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S3:E12 Practical Magic (1998 Film)
38 Plays13 days ago
To wrap up Spooky Month, we're heading into the enchanting world of Practical Magic—where sisterhood, spells, and small-town gossip collide with love, loss, and a dash of danger. Based on Alice Hoffman’s beloved novel and the 1998 film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, this episode dives into the cozy, witchy chaos that made Practical Magic a cult favorite. We discuss the differences between book and movie, the enduring charm of the Owens family, and why this story feels like Halloween comfort for the soul.
Hosted by Crystal with co-hosts Keri and Lindsey.
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Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(01:19) Ratings and Non-Spoiler Discussion
(10:48) Book vs Movie Breakdown (SPOILERS)
(50:53) Final Verdict
(51:35) Question of the Episode
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Sisterhood and "Practical Magic"
00:00:13
Speaker
i've chosen a title that explores the bonds of sisterhood across generations. Alice Hoffman's 1995 novel, Practical Magic, and the 1998 movie of the same name.
00:00:25
Speaker
I'm your host, Crystal. I have four sisters and an airtight alibi. I'm Carrie, fueled by sisterhood and caffeine. And I'm Lindsay, and I know my sister would help me hide a body.
Owen Sisters' Story and Challenges
00:00:40
Speaker
For over 200 years, the Owen sisters have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Practical Magic tells the story of three sets of Owen sisters, the aunts, Frances and Jet, the main focus of the story, Sally and Jillian, and Sally's daughters, Antonia and Kylie.
00:00:59
Speaker
Sally and Jillian are orphaned and raised by the aunts and basically ostracized by the whole town. Vance practically encouraged the rumors, and Sally and Jillian come at this problem with two different solutions.
00:01:13
Speaker
Jillian decides to leave as soon as she can and get as far away as possible. Sally, on the other hand, refuses to believe or participate in the family business.
Hosts' Ratings and Book Experience
00:01:25
Speaker
We follow all the sisters as they navigate tragedies and traumas, losing themselves, finding each other, and finding themselves again. This is a reread and a rewatch for me, but this is the first time read for each of you.
00:01:41
Speaker
and so I want to know, my sisters in literature, how did you rate this book? Let's start with Lindsay. Okay, so I rated this one and I'm hoping i was sending out vibes. I'm hoping someone rated it the same as me.
00:01:59
Speaker
I rated this one three midnight margaritas.
00:02:06
Speaker
All three of us got it.
00:02:10
Speaker
um i I really enjoyed the the story. i enjoyed the
Magic's Portrayal: Book vs Movie
00:02:17
Speaker
sisterhood and the bonding. I i really enjoyed the the relatable relationship between the sisters and not everything is perfect and they're not always going to get along. And I really enjoyed that, but I will say there was a lot going on in this book.
00:02:40
Speaker
I mean, there was a lot story everywhere. So I probably would have rated it higher if there wasn't just so much going on.
00:02:51
Speaker
Yeah, I get that. Carrie, what'd you think? I gave it three and a half midnight margaritas. Yeah. So I will say i I love this movie.
00:03:07
Speaker
Like, I've watched this movie a million times. So I'm going into this book having watched the movie a ton of times. And I knew going in that they were significantly different.
00:03:23
Speaker
But I still really enjoy this book. To me, it's a very like low stakes, magical realism, cozy book to me.
00:03:36
Speaker
i like the magic that it's integrated in like kind of like in their everyday lives in the story. I almost wish that the magic was a little more present in the story.
00:03:53
Speaker
ah ah more It's much more present in the movie than it is in the book. And I like that so much about the movie. So I kind of wish that was more in the
Setting and Character Relationships
00:04:04
Speaker
book.
00:04:04
Speaker
um I can't help but compare just because I've seen the movie so much. But it almost feels like like what Lindsay said, that there's just so much going on It's not a slice of life story.
00:04:20
Speaker
But it almost is like told that way. Like this is just what's happening in their life. And they're nothing's like super drawn out, if that makes sense.
00:04:32
Speaker
So it's like I never felt super invested in things that were going on. And you're just like kind of like going along with the ride. Like I said, it's very low stakes.
00:04:44
Speaker
And I usually like a pretty high stakes story, in my opinion, personally. So that's just like, it's a vibe and I just enjoy it. Yeah, no, I totally get that. I give this book four and a half midnight margaritas.
00:05:00
Speaker
And I think that's because this is a reread for me. I already kind of knew the story. i already kind of knew the characters. And so reading this a second time allowed me to notice things that I didn't the first time.
00:05:18
Speaker
It allowed me to better shift between the different POVs that we get from the different sets of sisters. It really allowed me a chance to settle into the story because the first time I read it, I 100% agree with both of you.
