
206. Practical Magic (1998) | Diving Deep Into The Sandra Bullock/Nicole Kidman Cult Classic | Behind The Scenes Of Practical Magic | Film Analysis
1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film AnalysisShow Notes
Laci and Matt head to Witch Country to hang with the Owens Sisters, Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gilly (Nicole Kidman). Together they learn about the power of blood magic, sisterhood, and body oil. Practical Magic was a critical and commercial disappointment when it came out in 1998, but it's a beloved classic at this point with a sequel out in movie theaters today! (What remarkably good timing.) Were the late-'90s critics correct? Does this movie jump awkwardly from family movie to dark horror to rom-com to domestic drama, all with a cloying Alan Silvestri score that sounds like leftovers from Richie Rich? Am I (Matt) tipping my hand about how I feel about this movie? Folks, Laci and I are in huge disagreement about Practical Magic, so you gotta listen to hear all about it! Watch this Practical Magic podcast in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6jBPkskTINo Next week (Sept. 18, 2026): Clue (1985)!
Time stamps: 00:09:15 — History segment: Alice Hoffman writes the Practical Magic novel; director Griffin Dunne hires a witch consultant; reception and legacy of Practical Magic; sequel 00:45:22 — Movie discussion + Practical Magic film analysis 01:52:40 — Star ratings + final review of Practical Magic PRACTICAL MAGIC (1998) was directed by Griffin Dunne. Starring Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Aidan Quinn, Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, Goran Visnjic, Evan Rachel Wood, Alexandra Artrip, Margo Martindale, and Chloe Webb as Carla, a body oil sales technician.
Sources: "How Practical Magic Pissed Off a Real-Life Witch" by Savannah Walsh | Vanity Fair (2023) - https://bit.ly/4gJamlx "The Surprisingly Easy Way the Story of 'Practical Magic' Came to Author Alice Hoffman" by Eden Gordon | Mental Floss (2026) - https://bit.ly/4yqsbf9 "Practical Magic Got Cursed by an Actual Witch. Is That Why It Bombed?" by Lila Shapiro | Vulture (2017) - https://bit.ly/46yJU8t "Stockard Channing Answers Every Question We Have About Practical Magic" by Jessica Goldstein | Vulture (2020) - https://bit.ly/3UxAasl "Bewitched: Practical Magic Author Alice Hoffman on the Hotly Anticipated Sequel and Why All Women Should Have a Coven" by Savannah Walsh | Vulture (2026) - https://bit.ly/4xA6zMJ "Evan Rachel Wood shades Practical Magic 2 cast for not reaching out amid recasting, praises 'sweetheart' Joey King" by Leigh Blickley | Entertainment Weekly (2026) - https://bit.ly/4ywLIe4 "Practical Magic's Lost Director's Cut Was Stunningly Beautiful, Says Writer" by Haleigh Foutch | Collider (2020) - https://bit.ly/3VksIAU "Thank the '90s for Practical Magic" by David Sims | The Atlantic (2018) - https://bit.ly/4dvbnvl
Transcript: https://1weekrentalpod.com/2026/09/practical-magic/#transcript Artwork by Laci Roth.
Matt has two monthly spin-off podcasts: PodJob: A James Bond Podcast | Check it out on Apple Podcast (https://bit.ly/4jRL2K1), Spotify (https://bit.ly/4a8jM6E), and YouTube (https://youtube.com/@podjob007). The Sign Post Up Ahead: A Twilight Zone Recap Podcast | Check it out on Apple Podcast (https://bit.ly/4gXjtiR), Spotify (https://bit.ly/4gTE8Ev), and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@TheSignPostUpAhead)
Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).
Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: "Winston-Salem" - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM "Snake Drama" - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg "The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet" - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ
Follow 1-Week Rental, a movie podcast: Twitter: @1weekrental | @MattStokes9 | @LRothConcepts Facebook: @1weekrental Instagram: @1weekrental TikTok: @1weekrental | @mattstokes9 Letterboxd: @loadbearinglaci | @mattstokes9 Bluesky: @1weekrental.bsky.social
1-Week Rental used to be Load Bearing Beams.
