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@larrylexicon/TikTok

This was a great moment. No cap.

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ACUVUE launches a new campaign to inspire Gen Z to put down their phones and follow their vision

What will you create on your social media break? Share it at #MyVisionMySight.

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If you’ve always lived in a world with social media, it can be tough to truly understand how it affects your life. One of the best ways to grasp its impact is to take a break to see what life is like without being tethered to your phone and distracted by a constant stream of notifications.

Knowing when to disconnect is becoming increasingly important as younger people are becoming aware of the adverse effects screen time can have on their eyes. According to Eyesafe Nielsen, adults are now spending 13-plus hours a day on their digital devices, a 35% increase from 2019.1. Many of us now spend more time staring at screens on a given day than we do sleeping which can impact our eye health.

Normally, you blink around 15 times per minute, however, focusing your eyes on computer screens or other digital displays have been shown to reduce your blink rate by up to 60%.2 Reduced blinking can destabilize your eyes’ tear film, causing dry, tired eyes and blurred vision.3

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10 things that made us smile this week

We've got a sweet little roundup of joy for you.

This week's best smile-worthy finds from around the internet

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This week we have some examples of particularly lovely humans going out of their way to lend a hand to others, a couple of cute puppers engaging in silly antics, some adorable baby goats dancing in slow motion, a delightful Monty Python-themed prom proposal and more. If you could use a little dose of joy—and who couldn't?—we've got you covered.

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Because you have little access to funds, which equates to little access to necessities, you get creative in ways to stretch a dollar. It also becomes glaringly obvious when someone didn't struggle with poverty by what they say or the things they do. Things that seem normal to them seem strange to you or vise versa.

In a compilation video posted on YouTube by TikTok News, a man wrapped in a blanket poses the question, "What's an unwritten poor person rule that rich people wouldn't understand." The replies didn't disappoint and if you grew up poor some of these will have you nodding your head in agreement. If you didn't, then you may be in for a bit of a surprise.

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The Emperor of the Seas.

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Hirsch is the author of “Why We Never Talk About Sugar,” a collection of short stories, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Child, American Short Fiction and Time.

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