00:05:34
Speaker
There's so much going on that it's almost easy to get lost or... In my, like, I kind of, my attention would start to drift after, you know, certain POVs. I'd be interested at first to be like, oh, I i want to hear a little bit more background from this particular part of the story, which is we get a lot of that from different parts of the story.
00:05:57
Speaker
And i wouldn't i would be excited at first, but then kind of get bored with it. You know, so
Ending Differences and Final Verdict
00:06:04
Speaker
my attention would drift. And it was right about then that the POV would shift again.
00:06:09
Speaker
And that first time was a little disjointed. But this this reread for me is just, it really hit just right. And I and i think because I knew what to expect, I found more unexpected. and I really enjoyed that. Yeah. Have you read the rest of the series? No, but I'm definitely going to at this point. yeah I was curious if reading the rest of the series would have an effect on it. I think so. But read rest of it either.
00:06:37
Speaker
I kind of hope so because I know, but like you said, there's a lot more magic in the movie than there is in the book.
00:06:48
Speaker
The book alludes to a lot of possible magic. There's a lot of like magical innuendo yeah happening. Exactly. Exactly. And Alice Hoffman in quite a few interviews talks about how to her, the idea of practical magic was that there are small miracles throughout life that we can't always tell if that's fate or magic or just a small miracle.
00:07:17
Speaker
And so I think that that, and you see it like the second time rereading it, I kind of felt that a little bit more that was that magic or was that fate or was that,
00:07:28
Speaker
just chance? you know Was it just luck? Yeah, like coincidence kind of thing. you know And the movie definitely definitely is just, this is magic.
Wrap-up and Social Invitation
00:07:39
Speaker
Yeah, sure.
00:07:41
Speaker
I think they're knowing that the two stories are so different, I wonder, or you know between the the book and the movie, I wonder if the pre... Because the next two books that she wrote are prequels to this one that tell the story of the ants and then the story of Maria Owens, the original owen yeah mate the original matriarch of the family. Yeah.
00:08:02
Speaker
And so I wonder if they lean a little bit heavier into the magic. Yeah. Yeah. and for What about you, Lindsay? Yeah. what What did you see the difference or feel those differences in the magic or feel the kind of fate of the magic? Does that make sense?
00:08:20
Speaker
Yeah. Well, ah I had never seen this movie. So Which is crazy. It really blows me away. And surprisingly, i I didn't know anything about the movie. Like, I knew there were sisters.
00:08:37
Speaker
I knew there were witches. Oh my gosh. Done. That's all I knew. you serious? Oh my god. I'm so glad I picked this. I had no idea that you hadn't seen the movie. I kind of just assumed that everyone has at this point. so Yeah, nope.
00:08:50
Speaker
So first time read, first time watch going in, it was really noticeable, the differences, because I had no expectations and... but Yeah, I i enjoy a subtle hint at magic, but seeing it in the movie, I also enjoy just outright seeing the magic.
00:09:11
Speaker
and I think it really worked with both stories. Yeah. Do you think you'll continue in like the book series, though? I might. I listened to Practical Magic. I listened to the audiobook.
00:09:23
Speaker
So yeah, I'll probably continue it, honestly. The audiobook is really good. it is. It was fun. Yeah. yeah The narration is great. and love that. From what I understand, Practical Magic 2 going to follow the fourth book in the Practical Magic series.
00:09:44
Speaker
And follow the sisters, the Sally's daughters, Antonia and Kylie. The fourth book is the Book of Magic, right? think I think so. I had them pulled up, but of course that page. Yeah, I believe because the series order is...
00:09:59
Speaker
a little weird i think that she said that you can read the order the way that they were written is practical magic the rules of magic magic lessons then the book of magic or you can read in chronological order which is to the two prequels which is magic lessons the rules of magic first book would be technically practical magic then the book of magic right And I think yeah Book of Magic is what that second movie is going to be.
00:10:28
Speaker
And which they they just wrapped on. which is And I'm super excited. um Diane Weiss and Stockard Channing are coming back as Ants Francis and Jet. So that's exciting for me. I thought they were amazing.
00:10:43
Speaker
But before we get too far into it, do we want to have anything else to say before we get into full spoiler version of our show? No, let's get into the spoilers.
00:10:55
Speaker
Okay, well then, without further ado, let's move into our full spoiler discussion. If you have not read the book or seen the movie, we suggest you do so before listening to the rest of this episode. You've been warned.
00:11:08
Speaker
For those of you that are going to stick around, please note our conversation will likely discuss themes of domestic abuse, sexual assault, murder, and animal cruelty for a more comprehensive list of content warnings.
00:11:20
Speaker
We suggest checking Storygraph for this or any other title you're considering. They're a great resource and your mental health is important to us. So right off, before we go anywhere, I just have to point out the soundtrack of this movie. Hmm.
