"Eminently practical and yet appropriate as always..." - Mrs Lovett

Which characters do you like? How are they? What are their motives, their values, their dreams?

What do you like about them? In which way do they inspire you?

These are the kind of questions I would like to deal with today and probably in some other posts as well.

I will tell you about some of my favourite characters- most of them will be out of Tim Burton's films, but I am sure that does not surprise you- and explain to you their influence on me, what makes me feel connected to them, how they inspire me... and so on.

This time, it is all about Mrs Lovett.

Mrs Lovett is a woman of many faces.

She appeared in a lot of different adaptations of the tale of Sweeney Todd, a murderous barber who kills men while shaving them- to his delight or because of revenge, the possible reasons were endless.

He and Mrs Lovett first appeared in the penny dreadful serial The String of Pearls: A Romance (around 1850). London was at that time a miserable place. People lusted after bloody and brutal crime stories, it did not matter whether the "facts" were true or fictional, so Sweeney Todd was a welcome story.

Mrs Lovett's appearance was never described in a detailed way. Although, mostly she was considered to be dark-haired and average-looking, or not "that pretty".

Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of Mrs Lovett, for example, is dark-haired, pale-skinned, with hollow dark eyes and clothed in black (old) dresses, while Angela Lansbury's, in contrast, is blond and wears cheap clothes (sometimes in light colours).

Both of them have crazy curly hair in a cute up-do, I have to add. (see the slideshow)

The actions of Mrs Lovett are, after some over-thinking, quite simple- she is considered to be "the worst pie-maker of London", is poor and thinks the reason of her misery is the good selling Mrs Moony, another pie-maker who uses cats for her meat pies- and suddenly, after 15 years (Tim Burton's version) Benjamin Barker, now "Sweeney Todd", the previous owner of the Barber shop above her pie one, appears and asks her where his wife is- the man who she always had loved and now seems to be reachable.

Desperate for love, admiration (and success in the "pie-business"), she does everything for him- even meat pies out of his victims' bodies (and lying about Lucy having killed herself)

Even though Sweeney still cries after his wife Lucy, Mrs Lovett does not conceal her great love for him:

"I'm your friend, too, Mister Todd, if you only knew, Mister Todd. Ooh, Mister Todd, you're warm in my hand.

You've come home. Always had a fondess for you, I did."

- Mrs Lovett in My Friends

"Ooh, Mister Todd *kisses him*, I'm so happy *again*, I could *again* eat you up, I really could. [...] It'll be so quiet That who'll come by it Except a seagull? Hoo! Hoo! We shouldn't try it, though, Till it's legal For two- hoo! But a seaside wedding could be devised, Me rumpled bedding legitimized. Me eyelid'll flutter, I'll turn into butter The moment I mutter, ´I do-hoo!´" - Mrs Lovett in By The Sea

"Better you should think she was dead. Yes, I lied, 'cause I love you. [...] I'd be twice the wife she was, I love you. [...] Could that thing have cared for you like me? - Mrs Lovett in Final Scene

I have to admit I was for a long time more of a huge Sweeney-Fan (and I still am), but Mrs Lovett got better...

I loved her style in Tim's film. It inspires me over and over again, I love how the "lady of the victorian era" is so much in her and at the same time she is not. She is unconventional, but still... a real woman. A woman with such a great passion for someone, it finally "kills" her- after her confession, her "love" Sweeney throws her in the oven. A dramatic ending, which is just perfect for her.

Some might say she is crazy, insane, eccentric, twisted.

I do not disagree with that.

But over all, I think she is fantastic.

Links:

How to make your own Mrs Lovett Mitts

Make Up Tutorial (video)

Another Make Up Tutorial (video)

Hair Tutorial (video)

Helena Bonham Carter Interview (video)
A Little Priest - Musical - Angela Lansbury (video)

A Little Priest - Film - Helena Bonham Carter (video)

Mrs Lovett Impression (video)

Film Review: Pirates of the Carribean: Stranger Tides

Rating: * * / ***

in words: between "poor" and "satisfactory"

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy

Runtime: 137 min.

Directed by: Rob Marshall

Written by: Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio

~

First of all, I'd like to mention that there were things I liked about the film.

For example, surprisingly, the mermaids.

SPOILER Even though one of them looked with her little fangs like a vampire... twilight-like, much?

SPOILER END

They looked realistic, which was fine, and added more suspense to the plot, I wish their "big moment" would have been a bit longer. In contrast, the what-so-called "Zombies" seemed to be left out.

SPOILER There were only two of them in the whole entire film. It surprised me that they were even mentioned in the trailer, they appeared to me so insignificant- I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thought that. They brought nothing to the story line.

SPOILER END

Secondly, I watched it in 3D- and it was good. I had no headache afterwards, so I can recommend you 3D in that case, it was a nice little touch and made it at the more "boring times" of the film a bit more exciting, if you can call it like that.

Thirdly, Hans Zimmer. Enough said.

