Female Characters, Halloween, Women in Film

Supernatural Beauty and its Cost: Cinema Witchcraft Over the Decades

The family Halloween flick “Hocus Pocus” (1993) became a cult hit due to its iconic New England aesthetics and the flamboyant performance of Hollywood veteran Bette Midler, but didn’t charm a huge audience at the time of its release. Moviegoing youths of the 1990s were more primed for darker materials, snatching up tickets to see a teenage coven of goths rock the dark arts in “The Craft” (1996). Both films have stood the test of time, and make great autumnal rewatches; But how drastically do their spellbinding stars differ in terms of feminist appeal? And have our pop culture perceptions of witchcraft changed much since the turn of the century? Continue reading Supernatural Beauty and its Cost: Cinema Witchcraft Over the Decades

jmamennOctober 31, 2020October 31, 20201 Comment

Halloween

Witchcraft Month: Mary and the Witch’s Flower

By Tom Moore When it was announced that legendary animator/filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki was retiring from feature filmmaking back in 2013 due to his age, there was a lot of questions as to what the fate of Studio Ghibli, one of the greatest film studios in history, would be. At the time, there was a decision made to put the studio on pause while certain decision … Continue reading Witchcraft Month: Mary and the Witch’s Flower

Tom MooreOctober 31, 2020October 27, 2020Leave a comment

Female Characters, Halloween, Personal Essays

It’s Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus: A Love Letter to my Favorite Witches

Every year, for as long as I can remember, from September to November I look forward to the lighting of the Black Flame candle (by a virgin of course!) so you can return from the dead. As a child, my sister and I would sit down in front of the television to take note of the days on the calendar that “Hocus Pocus” would air (on ABC Family, of course) so we could plan our schedule accordingly. I could always count on 24-hours worth of you on a loop on Halloween day. How could I count on this you wonder? Well, that is because you are the best Halloween movie witches to ever exist. Continue reading It’s Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus: A Love Letter to my Favorite Witches

Erica RichardsOctober 31, 2020October 31, 2020Leave a comment

Retrospect Reviews

Witchcraft Month: “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”

There was a time when Disney was not the corporate behemoth it is today. After the death of founder Walt Disney, the company floundered a bit and its animation department suffered. Projects were shelved and those that had been shelved were resuscitated. “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” (1971) was one on those on again, off again films in development. The uncertainty in its production shows a little in the quality of the adaptation from the books by Mary Norton but is charming and unique in its take on witches. Continue reading Witchcraft Month: “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”

jmamennOctober 26, 2020October 22, 20201 Comment

Female Writer, Feminism, Film Reviews, Retrospect Reviews

Witchcraft Month: “Practical Magic” (1998)

“Practical Magic” (1998) has always been way ahead of its time. The film centers on sisters Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) who are raised by their aunts (Diane Wiest and Stockard Channing) after their parents die. The sisters learn that long ago, their ancestor was scorned by a man and vowed that if any man tried to love her or her daughter, that man would die. So the curse took Sally and Gillian’s father, and in turn their mother. Growing up, Sally was deathly afraid of love, while Gillian went looking for it in all of the wrong places. Sally ends up falling in love and losing her husband to the same curse. Meanwhile, Gillian has met the wrong man. When fate reunites the sisters, the dastardly Jimmy (Goran Višnjić) sours their reunion. Continue reading Witchcraft Month: “Practical Magic” (1998)