The Season Of The Witch
Episode 74
In our Halloween episode, we read the tea leaves of three movies about crews of witches supporting each other, fighting demonic men, and (in one case) sucking the lifeblood from small children. And while “Practical Magic,” “Hocus Pocus” and “The Witches of Eastwick” might appear to cry out for a #CovenGoals celebration of witchy power, these movies are a pretty wild broom-ride of giant performances, confounding gender politics, and having no idea what magic is. This week, we’re thrilled to be joined by Syfy Wire writer Heather Mason to discuss Sandra Bullock’s rom-com plot stuck in the middle of “Practical Magic” and whether “Hocus Pocus” is suitable for kids.
5:15 – “Practical Magic” (on Netflix now) is pretty little-known considering it stars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. We discuss why.
21:30 – Heather Mason calls into the show to chat about watching “Practical Magic” for the first time, trying to define the genre of this swerving movie, and what it was like to watch “Hocus Pocus” with a live theater audience this month.
39:20 – Chance and Noah try to tackle the question of why “Hocus Pocus” has so many sex-crazed characters.
51:15 – The 1987 adaptation of John Updike’s “The Witches of Eastwick” (now on HBO) strikes Noah as the weirdest movie he’s ever seen.
All Episodes
our favorite movies
all movies
Wait, What is This?
Movie Reviews & Reappraisals
Be Reel is a movie reviewing & reappraising podcast hosted by Chance Solem-Pfeifer and Noah Ballard.
Each time out, we select three movies based around a genre and call up guests ranging from submarine captains to Oscar winners. Then, we rate the movies, weighing both technical quality and entertainment.
Noah and Chance are old friends who mostly respect each other’s opinions. Even though Chance is a fool and a traitor. Find their show presented at ThePlaylist.Net and follow them on Twitter for the latest on Noah’s literary agenting and Chance’s work in the Portland arts scene.