00:11:38
Speaker
Because right off the bat, from the very beginning in the opening scene, is the song that we all recognize the moment we hear it anymore. It's TikTok famous. It's a million Instagram reels. It is the song of fall.
00:11:54
Speaker
It is the pumpkin spice latte of the music world. The Amos Veritas. Yeah. Not made with tears in my eyes. It is so good. i started to cry when I watched this again. I've watched it so many times at this point, but it just hit.
00:12:11
Speaker
You know, it's the right time of year to be listening to that song. It's the right time we year to be watching this movie. Practical Magic's soundtrack is like literally everything And then like, I mean, because the 90s are my jam.
00:12:25
Speaker
like I was 17 years old when this movie came out. it like so faith hills this kiss like still gives me chills like i'm like this kiss i'm staying along too i'm excited and this whole the whole soundtrack is really good but the opening scene with that song just tickles me every time yeah Stevie Nicks' Crystal is literally one of my favorite songs. yep and then and You put the lime in the coconut.
00:12:57
Speaker
yeah like I mean, come on Who's not dancing along with this whole soundtrack and excited right up until Willie Nelson?
00:13:08
Speaker
You were always on my mind. Yeah. Then gets creepy. but Yeah. yeah But you know immediately exactly the scene that that comes to mind.
00:13:22
Speaker
I also want to talk about the differences right off the bat between the book and the movie. We open with, you know, a little bit, a small backstory of the Owens ah women have been blamed for everything that ever happens in this Massachusetts town.
00:13:40
Speaker
And then we talk about Sally and Jillian and their parents die and they go stay with the aunts.
00:13:48
Speaker
There's a big difference right away, I think, because in the book, we get a little bit more backstory of the ants. ants are a little bit more standoffish.
00:14:01
Speaker
And in the movie, you know, ants are a little bit more lovey-dovey, little bit more cuddly, a little bit more comforting. More Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:14
Speaker
Also, the setting is a little bit different. The sisters stay with their aunts. In the movie, basically, Jillian seems or Sally seems to stay the whole time.
00:14:30
Speaker
um Whereas you know Jillian moves away as soon as she can. But in the book, Sally moves away. And the main conflict.
00:14:46
Speaker
Like the vast majority and we don't even get to the main conflict until like halfway through the book because we're getting the backstory of the ants. We're getting the backstory of Sally and Jillian. We're getting literally the entire lives of Kylie and Antonia who And did you guys notice that they changed they flipped the girls in the movie? Yeah.
00:15:07
Speaker
Something I noticed a lot, especially in this beginning part of the book, is a lot of set up of what the ants do.
00:15:18
Speaker
Yes.
00:15:21
Speaker
Regarding they're kind of known for in this town. particularly focusing on one case, basically, of a woman coming to them wanting someone, a man, to leave their wife for her.
00:15:45
Speaker
And we kind of just get like a snippet of this in the movie. But this is pretty drawn out in the book to the point of getting kind of spooky and kind of scary. Yeah.
00:15:56
Speaker
In the book and kind of getting a little dark in the story. And I thought that was kind of interesting. I kind of like that in the book more. I think more information in the book, we get a little bit more to of how Sally and Jillian grow up.
00:16:16
Speaker
Part of that is seeing how the ants work and what they're actually doing for the women of the town who sneak onto the, you know, onto the porch at twilight when they can't be, their features can't be seen in the shadows.
00:16:31
Speaker
But we also kind of get the setup of the small, but what I would call the small magics, you know, like the the woodwork in the house never needs polishing or the cats following Sally to school. Mm hmm.
00:16:51
Speaker
You know, those little small things that really in the movie, we don't, there there seem to be a little bit alluded to here and there, but they're not major in the story. We see the bigger magic in the movie.
00:17:05
Speaker
It's almost like performative in the movie. And the book is very small things. Mm-hmm. But I really loved the cats following Sally to school. And that was her big embarrassment. And then that little boy lit the magpie's tail on fire.
00:17:22
Speaker
i know. shit i forgot about that part. was like, Lindsay is going to hate me if anything happens to this cat. but I would have fought that boy. I know. I know. But she did cause the, well, she yelled at the little boy and said, I hope something terrible happens to you. You'll know how it feels.
00:17:39
Speaker
And then a ceiling tile fell on his head. And so from then on, nobody would play with Sally. I mean, they already teased her before, but that was like the nail in the coffin. I was really worried that she wasn't going to stick up for the cat.
00:17:53
Speaker
I was like, she's not going to do anything because she's so embarrassed that the cats followed her. So I was really glad right there was, yeah. But I love too that in the book that she, we, from her point of view, we even, you know, find out that she had considered,
00:18:08
Speaker
Ignoring the cats. and And she had considered denying the cats until something happened to Magpie and that she couldn't stop herself. Speaking of cats.
