Every thought we had while rewatching Practical Magic

Hold on to your husbands, girls! October 16, Practical magic turns 25 years old.

In case you missed it over two decades ago, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play Sally and Gillian, two sisters who come from a long line of witches dating back to the Salem Witch Trials. Any man who falls in love with them will be cursed to death. After one sister believes she has overcome a curse, her life is turned upside down and she is forced to return to her two witch aunts (played by Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing). Meanwhile, another sister accidentally kills her abusive boyfriend. Many spells are cast and margaritas are drunk.

While reminiscing about one of our favorite childhood memories, we had some questions. Is Nicole Kidman’s boyfriend Jimmy Angelov (Goran Visnjic) really just a vampire? Which outfit in the film is most reminiscent of 90s style? How do we move into this gorgeous multi-level home that the aunts have been living in for what seems like decades? And what the hell was in those margaritas?? Check out our group chat and see if we found any answers.

Brooke Marine, Deputy Culture Editor: Was this the first time someone watched this?

Katherine Thompson, editor-in-chief: This was approximately my 59th time watching…

Daniel Cohen, staff writer: I’m a recent convert, but I watch it every year for maybe three or four years?

Bianca Nieves, senior shopping editor: I saw this every time I stayed at my cousin’s house in Spanish. This film was regularly shown on local channels.

Brooke: I haven’t seen it in years, but honestly, as soon as I heard the first sounds of Alan Silvestri’s score, I was immediately excited. Also, Faith Hill’s instrumental needle drop of “This Kiss” during Sandra Bullock’s farmer’s market run-in with her new beau, which was later upstaged by Joni Mitchell’s “All I Want” needle drop in the car with Nicole Kidman… you can tell that the CG budget went towards the soundtrack.

Catherine: Music in Practical magicIn general, wild nostalgia. That early scene where Sally and Michael run towards each other to the loud chorus of “This Kiss”!

Daniel: Let’s not forget the song “Midnight Margarita”!

Brooke: When I first saw this movie as a kid, I thought the aunties singing “someone left this on the porch” to the tune of “you were always on my mind” after they got drunk was I know funny. Also, whenever I think about the non-existent person Sally dreams about, I’m reminded of the episode “Man Dough.” Sabrina the Teenage Witch (and after watching this I realized that Sabrina’s teacher is the townsman who brings a handheld vacuum cleaner instead of a broom to the exorcism at the end!).

Danya Issawi, fashion news columnist: Rewatching that scene where she portrays the ideal man who doesn’t exist as an adult, I think, “Okay, those are rare qualities, but I’m sure someone with them exists.”

Brooke: I’m sure someone has one eye green and the other blue…

Catherine: One thing I realized while watching this is that famous character actress Margo Martindale is also one of the townspeople who comes for the exorcism! Such a small role, and she says: “Ladies, let’s put things in order!” line with so much interest.

Brooke: Wait, I have an important question. Who do we think is hotter? Sally’s first husband, played by Mark Feuerstein, or the policeman, played by Aidan Quinn, who turns out to be her ideal man, who has one green eye and the other blue and can flip pancakes?

Danya: The first husband is very hot. Secondly, it’s hot whiskey, hot saloon and hot cowboy drink.

Brooke: Now that I think about it, why does the decision at the end of this movie go beyond the law and turn your life into a business?

Daniel: Plenty of familiar character actors are ostracizing Nicole Kidman.

Brooke: Nicole Kidman 1998 was like peak sexy Nicole Kidman.

Daniel: She is so insanely hot in this movie.

Brooke: “Hold on to your husbands, girls!”

Daniel: I also think that this was the peak of Sandra Bullock’s sexuality… they were in their 30s, but they both looked like they were in their 20s!

Catherine: I also love seeing Nicole with her natural hair, it’s a treat.

Brooke: I could have sworn that in my memory of this movie, the actress who played Evan Rachel Wood’s character’s younger sister was played by Jena Malone… but I guess I did. Practical magic

And stepmother in the cycle in 1998. Plus, young Camilla Belle plays young Sandra Bullock! Where was she…

Danya: I mentally took screenshots of every outfit and hairstyle.

Daniel: So good – does anyone have a favorite style?

Brooke: Gillian’s (Nicole Kidman) green velvet dress! Sally (Sandra Bullock) wore a lot of jeans, right? To make it clear that she is a mother…

Daniel: Sandra is the mastermind behind Saturday apple picking; Nicole is getting ready to go out on Saturday evening with inspiration.

