Last Christmas (2019)

[Dejana]

"Last Christmas is an upcoming romantic comedy film directed by Paul Feig and written by Bryony Kimmings and Emma Thompson, who co-wrote the story with her husband, Greg Wise. It stars Emilia Clarke as a cynical Christmas store worker who keeps running into an overly-cheerful man (Henry Golding) and begins to fall for him; Thompson and Michelle Yeoh also star."

The movie features the music of George Michael.

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

*

Reviews are not so hot.  Emilia Clarke thinks it's "bloody annoying" that people are spoiling the movie, though no word if that annoyance starts with whoever cut the trailers... 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Dejana

[Robert Lynch]

Why release it before Christmas?

[absnow54]

2 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

Why release it before Christmas?

Because Christmas now starts on November 1.

[Frost]

This will sound convoluted, but even if I don't know what the spoiler is, just knowing there is a spoiler, spoils it, you know?   I would never of thought a rom-com movie as having a twist ending, so now I'll be watching the movie wondering what the twist will be. 

I am forever grateful I saw The Crying Game and The Sixth Sense right when they came out and knew nothing whatsoever about a twist.  They both made my jaw drop because they came completely out of the blue.  

[Dejana]

7 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

Why release it before Christmas?

The box office for Christmas movies tends to dry up after December 25. November 8 seems about a week too early, but they probably wanted to get a decent head start before the female-skewing Frozen 2 is released.

[Jenniferbug]

15 hours ago, Dejana said:

Reviews are not so hot.  Emilia Clarke thinks it's "bloody annoying" that people are spoiling the movie, though no word if that annoyance starts with whoever cut the trailers... 

I have no interest in seeing this, but the trailers made it pretty clear to me that this wasn't the straight up rom-com it appeared and so I was wondering what the twist/catch was. So her "oh no, people are spoiling it" is sort of silly. Especially since (now that I've googled spoilers from curiosity) it's roughly what I would have guessed just from the previews. 

[Dejana]

36 minutes ago, Jenniferbug said:

I have no interest in seeing this, but the trailers made it pretty clear to me that this wasn't the straight up rom-com it appeared and so I was wondering what the twist/catch was. So her "oh no, people are spoiling it" is sort of silly. Especially since (now that I've googled spoilers from curiosity) it's roughly what I would have guessed just from the previews. 

When the first trailer dropped, the nature of the plot was widely speculated upon and just as quickly derided ("Emma Thompson is an Oscar-winning screenwriter! Surely, she has something better than that up her sleeve?"),  and the entertainment/pop culture sites wrote about all that last summer. I saw some speculation that maybe there would be some sort of double bluff in the end, but Christmas movies are not the most unpredictable genre...

[BooBear]

4 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

 Especially since (now that I've googled spoilers from curiosity) it's roughly what I would have guessed just from the previews. 

The moment I heard what happened to Clarke's character "last Christmas" I knew. On the one had I feel increasingly frustrated with writers that seem to be lazy and this seems to be lazy and it annoys me because this only flies because Emma Thompson wrote it. One the other hand are we saying that every movie has to be explained like a complicated math problem. Can't movies just have fun and not think to much about it?  I probably will go see it anyway. 

[IWantCandy71]

Honestly, lazy to me these days is having another superhero movie out. I thought at least this one tried to be  a little bit different ?(but I phrase that with a question mark because I think in trying to be different, the differences they came up with frustrated me). I barely remembered the trailer honestly, and my friends  and I just wanted something cute to see.

 I looked for reviews and saw the spoiler and I knew before I watched, what the "twist" would be. It didn't ruin it for me. The down sides to the movie for me ? It felt longer than it actually was, it dragged in the last twenty minutes. Another thing- I'm tired of every movie feeling like they have to include every underrepresented "class" of people and make a "statement".  That's so ridiculous and annoying. STOP it.  It's not your job to be political, Hollywood.  Your job is to make a good movie, or at least, an entertaining one, for my ten bucks. It wasn't all that funny, but I think I'd classify it as more "dramedy" than rom com. The lead female wasn't really likeable until the last half hour/forty five minutes. Too selfish for me without enough reason. 