00:18:20
Speaker
I was back there stretching. I know you're talking about me. yeah you guys aren't watching. her in the back If you guys don't watch our YouTube channel, you really should because we have an extra host. all the time.
00:18:31
Speaker
ah But no, we, I really love these moments where we kind of see a little bit more, the sisters become a little bit more humanized, but specifically we see the siblings, right? Whether it's Francis and Jet, whether it's Sally or Jillian, whether it's Antonia and Kylie, we see them forced to love each other almost because they are ostracized by this town. you know they're They're forced to stick together and they're very opposite. Each one of these sets of sisters are very night and day. And in most families, in fact, we start to see with Kylie and antonio Antonia that they are not, um Kylie and Antonia are not super close
00:19:21
Speaker
hello But that's because after Sally's husband passes away, which she blames the family curse for, the family curse where their husbands, um any man who dares to love an Owens woman and is ill-fated.
00:19:36
Speaker
But he dies. She goes into a year of mourning and grief and she doesn't speak. And then one day she wakes up, she walks towards the park sees that one of her kids is being teased and that's the end of that she packs them up and she moves away um and we don't see this in the movie in the movie that honestly is like a huge difference between this is where they just completely split and we see In the book, Sally is just trying so hard to be normal. All she wants is normal. She wants as far away from magic as possible.
00:20:13
Speaker
She doesn't want her kids and involved in any of it. She doesn't want the aunts to influence them on that. And she wants them to be treated like any other girls. She wants to we will have birthday parties. She wants to join the PTA.
00:20:24
Speaker
And she ends up getting a job at the school and living for over 10 years in someplace New York. We don't really know. Yeah, I was honestly really surprised by this and that, you know, i something I really love about the movie is the fact that, well, like I like in the book that Whenever she meets ah Michael, he actually moves in with her in the aunts.
00:20:58
Speaker
Yep. She has kids there and, you know, living with the aunts, with Michael, with the kids growing up. And I just like the fact that like, Growing up with families so close because, you know, this town has really like made them this way and made them have to like rely on each other because they pushed them to this point.
00:21:20
Speaker
And then there was a point in their relationship. It made me like so emotional reading this book because she got to the point where people in this town were starting to take her seriously and starting to treat her better.
00:21:37
Speaker
And she was really happy with Michael and they were like talking to her and hanging out with her and stuff. And then he died. And then they started going back to their old ways.
00:21:49
Speaker
And that's when she left. And that like really like that freaking killed me. And it made me really emotional. And i I was really sad that she left and we didn't get to see her still have that bond with the ants because the ants are not in this book to the very end.
00:22:09
Speaker
They're really not. We hear some of their story in the beginning, like some of their a little bit of their backstory. Yeah. They don't really appear in this until the end. Yeah. And and then in the movie, they she moves back in with the ants after this happens with Michael.
00:22:27
Speaker
And well also, in the movie, a big difference too, I don't think that this was in the book, the ants actually kind of pushed Michael to her.
00:22:38
Speaker
Right. And she kind of resents the ants for doing this. Right. Because she didn't want to be like falling in love and, you know having being this heartbroken like this. It kind of resents them for that.
00:22:52
Speaker
And that's kind of why she resents her magic. I want to know, you know, Carrie, you and I had saw the movie long before we read the book. Lindsay, did you read the book first or watch the movie first?
00:23:03
Speaker
I read the book first. Yeah. So when you watched the movie and you saw the significant change location but from the majority of the the book, like did you feel like that?
00:23:21
Speaker
Do you feel like works in the movie? you Did it kind of was off putting for you? How did you feel about that? As an adaptation, it was a little off-putting.
00:23:32
Speaker
But if you think of it as its own entity, it works. yeah I mean, I like both. So to me, i don't feel like the story was so significantly changed that that it changed the overall gist or themes.
00:23:52
Speaker
But i you know knowing the movie first... ah ah you know, the, the aunt's house that, that house. Yeah. It's like an iconic, it's iconic, you know, it's, there's rumor. And I only, I read this, but it was, I couldn't find where it was actually said or cited where she said it.
00:24:11
Speaker
But apparently ah Martha Stewart was wanted to buy the house, but it's not a real house. It was just a fake facade. And then like everything inside the house was movie sets. Yeah.
00:24:26
Speaker
But I mean, I would have lived there. Shoot. Yeah. That's just a beautiful house, you know? Mm-hmm. With the the Charmed house from that movie char or the television show Charmed. Yeah. Seriously. Yeah. That house.
00:24:38
Speaker
Want that one, too. Something about a witch's house. It's just perfect. Oh, yeah. Definitely. The vibe. Like, honestly, how the ants were living, I'm like, that's how I want to be living. Right. so I will say one of the biggest differences between the book and the movie that really was kind of off-putting was...