Catherine: The scene where they sit down for lunch with the private investigator feels like peak ’90s style to me. Sally is wearing a little black tank top and a fitted printed maxi skirt; Jillian is wearing a cozy cardigan over a printed maxi…that’s actually my Fall 2023 vision board in one image.

Brooke: I also love Dianne Wiest’s sunhat and headband… like a country witch.

Daniel: The aunts’ hats are all incredible; they are like real Strega Nona retires and moves to the Amalfi Coast.

Danya: Umbrellas and small gloves!

Rachel Bashain, executive editor: Every time I watch this movie, I want to grow my hair really long.

Danya: I also like that Griffin Dunne never directed another studio film and the production designer never shot another set because they became highly sought-after interior designers.

Daniel: Can we hire staff for our new office?

Catherine: Can we talk about their HOME for a second! Are they in Nantucket?

Brooke: I want to live there! How many floors, four? Five? I’ve always wanted an attic. And it was definitely supposed to be a house on an island off the coast of Massachusetts, but it was filmed near Seattle.

Catherine: I would do unspeakable things to own this house. There is a very spacious pantry, apparently for cooking and spell casting…

Danya: It was just a set! Outer shell. Boo.

Daniel: Griffin Dunne Kitchen > Nancy Meyers Kitchen. Hot review, but I stand by it.

Danya: Someday I’ll take a picture of some contractor, point to him and say, “This.” And he will nod solemnly and begin. I also thought, thank you to the townspeople for finally coming to the exorcism, but does that undo decades of persecution and abuse?!

Brooke: And all because one lady was always curious to look inside the house…

Daniel: They are very forgiving witches, but I think Gillian holds a grudge. She won’t forget…

Danya: If it were me, I would still be holding a grudge! And when your husband comes to my pharmacy and asks for a serum for his receding hairline, I would give him some placebo and gas him up, making him think it works, so he pesters you every day to look at his “new growth” ” You will never know peace, bully!

Daniel: Why does one lousy exorcism have to clear his account?! Another thing I love about this movie is the tiny spells they cast in everyday life.

Brooke: Using a self-stirring coffee stirrer and blowing out a candle to light it can be useful in everyday life.

Daniel: One of my favorite scenes that I noticed during my fourth hour was when the investigator catches Sally stirring coffee at work, no hands, and so… Okay, it’s hot.

Brooke: I think this movie was once shown on Disney and the channel formerly known as Freeform (ABC Family), but I guess it’s too dark and sexy to see today?

Catherine: They absolutely did! Bad CGI aside, the scenes of Jimmy Angelov (both alive and dead) in this film are quite scary! Not for children.

Brooke: During those hours, it also occurred to me that Jimmy from Transylvania probably came back from the dead all screwed up that first time, not only because they forgot to poke him in the eyeballs, as the spell required, but also because he was just a descendant of undead vampires. …so many references to bats and staying up all night. Ugh.

Danya: Would definitely have scared me as a kid. But I also don’t remember the first time I watched this movie… I think it was always in me…

Daniel: I think a possessed Nicole Kidman is much scarier!

Rachel: When Jimmy starts choking her in the car, it’s very upsetting, not only because it’s realistic, but also because these two small, skinny women can’t fight him off… without the belladonna, he’d kill Nicole Kidman! And terrible computer graphics; the worst offender is probably the cowboy cop’s eyes in that scene when they are in his hotel room.

Brooke: The way the green changed back to blue… No big deal, we have I think Faith Hill, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks on the soundtrack instead.

Catherine: Didn’t they have colored contacts in the 90s?

Brooke: Apparently, they were invented in the 1930s… especially you know! Back to the margaritas, I need my aunt’s recipe…those witches were twiiiiiiiiiists.

Daniel: Everything about their behavior is perfect. I’m obsessed with them leaving as soon as the vampire ghost appears. They’re like: figure it out!

Brooke: To be honest, the movie gets a little boring once they leave.

Daniel: There will be a huge hole the size of a hat until they return for the exorcism.

Danya: Why didn’t they just throw Jimmy’s body into the ocean? It’s right here. The aunts would roll their eyes and then cast a spell to just throw him into the Mariana Trench.

Brooke: I hope that one day Jilly Bean will know true love.

Rachel: Maybe the cowboy cop has a brother.

Brooke: Maybe she doesn’t need it…she has a cat now.