The positives:

The movie was cute and quirky, otherwise. I like that the "Romance" is more about a woman learning to love herself, her life, the people in her life, and the world around her. The cast, for the most part, had nice chemistry. I wouldn't watch it again, though. I do think Tom Webster was precious, and too good for this world.  

But why has Emma Thompson taken to annoying me so ? I am not sure what it is, I wish I knew.

It's worth a watch if you are just in the mood for a Christmas movie, but otherwise I'd say wait till Redbox. 

[AimingforYoko]

I wonder what it says about me that my takeaway from this movie was if Tom looked up a little less, maybe he would've seen that bus.

Edited November 11, 2019 by AimingforYoko

[MerBearHou]

28 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

I wonder what it says about me that my takeaway from this movie was if Tom looked up a little less, maybe he would've seen that bus.

This made me LOL in my office!!!

[BooBear]

I had a free ticket but I really disliked it. 

The good, Emilia Clark carried this on her shoulders. She needs a new agent as she is much better than the things she gets. The screenplay was thin and like a lot of things that Feig directs I feel like 30% of the movie was ad libbed. Henry Golding was sweet and likable. 

The rest, ugh. 

There were three different plots in this movie which didn't seem to add anything to the movie and seemed out of place, perhaps to pad the runtime.  You know, side plots are supposed to add to the main character's lesson learned not just be over there ... with no signifigant tie in. 

I didn't think the plot made a lot of sense. After her experiences with Tom, Kate decides to take better care of herself and be kinder to everyone around her, imho that is NOT something that logically flows from their time together.  Tom was rather a cardboard cut out of a human. Not a real human.  

The ending seemed like a crass rip off of Love Actually right down to the Christmas sing along.  Which was kind of selfish and not really helping anyone but herself -- since it is established she likes to sing but no one thinks she is that good.  Getting a few extra bucks for a homeless shelter? I can't help but think how pointless that is. 

[TiffanyNichelle]

1 hour ago, AimingforYoko said:

I wonder what it says about me that my takeaway from this movie was if Tom looked up a little less, maybe he would've seen that bus.

I said the same thing!

As soon as I saw the first trailer and made the connection between the song and the title, I knew what the "twist" was but I was still moved by her reaction.

[Scarlett45]

I wasn’t spoiled for the twist but I figured it out half way through the film. I thought it was charming and the supporting characters were well crafted. Henry Golding is hot. 😍

[SallyAlbright]

Emilia Clarke has to be the most charming little creature alive. That big crinkly smile and full-body laugh got me every time. She should do more romantic comedies, or just comedies, because she was excellent and I think everyone in our theater fell in love with her.

The movie itself is silly. I too figured out the "twist" from the trailer and title, but I still enjoyed it. Henry Golding is handsome and likable, and there were some genuinely funny moments. Plus, London at Christmastime is stunning. Emma Thompson actually felt like the weak point (and I typically love her), and her political points in the script felt shoehorned in, but it didn't stop me from enjoying it. Not a film that will win any awards, but see it for Emilia Clarke and enjoy it anyway. 

[Mabinogia]

8 minutes ago, SallyAlbright said:

Emilia Clarke has to be the most charming little creature alive. That big crinkly smile and full-body laugh got me every time.

She is delightful. She is one of those people whose smile makes me smile. It lights up a room. She is the main reason I still want to see this even with the bad reviews. Henry Golding is up there too. What a beautiful pair!

[SallyAlbright]

On 11/13/2019 at 7:24 PM, Mabinogia said:

She is delightful. She is one of those people whose smile makes me smile. It lights up a room. She is the main reason I still want to see this even with the bad reviews. Henry Golding is up there too. What a beautiful pair!

I genuinely found myself smiling at one point while she was beaming onscreen. Truly infectious! We left and my husband said, "I think I have a new celebrity crush."

Edited November 15, 2019 by SallyAlbright

[grawlix]

On 11/13/2019 at 4:12 PM, SallyAlbright said:

Emilia Clarke has to be the most charming little creature alive. That big crinkly smile and full-body laugh got me every time. She should do more romantic comedies, or just comedies, because she was excellent and I think everyone in our theater fell in love with her.

