Current:Home > ContactPrepare a Midnight Margarita and Enjoy These 25 Secrets About Practical Magic -Mastery Money Tools
Prepare a Midnight Margarita and Enjoy These 25 Secrets About Practical Magic
View
Date:2025-04-13 09:32:22
"There's a little witch in all of us."
Twenty-five years later, fans still can't get enough of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in Practical Magic. Based on Alice Hoffman's novel of the same name, the 1998 movie starred the Oscar winners as witchy sisters Sally and Gilly Owens. But, despite the A-list line-up—which also included Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest as their delightfully wacky and brownies-for-breakfast-promoting aunts—critics failed to fall under Practical Magic's spell.
Perhaps it was because it was a hard movie to pin down. Was it a romantic comedy centering on Sally's blossoming romance with the honorable officer Gary Hallett (Aiden Quinn)? But it could also be classified as horror because of Gilly's toxic relationship with "cowboy Dracula" Jimmy (Goran Višnjić), who haunts her even after she and Sally accidentally kill him. And then it's also a family drama about inherited generational trauma thanks to a curse that befalls any man who falls in love with an Owens witch.
Even director Griffin Dunne acknowledged he threw everything and more into the cauldron.
"I remember Bob Daly, who was co-CEO of Warner Brothers—at our premiere, he sat one row in front [of me]," Dunne told Vanity Fair. "After a very lighthearted scene with girls giggling and being hilarious, [we were] having them dig up a body from a rose bush and stick needles in its eyes. He turned to the person next to him and went, 'I wish the kid would just pick a tone.'"
The real charm, however, was that Practical Magic was all of those things, which is why audiences are still bewitched by the movie, especially during spooky season, and its weird mix of humor, horror and, especially, the heart in the bond between Sally and Gilly.
To celebrate the movie's 25th anniversary, we're revealing behind the scenes facts about its production, which was cursed by an actual witch, that infamous midnight margaritas scene and the star who asked to buy the Owens' swoonworthy home.
So, cue up Faith Hill's "This Kiss" and try not to dance naked under the full moon until after we reveal these mystifying secrets about Practical Magic:
VG
Practical Magic is streaming on Hulu.
veryGood! (71239)
Related
- New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
- How to turn off iPhone's new NameDrop feature, the iOS 17 function authorities are warning about
- This rabies strain was never west of the Appalachians, until a stray kitten showed up in Nebraska
- At least 40 civilians killed by al-Qaida-linked rebels in a Burkina Faso town, UN rights office says
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- Cody Rigsby Offers Advice For a Stress-Free Holiday, “It’s Not That Deep, Boo”
- Kuwait’s ruling emir, 86, was hospitalized due to an emergency health problem but reportedly stable
- Writer John Nichols, author of ‘The Milagro Beanfield War’ with a social justice streak, dies at 83
- A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
- Mali’s governmnet to probe ethnic rebel leaders, suggesting collapse of crucial 2015 peace deal
Ranking
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- The Best TikTok Gifts for Teens They’ll Actually Love and Want
- Israel compares Hamas to the Islamic State group. But the comparison misses the mark in key ways
- Rosalynn Carter set for funeral and burial in the town where she and her husband were born
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- Want to help beyond Giving Tuesday? Here's why cash is king for charities around US
- Mark Cuban working on $3.5B sale of Dallas Mavericks to Sands casino family, AP source says
- John Mulaney relates to Matthew Perry's addiction battle: 'I’m thinking about him a lot'
Recommendation
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
Host of upcoming COP28 climate summit UAE planned to use talks to make oil deals, BBC reports
Sherrod Brown focuses on abortion access in Ohio Senate reelection race
Georgia Senate panel calls for abolishing state permits for health facilities
Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
Busch Gardens sinkhole spills millions of gallons of wastewater, environmental agency says
3 climate impacts the U.S. will see if warming goes beyond 1.5 degrees
Bowl projections: Michigan back in College Football Playoff field after beating Ohio State