'Love Actually 2: Red Nose Day'

(Spoilers, actually)
I was completely unaware that the shortfilm special of 'Love Actually: Red Nose Day, actually' had already been released because i thought it was coming out later this month (it came out in March, actually). But anyway, the charity mini-sequel is online for everyone to see and it's actually the cutest thing.

In the 15 minute clip, we get to see how some couples are still pretty much together and it all starts reenacting one of the movie's cutest scenes with Keira Knightley's character, among many other iconic scenes, like Hugh Grant dancing, also have a spot. We see how Colin Firth and his Portuguese lady are still going strong and how Liam Neeson's role is still forever alone, but in the company of his son who just got engaged to his childhood's sweetheart, which is cute. Or a hilarious scene with good old Mr. Bean being pretty much himself. Everything is kinda good spirited and makes you keep a smile all the time just like the movie did, so i liked that.

So, better late than never, watch the super tender, lovely, and Christmas-y clip below!

Love Actually 2 for Red Nose Day from Maria Grazia on Vimeo.

sources: ew & vimeo

'Aspirational' and a surprise music video by Spike Jonze

There are two videos that caught my attention last week and i want to show them to you, it didn't hurt that they contain two of my favourite girls and also a really great director:

First, there's the 'Aspirational' short film, directed by Matthew Frost and starring Kirsten Dunst which is simply genius. It might me a simple idea but this is definitely happening nowadays with the use of cellphones and the importance we give to a simple 'Like' (or the quantity of them). Where the picture was taken, why or with whom doesn't matter anymore, people are hungry for likes and we've lost all the meaning of taking a photograph.

And also, i'm posting the surprise video Spike Jonze has filmed for Karen O with the ultra charming Elle Fanning and it's also a really simple vid but Elle is so lovely and cute that she makes everything better,. Please never grow up Elle Fanning:

sources: konibi

The other side of 'Gravity'.

(This contains HUGE spoilers)

'Gravity' was the first movie i ever watched in 3D, the thing was ok but that format is simply not for me, and the film in general was nice, not as great as everyone was saying it was but not bad either. Still, there was a scene that really touched me, that stand out for me in the movie, and that was when Ryan Stone, Sandra Bullock's character, has no hopes of survival and believes she's gonna die while she makes contact with someone on the radio that doesn't understand her cries for help. 

Now a shortfilm has just been released that shows what happened on the other side of the radio, directed by Alfonso Cuarón's son Jonas Cuarón, and is beyond beautiful. If there was something that touched me to the core was when in that scene the voice on the radio starts singing a lullaby to a baby that's crying on the background, and that makes Ryan Stone to calm down and fall asleep in a quiet and peaceful way to death, up in space where there's just silence. 

What happens on that other side is also touching and has a sad turn in the end. Watch:

sources: stayforthecredits & youtube

'Palo Alto' directed by Gia Coppola

Gia Coppola is not only another Coppola family member (daughter of the late Gio Coppola and granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola), but also the latest one of the Coppolas who is making the brave move, brave because after 'The Godfather' director the expectations are really high – of making her first feature lenght film. She had already directed some fashion short films for Diane Von Fustenberg or Opening Ceremony and now she's adapting the first book of short stories by James Franco, titled 'Palo Alto'.

The movie narrates a series of tangled stories of troubled kids and troubled teachers starring James Franco, Emma Roberts, Jack Kilmer (with a cameo by his dad Val Kilmer) and even her grandauntie Talia Shire is appearing in the movie and by the looks of the trailer it looks good. It gives major Sofia Coppola vibes so that's a good and a bad thing, bad because she needs to have her own signature style but maybe there's a lot more that we can't see from the trailer. Check it out because it really made me want to see it, and behind the cut, there's the super cute fashion shortfilm 'Non Plus One' for Opening Ceremony, starring her uncle Jason Schwartzman and Sofia Coppola's muse Kirsten Dunst (who were already a royal couple in 'Marie Antoinette') and with music by Schwartzman's band Coconut Records. It's all in the family.

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'Flowers in the Attic'

'Flowers in the Attic' is one of those books i've always loved, the story of four kids forced to hide in an attic locked away from the world by their very own mother, so twisted. My mom had all the books and i remember seeing the (lame) movie adaptation when i was little, but so much was lost in that movie from the book, mainly all the dark and twisted stuff that happens. i've always wondered why there wasn't a remake in the making for this book, out of all the unnecessary remakes that take place in Hollywood, this one should be taken into account; and i've always imagined that the perfect director for it would be Sofia Coppola, a story so similar to 'The Virgin Suicides', with kids trapped in their own homes (in this case, an attic, hidden from the outside world). She's even a book lover herself after making the shortfilm 'Lick the Star' all around the book, so it would had been perfection.

But now, Lifetime has announced the TV Movie adaptation of the book, starring Heather Graham as Corrine, the lousy mother, and Ellen Burstyn as the evil grandmother and this second casting choice is perfect. Burstyn was more than flawless in 'Requiem for a Dream', as well as in her complete filmography, but i've always loved that performance better, and i'm really excited about this TV movie. It would had been great if it had been a series of episodes because there's so much to the story but let's hope this turns out nicely. It won't air till next year so in the meantime, i'm posting Sofia Coppola's 'Lick the Star', her first try as a director, not a bad thing at all. Kill the rats:

sources: thewrap, youtube & lostinsofia

young female directors

Yesterday we got the news that Scarlett Johansson was going to direct her first film, a screen adaptation of Truman Capote's lost novel 'Summer Crossing', published after his death. I've always followed this girl's career and ended up adoring anything she does in movies, singing, designing, anything. So what about Scarlett the director? we got a first taste of her potential with the shortfilm 'These Vagabond Shoes' starring Kevin Bacon, originally filmed for 'New York I Love You'. Now her piece didn't make the cut and ended in the DVD extras but it was more to do with the shortfilm not fitting with the rest of the rom-com vibe that the film got ('Paris Je T'Aime' was soo much better). And her shortfilm was so beautiful, aesthetically beautiful, and filmed with a lot of quality, one of those type of works that leaves images speak for themselves (thing that i love). And the ending is poetic, this is happiness:

These Vagabond Shoes from miguel astarlozza on Vimeo

And she's not the only young actress being brave and putting her work out there, Kirsten Dunst also shot her first shortfilm years ago and now this was something quite impressing, she directed 'Welcome', a really scary but cheeky piece starring her 'Little Women' sister Winona Ryder (props to her for having Winona in her first short!) and it's simply brilliant.

As for other young directors, Natalie Portman also did a shortfilm for 'New York I Love You' that was actually included in the movie but it was really unimpressing, and she also filmed 'Eve' with Lauren Bacall and Ben Gazzara but it was long and a bit boring despite the amazing cast, i just didn't like it as much as Kirsten's and Scarlett's shortfilms so if you want to watch it, click here but so far i'm not digging her directing, such a shame.

sources: lostinscarlettjohansson & kirsten-dunst.org