00:24:54
Speaker
The ants themselves. um I know they're not really present in the book. But the way that they came running to help ah Sally and Jillian toward the end.
00:25:08
Speaker
And then in the movie, therere they disappear at that point. They're like, okay, fix it yourself. And they're just gone. yeah I did not like that. I love Diane Weiss and Stockard Channing as the ants.
00:25:24
Speaker
but I don't think that they're the same ants as the book. Does that make sense? they're I think they're very different characters. um I love the way they played these roles. I think they're perfect and I can't wait to see them in Practical Magic 2.
00:25:39
Speaker
But I take they're very different from the ants that I picture in the book. oh That makes sense. Also, i was having gone from for me from book to or from movie to book and knowing that house, I was shook when I read this book and realized that the vast majority of this conflict is in the suburbs.
00:26:04
Speaker
It felt really weird to me. I was like, no, that can't be right. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I need a witchy herb garden and a rocky coastline. You know what I mean? That was not right.
00:26:16
Speaker
This is not the same thing. This is weird. Also, something that was really throwing me was the fact that Sally's daughters in the book are so much older. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:26:28
Speaker
They are in their late teens. Yeah, they kind of have like their own storyline here. Yeah. like Antonia is 17, I think, in the book. Or just turned 17. And Kylie had just turned 13.
00:26:41
Speaker
Whereas in the movie, they're much younger. They're flipped. The oldest is still fair-skinned and red-haired.
00:26:52
Speaker
But in the book, that's... Antonia and the youngest with brown hair is Kylie. Although Kylie has the gift of sight. She sees things that other people don't in the movie.
00:27:08
Speaker
The oldest is red haired and fair skinned and that's Kylie, but also still sees things that other people don't. And the youngest is Antonia with the dark hair.
00:27:22
Speaker
So kind of flipped, but also didn't. I don't know. And they're definitely aged down. They're both under 12-ish, I would say. Yeah, for sure.
00:27:33
Speaker
that And they kind of have their own storylines going. Even like... um Having like young like love interests kind of thing. And was like, oh, what is going on?
00:27:45
Speaker
Yep. Going through the awkward, you know, puberty phases. And talking about, you know, do I want to be, you know, do i do I have a crush on my best friend? Yeah. Or are we still just best friends?
00:27:58
Speaker
And it's not like these storylines, i mean, in my opinion, aren't very developed. Like they're just kind of happening. Like it's just like – This is just kind of thrown in here because i we're just going along for the ride of these characters' lives.
00:28:17
Speaker
Yes. If that makes sense. Like, we're outsiders. Yes. Of these characters' lives, and we're just being told of their everyday life. Mm-hmm. Kind of.
00:28:28
Speaker
that's why That's why I keep saying it kind of feels like this slice-of-life type of story. Yep. We go with them to work. who you know with with ah You know, we go to the birthday party with them.
00:28:43
Speaker
We pick out outfits with them. and they i mean, they have their like drama, but it's like it gets it's very surface level. like It's not super deep.
00:28:54
Speaker
But while Sally is raising her that her daughters in the movie, At Home with the Ants, the book, in New York, working at the school and raising these two teenage girls...
00:29:12
Speaker
Jillian is basically falling in love with every other guy she meets. Can't keep a job or is it? don't know she can't or just doesn't want to and just keeps hopping around town to town, guy to guy, living it up, basically never putting down roots anywhere and ends up falling in love The real jerk who they changed his last name in the movie. I don't know why. And I don't really care because it doesn't really matter.
00:29:44
Speaker
They changed it for that actor. Is it? Is that why? it just It doesn't really matter to the story.
00:29:53
Speaker
But his name is Jimmy, played by Goran Viznyak. I looked it up five times and I still certain I pronounced it wrong.
00:30:05
Speaker
there yeah bi yeah I don't know. I'm sorry, Goran. Also, I loved you in ER. r You were great, Dr. Luca.
00:30:14
Speaker
But I think he played Jimmy so well. Jimmy is drunk asshole. yeah That's it. He sells drugs. He beats people up.
00:30:27
Speaker
He's just an all-around bad guy. But, you know, like all bad guys, somehow he's just super fine. And that's all Jillian needed to know. So she ends up with Jimmy in the book.
00:30:44
Speaker
She just shows up at Sally's door. Yeah. yeah Wait, can we talk about for a second? Can we talk about Sandra Bullock as Sally and Nicole Kidman as Jillian?
00:30:58
Speaker
Because this iconic duo They're night and day. It's looking incredible. They are such night and day as people. Yes. They are such just night and day, their personalities, even like on the red carpet, the way they dress, the way they walk, the way they talk to people, the different types of activities. They're into everything.
