Month: December 2020

It must be nice to have a son who is also a famous rap star and multimedia mogul. For her 80th birthday, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ mom Janice received some truly extravagant gifts from her son, according to TMZ. Despite the ongoing pandemic, the Combs clan came together at a Los Angeles mansion for a celebration that saw the hip-hop tycoon surprise his mom with a brand-new Bentley. And while those can cost a lot to maintain, Ms. Janice should be covered for a bit because Diddy also gave her a check for $1 million.

Janice also shares her birthday with Diddy’s twin daughters D’Lila and Jessie, who probably took notes and started counting down the 24 months until they turn 16 and can ask dad for flossy new whips of their own. While TMZ notes that the party included a rather large family gathering — which is discouraged under current COVID safety guidelines — the outlet also guessed that the attendees were all tested to ensure a lower chance of anyone giving an unwanted gift to the birthday lady.

2020 has been a year of landmarks for the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy. Last week, he celebrated the tenth anniversary of his Last Train To Paris album, sharing behind-the-scenes footage of Kid Cudi and Busta Rhymes in the studio with fans. He also announced a new political party and helped induct his artist and friend The Notorious B.I.G. into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Check out the video of the impressive party and gifts here.

After a long and winding road between the NBA’s hiatus in March until the Orlando bubble, the league experienced a complete frenzy. First, the 2019-20 regular season came to an end in bizarre fashion with seeding games, then NBA observers enjoyed a fast-paced, offense-driven explosion in the first round, with high drama in the latter stages and the Los Angeles Lakers eventually claiming a memorable title under anything but normal circumstances.

When the dust settled, there wasn’t much of an offseason, with the league zooming to the draft and free agency just weeks after the final buzzer sounded at Walt Disney World. Now, the preseason is over and, fewer than three months after the Lakers hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy, opening night of the 2020-21 regular season arrives on Tuesday with a much-anticipated double-header.

Each week, we will weigh in with DIME power rankings, tracking the progress of each of the league’s 30 teams by what they have done both in the previous week and overall. In the preseason version, however, results aren’t available, and we are left to simply prognosticate with the equivalent of regular season projections.

One team has to be at the top. One team has to be at the bottom. 28 others are in the middle. In “Week Zero,” here is the list, with a no-brainer in the No. 1 slot.

1. Los Angeles Lakers (n/a, Last week — n/a)

The Lakers are the champs, and the champs would probably start at No. 1 even if they weren’t the best team in the league. Fortunately for Lakers fans, Los Angeles is still the cream of the crop on paper. It helps to have LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but the Lakers also have quality depth and, well, we’ve already seen them win the title with this group.

2. L.A. Clippers (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Yes, the Clippers had a disastrous end to the 2019-20 season, blowing a 3-1 lead to the Nuggets. No, that doesn’t mean the Clippers are going to be bad this season. In fact, L.A. is now underrated because of that ill-fated three-game stretch, and the Clippers are perhaps better set-up for playoff success with Serge Ibaka and Luke Kennard on board. I’m buying the talent, and the Clippers were terrifying in 2019-20… until they weren’t.

3. Milwaukee Bucks (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Much like the Clippers, the Bucks flamed out last season and the jokes were flying as a result. Milwaukee earned their lot with a dreadful performance against Miami and, once again, the Bucks will be charged with figuring things out on the biggest stage. However, the Bucks are a proven regular season entity and they should win a lot of games again this season, this time with Jrue Holiday on board.

4. Miami Heat (n/a, Last week — n/a)

The Heat just beat the Bucks in a playoff series. We all watched it. At the same time, Miami isn’t better than Milwaukee on paper, and their preseason over/under is (significantly) lower than that of the Bucks. We’ll see how the Heat respond to a non-bubble setting, but they should be good, and you have to give them respect for what we saw the last time they were playing.

5. Denver Nuggets (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Denver is, once again, very interesting. Nikola Jokic is a star. Jamal Murray looked like a star in the bubble. Michael Porter Jr. is a player that almost everyone believes can be a star. Almost more importantly, the Nuggets have a winning infrastructure, and they are largely bringing the band back, with the exception of Jerami Grant being in Detroit.