The fourth and last thing I liked was the actor's convincing and quite enjoyable acting- and no, Redbeard (Ian McShane) was no "fail" as I expected him to be and Angelica (Penelopé Cruz) was OK, but Johnny's (Jack Sparrow) and Geoffrey Rush's (Captain Barbossa) perfomances were simply the best. (what a surprise)

Now to the downside- the plot. Things just didn't make sense, were unnecessary.

The action sequences' purpose was only the fighting itself, sometimes you had to think why they were even fighting.

Jack and Angelica's relationship was unnecessary too. I have to admit, I loved the tension between Jack and Elizabeth in the other films, but there wasn't too much of one between him and Angelica.

SPOILER I couldn't understand how Jack was supposed to somewhat love her or even to be able to do it. This conversation between him and Gibbs in which he told him he had "feelings" for her... it was just not right. For me it didn't fit his personality.

SPOILER END

Maybe Jack could be able to be in love with Elizabeth in a way, but not really with Angelica, there was just something missing which made me think it's not right. I think it was the lack of chemistry, it was not as good as the one between him and Elizabeth.

And what kind of past they shared was not really explained.

SPOILER She loved him and he used her... but in which way? SPOILER END

Why did it appear to be "important" then when there was no "importance" in the past at all?

SPOILER The second unnecessary "romantic relationship" was the one between Philip (Sam Claflin) and the mermaid Syrena (Astrid Bergés-Frisbey). Again, it made no sense. Or it made no sense for me because it was so cheesy, I don't know. And their saying "You are different" bugged me the most, ugh. Unimaginative, that's the right word, unimaginative and cheesy! SPOILER END

Another thing was the look of the Fountain of the Youth. Angelica said "It is beautiful" but there was no "beauty" at all?

It is weird, with a budget they had for the film, the Fountain of the Youth looked almost cheap in a way.

~

About the plot as a whole- completely unnecessary.

The film definitely doesn't stand on its own and shouldn't be watched by "Newbies", I don't think they will enjoy it as much as (maybe) fans will do.

For hardcore-fans, it is good.

For fans like me, it is okay.

But it depends on your mood- whether your in a good or bad one, you will find it atleast to be entertaining or just terribly boring and bad.

Sidenote: My father, with whom I watched it, wanted to go and leave after the first half. (We had a break.) The second half with the ending was a bit more pleasing to him, but he still found the film to be boring, he said he just wanted it to end.

All in all, I wouldn't say I hated it. I just saw better. (For example the first and second film.)

P.S: For all the Johnny fans out there- don't you think these blockbusters are poison for him? When it comes to terms in shining in a role of a film.

All his blockbusters got bad/mixed critiques: Alice in Wonderland, The Tourist, Pirates of the Carribean 4... I think he should do some independent films again. What do you think?

Rule 1: A Burton Girl's best friends are ...Thunder-storms.

Today the sun was shining like crazy. I wore a sleeveless black top and black trousers.

Oh my, how hot I felt that day.

But what a nice surprise when it finally started to rain! Of course it had to be in a "crazy" way aswell. ;)

I was at my friend's home (not the "also-weird-friend's", by the way) and we were learning English stuff for school, when suddenly the sky became much darker and it thundered over our heads. It was raining cats and dogs!

... The thunder-storm was pretty relaxing, actually.

It inspired me to create this little set.

Lydia's saying "Hi!"

I think she fits gloomy, rainy days perfectly.

(This is my first polyvore set, so please bear with me.. !)

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do in the rain anything "Burton-esque", so I hope this list here is, at least, satisfying your/my imagination.

A Burton Girl's activities in the rain (or thunder-storm):

1. She does the "Rain Dance"- slowly spins around, moves her fingers gracefully and holds her hands high above her head to the sky, smiling, trying to eat the rain...

2. She steps angrily into puddles, mumbling "There is a hole in the world like a great black pit", ruining her beautiful striped tights, borrowed from Mrs Lovett (oops)...

3. She wonders how Willy Wonka is going to make a new candy, featuring clouds, thunder-storms and little cats and dogs. (does he like cats and dogs? maybe chocolate ones, she wonders next.)

4. She asks the Mad Hatter whether his hat is water repellent or not. If not, she buys him an umbrella with many little hats on them (aww)

5. She thinks the Red Queen's head is much more frightening than the big dark thundering cloud above her.

6. She tells Ichabod he should go hide under a tree before the headless horse man is finding him, just to watch him running away when the lightning hits it.

7. She tells Ed Wood that this is a good and cheap opportunity to make a film about an apocalypse.

8. She throws a tea-party. Hatter, Alice, March Hare, The Tweedles, The White Queen and Batman are invited. For the bat she made the cutest things ever- little cupcakes with Joker's face on them...and she doesn't forget to force him to eat them.

9. She places a piano in the garden and plays with Emily and Victor a "piano trio".

10. After she called Beetlejuice for three times she makes "mud angels" with him.

11. And finally, she invites Tim Burton over for dinner (this time, Johnny cupcakes) and asks him when there is going to be a(nother) film about girls like her.