00:31:22
Speaker
But somehow... they their chemistry on screen is yeah to say the chemistry of like being best friends being sisters on screen is just so freaking good yeah like i like almost like convincing me that these two are related and like and like Everything about it is just so good. Like when I see these two people sometimes in other movies, I sometimes think back to these characters. Yeah. They feel very much like ah like authentic selves. Yeah.
00:32:04
Speaker
to these characters and i just i love them so much i love like their style i like how the styles just like really represent like yep sally being very soft and you know julian being very hard and like edgier and her style showing that and we see it visually in the movie I just think it's so good. I love them so much in this movie. I think it's amazing.
00:32:35
Speaker
And they're so believable that like at this part in the movie, when Jillian calls Sally, can I'm scared. Can you come get me? You don't doubt for one second that they love each other. They are sisters and Sally is going to go.
00:32:51
Speaker
That's it. And so in the book, Jillian has not seen Sally in forever. Doesn't even know where she lives. Has never been to her home before. Shows up. with her dead boyfriend in the back of the car. i was shocked.
00:33:06
Speaker
that's yeah like Like I said, I seen the movie first and they go through this whole ordeal would Jimmy. Of her trying to save Jillian and then start to get away. But Jimmy catches her and they they're in the car and he's you know saying, you have to drive. And he's threatening to kill her and he's wrestling. She's got to drug him. And it just it's a whole thing.
00:33:32
Speaker
yeah and then it's like she just shows up and he's already dead yeah it just shows up with a dead body in her car it's so funny to think that we were expecting opposite things where i read the book first and then watched the movie i was i thought sally was gonna show up and he was going to just be dead there i didn't realize he was still alive i was like oh that's a surprise for me yeah must have had a real shocker when they brought it back to life too yeah Yeah, honestly, was just thinking that. Oh my gosh, that's so crazy. the book He dies once and he's dead the whole time.
00:34:09
Speaker
That's it. In the movie, he gets to die twice. Yeah. I can't believe that they didn't have any of that in this book. I was honestly absolutely shocked that this whole storyline is not even in this book.
00:34:27
Speaker
This entire thing them trying to bring him back to life is insane. From what I understand, originally the magic in the movie was meant to be a lot darker, was meant to have a lot more, especially the like needles in the eye.
00:34:46
Speaker
who and We didn't actually even see happen. Kind of almost looks like it didn't get to happen because they brought him back to life without having to do that step or whatever.
00:34:57
Speaker
um But from what I understand, Gabriel Dunn, Gabriel? Gabe? can't remember what his first name is and I feel really bad because of course that page is closed too. I think it's a Griffin. Griffin Dunn.
00:35:12
Speaker
Yep, to there it is. He really did want it to be a little bit darker but the studio kind of pushed him away from that. But you know, this is a movie about women for women.
00:35:27
Speaker
And at the time 1998, women in dark comedies or even like ah sliding more into horror it just really wasn't something that happened much we women were very new to that space as the main character because like there's really there you know there's not really a male main character in this there's some male characters but this is a female driven story o and so the studio said that they didn't really feel like it was appropriate
00:36:00
Speaker
And he got pulled away. He did say at one point that he was interested in doing a director's cut. So there is footage out there. That's a lot darker. So that could be interesting. Yeah.
00:36:13
Speaker
For sure. So what were some of you guys' favorite parts? At this point? Or to this point? i Honestly the entire scene in the movie. Of them.
00:36:27
Speaker
just like going through the process of bringing Jimmy back to life. Like I can just imagine like, okay, well we have to get rid of this body. Okay. Well remember our aunts, like he, they brought a body back to life and she's like, well, it doesn't matter how he comes back as long as he comes back with a pulse.
00:36:47
Speaker
And they're just like going through this whole process of like doing that. And then like, it's not like half-assing the spell but like kind of like the way that it's yeah the whipped cream like doing it with whipped cream and then like kind of being like ew this is disgusting i don't want to poke him in the eye just that whole scene is just hilarious to me i like that one what about you lindsey No, I agree. I think that's probably one of my favorites. ah Also, just because it wasn't in the book. Like, out of all of the storylines that the book had, that wasn't in there.
00:37:27
Speaker
and So it was getting something kind of fresh, but also that really fit the storyline. Like, I could have seen this going on in the book. Right. Oh, yeah, for sure. So now they brought him back to life just to kill him again, because reanimating corpses is never a good idea, and he ended up worse.
00:37:44
Speaker
So they killed him again. And now they bury him in the backyard. And this is when the stories start a little bit to line back up. They bury him in the backyard. And then it makes the roses grow.
00:37:56
Speaker
in the book, it's the lilacs. The lilacs start to bloom out of season. In the book, a whole month goes by. Between when they bury him.
00:38:10
Speaker
And then kind of some odd stuff starts happening around the house. They lose some things. The lilac bushes are growing. Women come to come smell. Just stand out on the sidewalk and smell the lilac bushes and cry about. It's just weird creepy things. But nothing like insane.