6. Boston Celtics (n/a, Last week — n/a)

This is a bet on infrastructure. The Celtics are certainly worse on paper right now than they were last season, especially when taking into account the injury to Kemba Walker. Gordon Hayward’s absence is manageable, but the Celtics will need a lot of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart.

7. Brooklyn Nets (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Who knows? Kevin Durant looks great in the preseason and Kyrie Irving is very good when he’s right. Still, the Nets don’t have much defensive talent, and they are relying on two players with recent injury questions. They should be dynamic offensively when everyone is available, and they have upside as a result, but the baseline is tough to pin down.

8. Philadelphia 76ers (n/a, Last week — n/a)

There is a reason Philly is right next to Brooklyn. Granted, the 76ers do have their top two guys returning in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris is back as a solid, albeit highly paid, forward. Philadelphia invested in shooting and roster balance, and we’ll see if it pays dividends when compared to a potential downgrade on defense.

9. Utah Jazz (n/a, Last week — n/a)

The Jazz finished ninth in net rating last season, and they are ninth here. This is a good basketball team, with pillars in Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. Utah could be even better given the depth they brought in with Derrick Favors, especially if Jordan Clarkson can replicate what was a very strong performance from 2019-20.

10. Dallas Mavericks (n/a, Last week — n/a)

In some circles, Luka Doncic is the betting favorite to win the MVP award. Dallas will need to be better than 10th in this space for that to happen, but the Mavericks did have the best offense in the league last season. Even if they don’t improve on a per-possession basis, the Mavericks should win more games, if only because they were so dreadful in the clutch last season. It will be interesting to see how they can hold the line until Kristaps Porzingis is back.

11. Toronto Raptors (n/a, Last week — n/a)

We’re in danger of disrespecting Kyle Lowry and Nick Nurse with this ranking, which is a bad idea. The Raptors are worse on paper after losing Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol, but they retained Fred VanVleet, made solid moves on the margins (including Aron Baynes and Alex Len), and Toronto’s internal development structure should be beneficial.

12. Phoenix Suns (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Phoenix was a fantastic story in the bubble. They weren’t that team before the bubble, but concerns about over-achievement are mitigated by the addition of Chris Paul. Paul was one of the 15 best players in the league last season and, even if he can’t do that again, he’ll help in a lot of ways. Plus, the Suns are really, really talented with young players like Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges.

13. Portland Trail Blazers (n/a, Last week — n/a)

The Blazers have big-time supporters nationally right now, and it is easy to see why after adding Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr., as well as the projection of Jusuf Nurkic for a full season. I will simply remind you that Portland went 35-39 in the regular season in 2019-20, finished as a bottom-five defense and was outscored for the season. They have to be a lot better to crash the top half of the West.

14. Houston Rockets (n/a, Last week — n/a)

It is impossible to project the Rockets. If James Harden is there, Houston will be a top-10 offense, simply because he’s that good. The rest of the roster is less certain, but PJ Tucker and Eric Gordon are solid, John Wall looked alright in the preseason, and Christian Wood is a mega-talent. It all comes down to Harden and, if they deal him, what the package is in return.

15. Golden State Warriors (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Steph Curry is back. Draymond Green should be more invested. Kelly Oubre is pretty good. Your guess is as good as mine, but if Curry is Curry, they won’t be bad.

16. Atlanta Hawks (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Don’t look now, but the Hawks added three quality, starting-caliber players… without losing anything. That is pretty tough to do in the modern NBA but, if you count Clint Capela (who was injured on arrival in February), Atlanta pulled it off with the signings of Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic. From a talent standpoint, this is a team with five top-100 players, including Trae Young and John Collins, and they have real depth. The question is whether they can fit all the pieces together and translate it into wins.

17. Indiana Pacers (n/a, Last week — n/a)

The Pacers finished sixth in the league in defensive rating last season and, if you look at their roster, that feels (quite) high. Indiana also has a new coaching staff and Victor Oladipo remains a giant unknown. This may be too low on Indiana if they can find a top-10 defense again, but injuries and roster questions abound.