More from 1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis
Hey folks, 1-Shriek Rental is off today, and we'll return next week (Friday, Oct. 23, 2026) with an episode about Jordan Peele's 2019 doppelgänger horror/comedy Us.
This week on 1-Shriek Rental, Laci Elizabeth* Goth and Matt Chokes continue their examination of 2010s horror films by going through The Purge (2013). It's the best night of the year to buy and sell exotic reptiles. But what other crazy shenanigans happen in this movie? Well, it's mostly a home invasion story. But there's a reason for that! And we tell you all about it by going through the history of this movie and the larger franchise it spawned. Watch this The Purge podcast in full on YouTubE: https://youtu.be/UbMWku0pdAc We are taking next week off, and will return on Friday, October 23, 2026 with an episode about Jordan Peele's Us (2019)!
Welcome to 1-Shriek Rental, where your hosts Matt Chokes and Laci Elizabeth* Goth take you through horror films all through the month of October. And this October, Ms. Goth and Mr. Chokes are specifically taking a look at horror movies from the 2010s, starting first with 2015's word-of-mouth sensation It Follows. Writer/director David Robert Mitchell was inspired by recurring childhood dreams about being followed by an amorphous, slow threat. It's a deliciously simple idea: It moves slow, but it's never gonna stop moving toward you. It will be the thing that defines you, the thing you can never escape, the thing that will ruin your life and turn you into a bad person. And it's why we think this movie is actually a metaphor for getting a job. Watch this It Follows podcast in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/48KBGjG8wzI Next week (Oct. 9, 2026): The Purge (2013)!
We travel back in time to the perfect year, 1995, when nothing at all was bad about the world. And it was in that year that you would have met a family unstuck from time, the Bradys, who are here to make sure you have nothing but sunshine days. You might remember The Brady Bunch Movie as a movie that sticks it to the cheesy old '70s sitcom, that injects double entendres and crass humor into those squeaky-clean Bradys, but you will be surprised to find that this is basically an update of the show that mostly keeps the wholesomeness and sweetness, and it works beautifully. The story can now be told! We take you through the history of Brady Bunch ephemera, the weird TV movies and spin-offs that eventually lead to The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel in the 1990s. Then we take you through The Brady Bunch Movie itself, celebrating its neato blending of past and present and refreshing lack of world-building. Just imagine what a Brady Bunch movie would be like if it were made today. It'd be 2 hours and 45 minutes long, it'd take an hour for you to meet a single Brady, the horse statue would be beneath a dusty old sheet, etc. Watch this Brady Bunch Movie podcast in full on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@1weekrental Next week (Oct. 2, 2026): It Follows (2014)!
Cashing in on well-known intellectual properties is by no means a new thing in Hollywood. Look all the way back to 1985, when Clue opened to disappointing box office with a confusing marketing gimmick of having three different endings. You could go see Clue A, Clue B, or Clue C. This was a bad idea, but today, all three endings are included in the film and follow, one after the other, and it's beautiful. If all IP cash-grabs were as great as the Clue movie, we'd have no problem with them! A loving tribute to classic screwball comedies with a brilliant cast that perfectly matches the material, all of it anchored by an extraordinary performance by the late, great Tim Curry. In the history segment, we take you through the gestation of this movie, from original director John Landis to final director Jonathan Lynn (of My Cousin Vinny and The Whole Nine Yards), to the casting of Carrie Fisher as Miss Scarlet before her dropping out to go to rehab, to the misguided marketing strategy to the disappointing box office and critical performance, to Clue's rediscovery on home video. Then in the movie discussion, we struggle to explain and keep track of everything that happens in this movie, so we instead debate whether what happens in a movie matters, and what does it mean to matter anyway? Watch this Clue podcast in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/g6g95ChsEWg Next week (Sept. 25, 2026): The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)!