00:38:25
Speaker
In the movie. Like two days later. This cop from Arizona shows up. Mm-hmm. You know, we don't really we get a whole month in the book of Antonia and Kylie fighting and Jillian suddenly staying with them and she never has before. and Kylie has a chillian gets a boyfriend. OK, that was so bizarre.
00:38:48
Speaker
I was like, hello, who is this? i love this kind of guy. I do really love in the book the stories that we hear kind of the inner monologue of Jillian feeling like she doesn't deserve love. That she's been this, you know, she's done things that she's not proud of.
00:39:07
Speaker
And all she does is break men's hearts and she doesn't deserve to be loved. And kind of finding her way back to her sister who, even though they're fighting, even though, you know,
00:39:20
Speaker
She's being accused of stealing her earrings or you know, stealing Sally's earrings. And she's accusing Sally of tearing up her check, which we know is hauntings. But they don't know that.
00:39:32
Speaker
You know, we we see them fighting. But, you know, at some point, Sally still tells her, no, you you deserve love. You're worthy of love. Like, what are you talking about? You're amazing. You know, so they still...
00:39:43
Speaker
like that self inner monologue telling herself how awful she is and then her sister there to say no I hate you but I love you and you're amazing you know what I mean like that to me seeing those same with Kylie and Antonia seeing them hate each other and fight and but still love each other that's sisterhood that's you know what I mean I don't I couldn't tell you how many times I've fought like fought fought with my sisters but at the end of the day, we are in no way whatsoever afraid to call each other for help, you know, and we know that we'd be there for each other. And I think that it's very well shown in the book that even though they, they hate each other, they love each other.
00:40:32
Speaker
So I think we start to see, we get to see that a lot more in the book um in this month that's going by. Yeah. Yeah. In the movie, this is when we also get midnight margaritas. Because the ants buy the bottle of tequila on the porch.
00:40:50
Speaker
And they really were drunk during this scene, too. Yes! Apparently, Nicole Kimmon brought a cheap bottle of tequila on set. And even the cast, was the crew was drinking, the cast was drinking. They were all getting drunk during night. And you could totally tell in the scene because of their like red cheeks and their face. like You could kind of tell that they're taking shots or something.
00:41:14
Speaker
ah love that. I love that. The haunting really ramps up in the movie at this point. A cop from Arizona comes to town saying, i got your letter because Sally had written a letter to Jillian. And of course, Jillian had come back before the letter got delivered.
00:41:34
Speaker
The cop is out looking for Jimmy because, of course, Jimmy's a bad man. And and so he's kind of asking some questions, puts Jillian and Sally on edge.
00:41:45
Speaker
And Sally says, why did you read my letter? How many times did you read my letter? like Because it's all dog-eared and folded and soft. and And this is in the book, too.
00:41:57
Speaker
This is in the book that he's read the letter that he got the letter and he felt gone to go. Gary. gary I just think that's such a dumb name. There's such great names in this whole book. Poor Gary's out there. here Gary's if you're listening.
00:42:13
Speaker
Sorry, Gary. Sorry, Gary. It just doesn't fit with all the other names. You know what I mean? We have like Francis and Jet. Well, there was so many G names in this book. i was like, all right, wrap it up.
00:42:26
Speaker
Wrap it up. I'm getting it mixed up. Yeah. So Gary comes along, Hallett comes along, and um he's asking these questions, but he is obviously just smitten with Sally.
00:42:38
Speaker
Just smitten. In the book, he talks to her and he like starts crying. Yeah. I'm like, why are you crying? He's got all these emo- well, it's the coffee.
00:42:48
Speaker
yeah He was like, it's the coffee. The coffee always does this. It reminds me of my grandfather. Okay. His grandfather walking in the 100 degree weather to the courthouse.
00:42:59
Speaker
yeah Yep. See these weird like random extra backstories that are like. Yeah, it's just it would just be like It would be super random. And then it would kind of throw me out of the story sometimes.
00:43:13
Speaker
Yeah. normally Normally we say when we watch the movie, oh, we get to see all these other perspectives that they don't show in the book. The book was giving you all the perspectives. All the perspectives. You didn't want them and they were giving them to you. Yeah, exactly. They're all there. We didn't even need them.
00:43:29
Speaker
We did not need them. No. They're giving you the perspective of the neighbor down the street that you don't even see. Right. ah ever again the the hauntings ramp up real bad um they finally get gary to go away sally confesses to him but without confessing and he kind of feels like maybe i need to find a way to to bury this or or i'm not he's he's very conflicted because he's very much a the truth kind of guy and catching the bad guys but he also knows that jimmy was the bad guy
00:44:07
Speaker
And even though they did a bad thing, Jimmy's the bad guy. They were victims here, you know? And so he's very conflicted. He doesn't know what to do, um but he leaves in the book.