You should check out the 2016 film, "Me Before You".  She really displays her charm throughout the movie.

[TigerLily20]

Not going to lie, I only saw this for Henry Golding, and I had honestly thought it was just a feel good rom/com, for whatever reason (probably me being oblivious) I didn't get that it was going to have a "twist" until my husband saw a commercial and said something.  That said, it was cute, probably would have rather seen it on the local $5 night but Friday had to work for us, our movie felt longer because it had 30 minutes of previews beforehand....and Cats just looks creepy.....

[Brn2bwild]

Is there a way we can accurately gage how this film is performing?  I understand that the entire box office underperformed its opening weekend, but this weekend it's projected to get $6 million, less than 50% box office drop off.  No idea if that's good, bad, or typical.

[SallyAlbright]

On 11/16/2019 at 11:54 AM, Brn2bwild said:

Is there a way we can accurately gage how this film is performing?  I understand that the entire box office underperformed its opening weekend, but this weekend it's projected to get $6 million, less than 50% box office drop off.  No idea if that's good, bad, or typical.

It's not setting the world on fire, but from what I can tell, it's doing fine. It's made back its $30m budget in two weekends, with the UK opening this past weekend helping a bit. Not going to be seen as a blockbuster success, but not a failure either. I imagine it's the type of film that will do well on cable and on demand. 

Edited November 17, 2019 by SallyAlbright

[MerBearHou]

We liked it but didn't love it.  Surprisingly, Emma Thompson was the most annoying part of the movie and I'm a huge Emma T. fan.  She was the writer but she did herself no favors in her role.  Henry Golding was wonderful and Emilia did a good job with a very unlikable character.  I had no idea she could sing so well.  It was trying too hard to be quirky IMO and it wasn't a smooth effort.  Can't believe it was being billed as a new "Holiday Classic".  It's perfectly fine but not a classic by any means.

[voiceover]

On 11/8/2019 at 10:34 AM, Frost said:

[...]forever grateful I saw The Crying Game and The Sixth Sense right when they came out and knew nothing whatsoever about a twist.  They both made my jaw drop because they came completely out of the blue.  

OT, but since you brought it up --

I remember RuPaul sniping at the time that one look at Jaye Davidson gave it all away: "Now if **Miranda Richardson['s character] had a dick..."

Me, I'm so over this whole "subverting expectations" parlor trick.  Try telling a good story, ya morons.

[rmontro]

On 11/8/2019 at 12:34 PM, Frost said:

This will sound convoluted, but even if I don't know what the spoiler is, just knowing there is a spoiler, spoils it, you know?   I would never of thought a rom-com movie as having a twist ending, so now I'll be watching the movie wondering what the twist will be. 

I haven't seen this, but let me make a guess.  The Emilia Clarke character freaks out at the end and firebombs the whole town, right?

🙂

[bunnyface]

Well I must be dumb as a stump because I didn't get the twist until part way into the movie.  Oh well.  I enjoyed it.

I wanted to see a movie and chose this one over Mr. Rogers because I didn't want to cry.  Ahahahahahahaha.  Yeah.

[IWantCandy71]

On 11/11/2019 at 12:30 PM, AimingforYoko said:

I wonder what it says about me that my takeaway from this movie was if Tom looked up a little less, maybe he would've seen that bus.

My thoughts as well ! LOL But he enjoyed life, something the main character wasn't doing, even though she got a second chance at life. It had a good message there, I guess. It's just a forgettable movie overall. I had to struggle just now to remember the main character's name. That's never a good sign.

Quote

Well I must be dumb as a stump because I didn't get the twist until part way into the movie.  Oh well.  I enjoyed it.

Not at all.  I knew the twist going in, so I looked for signs, but had I not known, I would have been kind of surprised. There are little hints, like the fact that he is never seen talking to anyone else, but him bringing her to the apartment threw me off. 

Edited November 26, 2019 by IWantCandy71

[vavera4ka]

it was evident to me from the trailer that he was a figment of her imagination, but i thought it was a good ol' "ghost of Christmas past/present/future" story. Which i guess it kinda was.

the first half of the movie was a very weak 2/5 for me. It's obvious to me now, that they were stalling for the *gasp* reveal!

parts leading up to an dafter reveal were good though. idk if it was worth it, but i got what i came for: good sad/happy cry. 