18. New Orleans Pelicans (n/a, Last week — n/a)

This is a very weird team right now. Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram are very good, but they overhauled a lot with the Jrue Holiday trade and committed to Steven Adams at the five. Is Eric Bledsoe the guy at the lead guard? What is Lonzo Ball’s role in a contract year? Can the Pelicans defend? I have many questions, but they are talented.

19. Washington Wizards (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Can the Wizards ever get a stop? That is the biggest question (from a basketball standpoint) in the nation’s capital right now. Washington was really good on offense at times last season, and Russell Westbrook should help when surrounded by enough shooting. The Wizards were genuinely horrendous on defense in 2019-20, however, and they didn’t do much to fix that.

20. San Antonio Spurs (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Derrick White is a much wealthier man after Monday’s extension, and he also might hold the keys to how good the Spurs are this season. If White is the player from the bubble, he could be San Antonio’s best player this season. If he’s the guy from before the bubble, San Antonio’s ceiling is less impressive, and the Spurs may be more reliant on DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge. This is definitely a team in transition from a roster perspective, but Gregg Popovich commands respect for keeping this team in solid position.

21. Orlando Magic (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Can Steve Clifford do it again? Orlando’s talent level is not impressive at all, and even more so with Jonathan Isaac sidelined with injury. The Magic have figured it out in the past, though, and they do have experience and roster consistency.

22. Memphis Grizzlies (n/a, Last week — n/a)

This might feel low, and I get it. At the same time, Memphis didn’t take a swing to improve in the short term, and they had a negative point differential last season. Of course, the wild card is Ja Morant, who looked to be making “The Leap” in the preseason, but only time will tell on that.

23. Sacramento Kings (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Sacramento has depth, but losing Bogdan Bogdanovic might hurt. Also, I am here to remind you that Hassan Whiteside is on this team. More interestingly, De’Aaron Fox is (very) good and perhaps Marvin Bagley III will show some things in year three if he can keep healthy.

24. Chicago Bulls (n/a, Last week — n/a)

The Bulls are essentially the same team as last season, except for a new coach and front office. That will be very interesting, especially for the long term. It also would be nice for Chicago to get something at the 3 from rookie Patrick Williams and/or Otto Porter. That could make the difference between incompetence and play-in contention.

25. Minnesota Timberwolves (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Count me as a Wolves skeptic, if only because defense matters. Minnesota does have a ton of offensive talent, from Karl-Anthony Towns to No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards. I just don’t see how they guard anyone with their best players (sans Ricky Rubio) on the court. That isn’t what you want.

26. Charlotte Hornets (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Gordon Hayward practiced this week, which should dispel the notion that he’ll miss extended time. That absolutely helps, and the Hornets do have a handful of interesting pieces in the present term. From there, LaMelo Ball is a future stud, and they have a legitimate three-guard rotation. What the Hornets don’t have, though, is a unit that can be above-average on either end of the floor, which is troubling.

27. Cleveland Cavaliers (n/a, Last week — n/a)

There is a little bit of Cavs buzz in the ether right now. I actually get why. Collin Sexton can score, Kevin Love can still play and Andre Drummond is still a pretty good center. Isaac Okoro should help them, at least defensively, and Larry Nance is underrated. I still don’t think this is a good team now but they may not be dreadful.

28. Detroit Pistons (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Detroit’s offseason was truly breathtaking. Killian Hayes is a very interesting prospect, but the Pistons didn’t do much to set him up for success. Is Jerami Grant good at basketball? Sure he is! Are there NBA players on this team? Absolutely, but the plan is unclear. Much like previous years, their floor (and ceiling) is determined by Blake Griffin’s health.

29. New York Knicks (n/a, Last week — n/a)

Ah, the Knicks. On the positive side, New York didn’t do anything crazy in the offseason to make themselves worse for the long term. That is a huge win. I still don’t see how the Knicks are average on either end of the floor, but RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin and Mitchell Robinson should be fun.

30. Oklahoma City Thunder (n/a, Last week — n/a)

This might be too low on the Thunder… as presently constructed. Oklahoma City does have some real players with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Al Horford and others. The depth is not strong in terms of NBA-ready talent, though, and the Thunder are not set up to win now. Patience is a virtue.

