{"id":5036,"date":"2019-11-12T01:00:43","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T08:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/?p=5036"},"modified":"2019-11-12T12:53:31","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T19:53:31","slug":"last-christmas-entertaining-christmas-themed-musical-with-thoughtful-performances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/2019\/last-christmas-entertaining-christmas-themed-musical-with-thoughtful-performances\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Christmas * Entertaining Christmas Themed Musical With Thoughtful Performances"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/LASTCHRISTMAS.jpg?resize=152%2C225&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5040\" width=\"152\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/LASTCHRISTMAS.jpg?resize=202%2C300&amp;ssl=1 202w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/LASTCHRISTMAS.jpg?w=674&amp;ssl=1 674w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 152px) 100vw, 152px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Kate (Emilia Clarke) harumphs around London, a bundle of bad decisions accompanied by the jangle of bells on her shoes, another irritating consequence from her job as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop. Tom (Henry Golding) seems too good to be true when he walks into her life and starts to see through so many of Kate&#8217;s barriers. As London transforms into the most wonderful time of the year, nothing should work for these two. But sometimes, you gotta let the snow fall where it may, you gotta listen to your heart &#8230; and you gotta have faith. Starring Emilia Clarke (HBO&#8217;s Game of Thrones), Henry Golding (A Simple Favor, Crazy Rich Asians), Michelle Yeoh and Emma Thompson. Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor, Spy, Bridesmaids). \u00a0Screenplay by Academy Award\u00ae winner Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility, Bridget Jones&#8217;s Baby) and playwright Bryony Kimmings. Featuring the music of George Michael, including the bittersweet holiday classic of the film&#8217;s title. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Benjamin P. comments, \u201cFor a film that hinges much of its story on a single Christmas song, I found myself unexpectedly moved by it. It has a touching story about doing good for others, which we\u2019re all capable of, and not letting hardship keep you from reaching your full potential.\u201d See his full review below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last Christmas<br>Benjamin Price, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 14<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8wqCn1g0X1Y?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.d.jpg?resize=225%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5038\" width=\"225\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.d.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.d.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.d.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.d.jpg?w=1500&amp;ssl=1 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Last\nChristmas<\/em> is a\nChristmas tale with an out-of-place musical hook that works better than it\nshould. For a film that hinges much of its story on a single Christmas song, I\nfound myself unexpectedly moved by it. It has a touching story about doing good\nfor others, which we\u2019re all capable of, and not letting hardship keep you from reaching\nyour full potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kate (Emilia\nClarke) finds her life at a standstill, mostly homeless and frequently drunk\nwith a loss of ambition or drive. She is about to get fired from her job as an\nelf at a Christmas-themed store when she meets the jovial, yet mysterious Tom\n(Henry Golding), who helps usher her into a new era of her life. Kate begins to\nhelp those she has done wrong and view the world in a more positive light as\nthe Christmas holiday draws near.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.c.jpg?resize=225%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5042\" width=\"225\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.c.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.c.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.c.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.c.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><figcaption>(from left) Kate (Emilia Clarke) and Tom (Henry Golding) in &#8220;Last Christmas,&#8221; directed by Paul Feig.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The film\u2019s sound\ntracked is from the music catalog of singer George Michael. They serve as smooth\ntransition between scenes, but at times feel tacked-on and gimmicky and don\u2019t\nfit in with the rest of the film. <em>Last Christmas<\/em> has a third act that\nturns the movie on its head and, while the shift isn\u2019t shockingly surprising,\nit\u2019s well-executed and re-contextualizes much of what has come before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Emilia\nClarke gives a surprisingly layered performance as Kate. Her character is\nwritten fairly blandly, but Clark gives it depth\nwhen the screenplay doesn\u2019t. Henry Golding plays Tom with exuberance and\nenergy. His thoughtful approach to life makes him a nice foil to Kate\u2019s blatant\ncynicism. Emma Thompson puts on a Slavic accent in a scene-stealing comedic\nperformance as Kate\u2019s painfully honest and worrisome mother. There are some\nmoments in this film that are painfully reminiscent of other films in the rom-com\nlexicon, but there\u2019s a consistent charm here throughout, more earnest than\ncontrived. This charm is amplified by the likability of its two leads, Clarke\nand Golding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.a.jpg?resize=225%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5037\" width=\"225\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.a.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.a.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.a.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lastchristmas.a.jpg?w=1500&amp;ssl=1 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I give <em>Last\nChristmas<\/em> 3 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 11 to 18 due to sexual\nreferences and language. There\u2019s nothing too scandalous, but it\u2019s still worth\nnoting. If you\u2019re a fan of this genre, you\u2019ll probably love this film and its\nholiday charm is hard to resist. In the end, we go to the movies to be\nentertained and in that respect; <em>Last Christmas<\/em> certainly gets the job\ndone. This film comes out in theaters everywhere November 8, 2019. Look for it.\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kate (Emilia Clarke) harumphs around London, a bundle of bad decisions accompanied by the jangle of bells on her shoes, another irritating consequence from her job as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop. Tom (Henry Golding) seems too good to be true when he walks into her life and starts to see through so many of Kate&#8217;s barriers. As London transforms into the most wonderful time of the year, nothing should work for these two. But sometimes, you gotta let the snow fall where it may, you gotta listen to your heart &#8230; and you gotta have faith. Starring Emilia Clarke (HBO&#8217;s Game of Thrones), Henry Golding (A Simple Favor, Crazy Rich Asians), Michelle Yeoh and Emma Thompson. Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor, Spy, Bridesmaids).  Screenplay by Academy Award\u00ae winner Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility, Bridget Jones&#8217;s Baby) and playwright Bryony Kimmings. Featuring the music of George Michael, including the bittersweet holiday classic of the film&#8217;s title. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Benjamin P. comments, \u201cFor a film that hinges much of its story on a single Christmas song, I found myself unexpectedly moved by it. It has a touching story about doing good for others, which we\u2019re all capable of, and not letting hardship keep you from reaching your full potential.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[849,845,349,852,843,846,842,855,844,851,850,856,848,859,857,860,858,854,847,853],"class_list":["post-5036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feature-film-reviews","tag-boris-isakovic","tag-emilia-clarke","tag-emma-thompson","tag-erik-baiers","tag-game-of-thrones","tag-greg-wise","tag-henry-golding","tag-john-luke-roberts","tag-last-christmas","tag-lat-christmas","tag-lucy-miller","tag-lydia-leonard","tag-madison-ingoldsby","tag-margaret-clunie","tag-maxim-baldry","tag-michael-addo","tag-michelle-yeoh","tag-patti-lupone","tag-paul-feig","tag-sarah-bradshaw"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paS5I2-1je","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5036"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5052,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5036\/revisions\/5052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}