[Ravenya003]

Saw it last night and it was exactly what I thought it would be: light and fluffy with slightly dark edge and a "twist" that was telegraphed all throughout the trailers.

I can't help but feel Emilia Clarke chose this role to wash away the nightmare of what happened to her character on Game of Thrones. Heck, if you squint you can almost see this as a coda to Daenerys's story: kind but selfish girl with a "heart problem" gets a second chance to clean up her act, help others and embrace life on her own terms. 

Henry Golding is gorgeous, but I don't think the "love story" was particularly moving. I mean, the big reveal was played so casually that it was almost funny, and we don't get inside his head at all. 

Spoiler

Probably not helping is that I recently rewatched "Ghost" with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, which is the gold standard of love stories between the living and the dead. 

The most interesting dynamic in the film was Emilia Clarke and Michelle Yeoh, and I liked the running joke of the hideous ornaments she manages to stock. 

Also, at my theatre there were some old ladies who were rather talkative, but in an amusing way. When Emilia dressed up in front of the homeless shelter I heard one of them say: "oh, she's going to sing, isn't that lovely?"

[rmontro]

On 11/30/2019 at 4:31 PM, Ravenya003 said:

I can't help but feel Emilia Clarke chose this role to wash away the nightmare of what happened to her character on Game of Thrones. 

A travesty.

[chediavolo]

Just saw this on Direct tv. What a piece of crap. Yes Emila Clarke is adorable, the eyebrows though can be distracting. Figured out the twist very early on. This could have been on Lifetime or Hallmark.  What schlock.  Remember at one point she says to her boss something like "so your name isn't Santa".. Really, did she think the woman's name was Santa. It was so contrived. Can't believe someone got the $$ and go ahead to make this. 

[rmontro]

On 7/24/2020 at 11:40 AM, chediavolo said:

Just saw this on Direct tv. What a piece of crap. Yes Emila Clarke is adorable, the eyebrows though can be distracting. 

Eh, I didn't think it was that bad.  Nothing special certainly.  I'd put it in the category of ok if you're really wanting to watch a Christmas movie.  

Wasn't there a scene where she accidentally burned off her eyebrows?  I kept wondering if they were supposed to be drawn on in the early parts of the movie.

[Traveller519]

The girlfriend and I put this on as our start to the Christmas season last night. We picked it since we knew it was a "new" Christmas movies that neither of us had seen before, and we're both fond of the leads. We didn't know there was going to be a twist.

Let's just say we had no problem pausing halfway through to tackle the dishes and other Sunday night chores for the week before picking it up and when that was done. I tackled some painting in the living room while watching.

Clarke and Golding are as charming as ever and it's fun to watch each of them do their thing. I think Clarke's best interactions were with her pregnant friend and her husband. I was disappointed they were limited to the first act and fourth act call back. I also have no idea why they decided to add relatively well known actors to the theatre and ice shoe audition panels for their 30 seconds of screen time.

The twist was, meh, whatever. We didn't call it, but suspected he may have been her doctor. Also the timeline didn't seem to line up. I think the first title card said Yugoslavia, 1999 but Yugoslavia officially ceased as a state in 1992? If it was supposed to be 1992 (or maybe 1989), that wouldn't add up with Katarina being 26 in 2017 and also old enough (or potentially even alive) to be singing in that children's choir in Yugoslavia. Maybe that Cobain/Winehouse joke wasn't necessary for Clarke who is, into her 30s.

Needless to say, I don't think this is getting added to the Holiday rotation.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Traveller519

[Spartan Girl]

Finally watched it on HBO and it was pretty much everything you expect in a Hallmark Christmas movie, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Yeah, I’d already been spoiled about the twist, but even if I hadn’t I would have seen it coming. Tom was charming in a manic pixie dream boy way, so OF COURSE he’s a ghost 😂

Emilia Clarke was great as the lead. I liked how it went from a cheesy Christmas rom com to a movie where she had to get her shit in order and stop playing the victim. I hope she’s in more movies because I too need to get the bad taste of what they did to her on GOT out of my mouth.