It was revealed yesterday that Halsey (as well as Pharrell and Bono) are part of the cast of the upcoming animated film Sing 2. It turns out this is just the start of a flurry of upcoming activity from Halsey, as she revealed in a back-and-forth with her fans on Twitter yesterday.

She told one Twitter user that she has four more reveals to make and “they get progressively more wild.” Somebody else asked if she’s most excited about “secret 2, 3, 4 or 5,” and she replied, “2 because it’s so close! 5 because it’s out of this world.” Another person asked exactly how close “secret 2” is and Halsey spilled the beans, responding, “Two weeks!” She also noted that all of her planned activity is set for 2021 and that next year will be “the most ridiculous year” of her career so far and a “nonstop explosion.” The projects are apparently also “all very different” and some of them are “years in the making.”

She wrapped up the impromptu Q&A by concluding, “different people will gravitate towards different things and (in my opinion) they get better as they go on. im lucky to have a job I love just as much now as when I started, bright eyed with a world of opportunity. GOODNIGHT.”

2020 will be a tough act for Halsey to follow: This year, she, among other things, chatted with Bernie Sanders, became a star of basketball Twitter, and was the year’s first Saturday Night Live musical guest.

Sean Penn knows how to keep things interesting when he’s hopping into news-mode, that’s for sure. Back in 2016, he bizarrely wrote (in Rolling Stone) about his clandestine meeting with El Chapo and passing gas next to the drug lord. His pursuits this year, however, have been much more altruistic, including his efforts to help provide free COVID testing in California. To that end, Penn appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe for a very early interview, and let’s just say that he accurately captured the essence of 2020.

Honestly, the dude nailed it. I like to imagine that he’s silently standing in solidarity with those of us who’ve logged onto an “audio only” Zoom call, only to hear a suggestion to turn on the camera. It’s 2020, man, and Penn’s got more important stuff to do than hair-stuffs. As founder of the Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) non-profit organization, he’s working with Peace Corps members and in conjunction with Los Angeles officials to organize drive-through testing facilities and make sure they’re running smoothly.

So, if Penn decides that looking like a sharp-dressed man is not a priority (at probably 5:30am PST), let the man do what he wants. And honestly, people are embracing the vibe. Let’s face it: we all look like Sean Penn today.

Again, it’s all for a good cause, and there’s no energy left for vanity!

Oh, and the mood would not be complete without Jeff Spicoli references to remind us all of Penn’s Fast Times At Ridgemont High days. Sean Penn is definitely winning the day.

By the way, Penn has seen you tweets, people, and he has responded: “If you think my hair goes wild on Morning Joe when hacked by Russians (allegedly), you should see how much wilder it goes when peeps donate to @COREResponse. You really should:).” See the donation link below.

The NBA season tips off on Tuesday night with a marquee doubleheader before the majority of the league gets going on Wednesday, when the Houston Rockets will begin their 2020-21 campaign. There will be plenty of scrutiny facing the Rockets, who still have James Harden on the roster despite his very well known trade request, and as such body language doctors will be out in full force trying to gauge just how bad the situation is for however long he remains in Houston.

Much like with the Jimmy Butler situation in Minnesota, it also means we are going to get reports of Harden’s discontent in practice, which produced a story on Tuesday morning from The Athletic’s Shams Charania highlighting a number of “verbal confrontations” Harden’s had with teammates, including one that saw him throw a ball at (but not hitting) rookie Jae’Sean Tate on Monday.

Sources say Harden and rookie Jae’Sean Tate had a heated exchange during Monday’s practice, culminating in Harden throwing the ball in Tate’s direction. The ball did not hit Tate. Interactions like these between teammates during practice can be part of a normal, competitive environment. Harden, however, is known by those in the organization as a laid-back and calm personality —especially as superstars go — and some around the franchise are viewing this as rising to an uncharacteristic level of frustration given his ongoing situation.

Is this a sign that he’s going to go full Butler and start berating teammates and trying to beat all the starters with third stringers while calling them all soft? Probably not because, as Shams notes, that’s not Harden’s style, but that he’s even this much on edge seems to indicate that the entire situation is wearing on him more than he’s letting on when he briskly goes through media sessions insisting he’s just focused on playing ball and whatever happens will happen.

I will also say that “throwing the ball in Tate’s direction” might not even have been much of a thing at all, and that the sources in the practice may have embellished a bit — we’ll never know for sure. There’s a fairly big difference between, say, full on loading up and chucking a basketball at someone and flipping it towards them in frustration, and this report doesn’t make that particularly clear (especially since he didn’t even hit Tate with it).

In any case, this is Houston’s new reality for however long Harden remains around. Every single moment of frustration will appear to be much more than just normal, on-court angst and will be representative for many of his overall discontent, which may be true or may be an over reaction. So goes life with a disgruntled star who has lobbied a trade request and we’ll find out when they play the Thunder on Wednesday exactly how much they can set aside differences to get the job done on the court.

In a new interview with Tamron Hall, country mainstays Lady A — formerly known as Lady Antebellum — explain why it took them so long to change their band’s name. They also used the opportunity to address their ongoing feud with veteran blues singer Anita White, who was already using the name Lady A. Band member Charles Kelley told Hall, “I think the word to me that resonates most this year has been ‘blind-spot.’ We came up with the name thinking about the Antebellum home… It’s so naive now looking back.”

Regarding their disagreement with White over the band’s new name, Kelley said, “We’re trying to resolve this issue with Anita and we’re really trying to be a light out there for everybody. And we know it’s going to be tough, it’s a very divisive issue, but it shouldn’t be a divisive issue, it’s just about love.”

The band initially announced the name change in June this year as a response to civil unrest in the wakes of several high-profile police murders of Black Americans. As activists across the nation called for changes in government and business policies to redress the systemic abuse and neglect of Black Americans, the band shared a statement announcing the name change and explaining it in recognizance of the connotations that come along with the word “Antebellum” — namely, slavery and its resultant ill effects on Americans of African descent.

However, they ran into an unexpected complication when it turned out White had been recording under the name for over 20 years — and has the streaming catalog to prove it. The band initially reached out, then sued White over the name in July. White countersued in September, asking for $5 million to compensate for the loss of her stage name and the cost of rebuilding her brand from the ground up, as well as a $5 million donation to promote racial equality. In a statement, White cited the history of erasure of Black artists in genres like jazz and rock, believing that the former Lady Antebellum only wanted to “look ‘woke’ to their fans.”

Watch Lady A(ntebellum)’s interview with Tamron Hall above.

While many are winding down for the holidays this week, there were still a number of hip-swinging best new pop releases that can’t be missed. Diplo teamed up with Leon Bridges for a soulful single, Tayla Parx delivered a slow-burning Christmas tune, and Mike Posner returned with an impactful LP.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop music. Listen up.

Diplo — “Horizon” Feat. Leon Bridges

Though Diplo already had a prolific year between his Major Lazer and Snake Oil LPs, the producer managed to fit in one last collaboration before the end of the year. Teaming up with Texas crooner Leon Bridges, the two released “Horizon” as a fluttering reflection on unrequited love.

Tayla Parx — “Ain’t A Lonely Christmas Song”

Following the release of her shimmering sophomore album Coping Mechanisms, Tayla Parx returns with a heartwarming Christmas anthem. Over a shuffling beat, Parx sings of finally being able to spend the holiday season with the one she loves.

Mike Posner — “Weaponry” Feat. Jessie J

Mike Posner dropped the surprise album Operation: Wake Up this week, a devastating reflection on his father’s brain tumor diagnosis. The LP as a whole confronts themes of isolation, self-loathing, and depression through music and his “Weaponry” track with Jessie J perfectly encapsulates each powerful concept.

AJ Smith — “Confetti”

Armed with a triumphant beat, up-and-coming pop virtuoso AJ Smith shared the feel-good single “Confetti” in anticipation for the new year. “I wrote ‘Confetti’ as an anthem for celebrating those little and big victories,” AJ said about the song. “I produced it with sounds that make me happy in mind.”

Dounia — “F.ck Me Eyes”

Following her 2019 LP The Scandal, New York City-based singer Dounia has been steadily releasing new music and this week, she dropped the sultry melody “F.ck Me Eyes.” Over a sizzling beat, the singer confidently asserts her dominance.

Jxdn — “Better Off Dead”

18-year-old singer-songwriter Jxdn dropped the lovelorn anthem “Better Off Dead,” co-written by pop mainstays Lauv and Blackbear. The song is slated to appear on his upcoming debut album Tell Me About Tomorrow and is woven with early aughts pop punk influences.

Noga Erez — “End Of The Road” Feat. Audrey Nuna

Tel Aviv-based artist Noga Erez is teasing a new era of music following her attention-catching debut album Off The Radar. Joining with rising rapper and fashion icon Audrey Nuna, the two deliver the playful and powerful anthem “End Of The Road.”

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Today, Donald Trump is expected to sign the $900 billion stimulus bill into law, and this is fantastic news for music venues across the country: The bill actually includes the Save Our Stages Act, which was introduced by Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota this summer. On Monday, Speaker Of The House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released a statement noting the bill includes “$15 billion in dedicated funding for live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions.” $10 billion of that will go to live music venues and promoters.

Klobuchar spoke about bill with Rolling Stone and said that she is pleased with how it turned out, saying, “One of the things that will go down when people look back at how we saved the music and wouldn’t let it die, was that this was such a bipartisan effort and it was reflected in the fan base because it went from country music to rap to classical. And it really did bring out the best in America in terms of what I consider one of the icons of our country culturally, but also one of our best economic drivers. And so it was that combination that we always knew existed in our country, but always gets pigeonholed into one area or another, and we were able to combine it.”

She also spoke about why she thinks Save Our Stages had such bipartisan support, saying:

“I think that through the horror of this pandemic and all the tears and tragedy, people embraced music and culture more and more. But they were just alone doing it on their computers and their phones, and they want it back. They want that sense of community. So I think there was not only an obvious economic turn; no one can dispute it. Everyone knows their hometown theaters are closed down.

Secondly, the emotional value of it you cannot take away. And the fact that people like different kinds of music, but they’re united in liking music. So we were able to get on that. Senator Cornyn and I have led a number of bills successfully — on totally different topics — and I think that helps. We were on the same page the whole time … The Save Our Stages group was really smart about never giving up. There was a certain hope to it. And we had a lot of out-of-work musicians and a lot of creative people, so they were very creative about how they approach this. And it never got mean. It was all done in a very positive way from the beginning.”

Klobuchar also explained how venue owners can secure funding, saying, “So what you do is apply to the Small Business Administration and explain what your revenues were in 2019. And you have certain criteria of which you can apply. So we kind of know what our universe is here. They have to have how many seats, the lighting, etc. You’d apply in a very straightforward way and then the money goes out after that once it’s granted by the Small Business Administration.”

Read the full Rolling Stone interview here.

In a year in which everything feels like a stripped-down, streaming-only release, George Clooney returns with, arguably, his most ambitious film yet. Clooney’s output as a director has varied widely, from critically acclaimed successes (2002’s Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, from a script by Charlie Kaufman) to execrable screwball (Leatherheads in 2008, Monuments Men in 2014). Yet his movies thus far have all been, to some extent, the kinds of movies you expect an actor to direct — ensemble pieces, heavy on the hijinks and earnest monologues. Things that a “George Clooney type” might be good at, say.

In The Midnight Sky, adapted from the novel by Lily Brooks-Dalton, Clooney gives us something much closer to Gravity or Interstellar: emotional sci-fi, in which thrilling space action meets mournful family drama. About the worst you could say about Midnight Sky is that it’s derivative of some of the past decade’s glut of space dramas — the aforementioned, plus First Man, Ad Astra, The Martian, Lucy In The Sky, Arrival, the show Away, etc. No one goes to space without at least one broken promise to a child on their mind, it seems (usually a dead child).

All that being said, controversial take warning: there should be more space movies. Much like submarine movies, I will take your poorly plotted, your tired, your muddled space movies, yearning to seem deep; more is still better. One could do a lot worse than a “just okay” space movie, and George Clooney’s previous output as a director mostly bears that out.

The Midnight Sky opens in 2049, three weeks after “the event,” according to the title cards. I’m fairly certain another dystopian movie has already used those exact words to yadda yadda the cataclysm it was also set in the aftermath of, but I don’t remember which. In any case, our protagonist is George Clooney, hidden underneath a woolly grey beard and hacking up hairballs to telegraph a terminal disease (characters in movies almost never conspicuously cough except as a way to communicate a portentous disease). While the rest of humanity has packed off to underground bases somewhere, Clooney’s character, who we eventually find out is a scientist named Augustine Lofthouse, has stayed behind at the Barbeau Observatory in the Arctic Circle.

We gather that he’s in this observatory all alone, having chosen to stay behind to keep from dying from whatever illness he has. And in order to continue to monitor… the midnight sky (finish your drink). What’s out there? A spaceship called the Aether, returning to Earth from an expedition to a possibly-habitable moon of Jupiter, and out of contact long enough not to know about “the event” and the world becoming an uninhabitable sewer. Aboard the ship are a murderer’s row of marvelous actors we all expect from a Clooney movie, including Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Demian Bichir, Coach Taylor, and Tiffany Boone, playing a cabal of unrealistically good-looking astronauts.

At least, Augustine thinks he’s all alone. He’s soon joined by a stowaway, a mute seven or eight-year-old girl, who always seems curiously well-groomed for a child who has supposedly been without an adult guardian for weeks. And so, all of the story elements are in place. Someone needs to contact the Aether and tell them to turn back, but the only people on Earth in a position to do so are a terminally-ill mountain man and a girl who apparently can’t speak.

One could argue that perhaps some of the ensuing action set pieces are distinctly reminiscent of other movies, especially Gravity, but the derivativeness of them doesn’t make them any less exciting. Clooney gives the space action (and the Earth action) drama and suspense, as well as punch, something even seasoned action directors often fail to do.

Many of The Midnight Sky‘s plot contrivances are transparently contrivances, in that distinctly Hollywood way. But they’re never in service of the usual, saccharine Hollywood feel-good. The Midnight Sky is much more melancholy than that. And even if the Sad Childless Astronaut is something of an overdone trope at this point, you still have to give The Midnight Sky credit for its execution. Terminally-ill-scientist-and-his-mute-sidekick-on-an-arctic-outpost-trying-to-warn-a-spaceship-away-from-a-ruined-Earth is a pretty clever premise. If you’re going to contrive, contrive well.

In the end, how much you come away enjoying The Midnight Sky will probably come down to how much the final twist makes you groan. While The Midnight Sky‘s final reveal is not a movie-justifying revelation on the level of, say “Verbal Kint was Keyser Soze” or “Bruce Willis was dead the whole time,” it is reasonably surprising and holds up as believable in retrospect (which is to say, it doesn’t “cheat”).

Admittedly, it also doesn’t make the movie better or feel all that necessary. In that sense, I suppose its final twist is more like “Edward Norton was Tyler Durden the whole time.” I.e., a twist that doesn’t really add much and leaves you on a slightly sour note but doesn’t ruin the otherwise good movie that came before it.

However you slice it, The Midnight Sky is still a hell of a lot better than Monuments Men.

‘The Midnight Sky’ hits Netflix on December 23rd. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.

Eddie Murphy starred in a sequel to Beverly Hills Cop three years after the original blockbuster came out (and a third film after that). He waited a bit longer to return to 48 Hrs. in Another 48 Hrs., but not much longer (eight years). But for whatever reason, it took 33 years to get Coming 2 America, the much-anticipated sequel to Coming to America, one of the legendary actor’s funniest early hits. The wait was worth it, however, if only for the title alone. Sometimes the most obvious option (of course Coming to America 2 is called Coming 2 America) is the best option. It also helps that much of the original cast is back, including Murphy as Prince Akeem, Arsenio Hall as Semmi, James Earl Jones as King Jaffe, Shari Headley as Lisa, and Paul Bates as Oha.

In Coming 2 America, Akeem returns to Queens, New York, with an initially-reluctant Semmi at his side, after learning that he has a son. Here’s more:

Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began

Coming 2 America, which also stars Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, and Teyana Taylor, premieres on Amazon Prime Video on March 5.