00:44:19
Speaker
In the movie, he sticks around. He runs back to the house when Sally hears her daughters crying from a mile away and they run back to the house or whatever. And Jillian's possessed by Jimmy.
00:44:32
Speaker
way And Lindsay's like, what is going on? yeah What are you thinking, Lindsay? Tell me. My jaw was on the floor. I was like, what what happened?
00:44:44
Speaker
What is going on? We need ed and Lorraine Warren. what What's going on? It's pretty wild. So this is when they call in the book.
00:44:58
Speaker
They call the ants. The ants drive down from Massachusetts. They come on a Greyhound bus. They bring their big suitcase. They boil up a pot of lye soap mixture stuff that's supposed to kill or organic material to help get rid of the ghost in the backyard.
00:45:12
Speaker
That's kind of it. And that's it in the book. that's That's really it. And like, of course, there's a beautiful conversation about like, we love you and sisterhood and accepting who you are. And we never hate, you know, because Jillian's self-worth, whatever. It's a whole thing.
00:45:25
Speaker
But it really is. They just boil up a pot of lie and dump it over top of him and all's good. Mm hmm. In the movie, they call up the phone tree. All these bitches been treating Sally and Jillian like shit their whole lives. And now they're like, you can come be a witch with us if you want. You can come play witch. And they all show up.
00:45:46
Speaker
That phone tree scene is one of my favorite scenes. Whenever she has to go in for the phone tree meeting. yeah And then her sister Jillian comes in because she knows that they're all going to be freaking mean to her.
00:45:59
Speaker
And she puts her at the top of the phone tree. And she's like, hide your husband's girl. I'm going to start saying that. I should start saying that. so there we go oh tree they call up all these witches to come and make a coven.
00:46:15
Speaker
And they all have their brooms. And they're basically doing like an exorcism on Jillian to get Jimmy out of her body.
00:46:24
Speaker
Lindsay, seriously, what were but I was trying to think of this. If I had never seen the movie and I just read the book, this movie's probably fucked you up.
00:46:36
Speaker
but It was so, it was so unexpected. I had no idea what to expect. Like I knew the story started shifting. It was different. I was like, okay, I can roll with this. And then we get to the possession and I was like, ah what?
00:46:50
Speaker
Yeah. did we you raise the same real She was getting real possessed. Like she was getting really scary. Okay. They put in a rubber floor in the in the movie when they were filming so that when she was being possessed and like convulsing on the floor, she wouldn't hurt herself. They had to put in like a rubber. that whole ending makes me cry every time because it's like, you know, the sister's like trying to get back to each other and she's trying to save her sister
00:47:21
Speaker
And that really gets me every single time because I just think of my sister. And Literally that scene, whenever she is possessed and she's like looking at Sally and she tries to run at her and hits the wall because the brims are making a circle, hits the wall she like floats there and like falls back.
00:47:42
Speaker
That scene is so crazy to me. It's like not even that crazy, but it feels like insane to me. It's when they're lying on the floor and they're like kind of half holding. Talking to each other. Yeah, like that chokes me up every time.
00:47:57
Speaker
Yeah. So good. So good. And of course the, they, they finally do get Jimmy out of her. They do pour some muck over some kind in the pot over his body, whatever. And they sweep it all out and all the frogs with their brooms and they sweep them away. And they live happily ever after.
00:48:18
Speaker
um But we do get a little bit of an epilogue in each the book and the movie. Yeah. In the book, they're back at the aunt's house for Thanksgiving. And Ben is Jillian's boyfriend now. And he is there.
00:48:34
Speaker
And he comes along. And Antonia's boyfriend is coming too. And Kylie brings her buddy. And Gary shows up for Sally.
00:48:45
Speaker
It's very sweet. I love Gary and Sally. I know. i like Yeah. We ship them for sure. okay So then in the movie, we see everybody together and even Gary comes back.
00:49:00
Speaker
and But we see them at Halloween with the whole town around the house waiting for them to jump off the roof and fly. so that was really cute, I thought.
00:49:11
Speaker
i know. Do you guys like the like little bits of romance in it? I like the romance it lot. absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. i think it's super cute. I like that added touch, which is not in the book, of when she casts like a spell when she's younger. because she When Sally's younger, because she sees you know the ants are always doing these spells for women who are... Desperate women.
00:49:36
Speaker
Yeah, who are like need love and things like that and you know want to do things that are not good to get it. And she doesn't ever want to be one of those women. Yeah, so she tries to cast a spell to create a person that could never exist, basically.
00:49:57
Speaker
Like the one green eye, one blue, he can... Ride a pony backwards and like all this Flips pancakes in the air. Yeah. And do all these things. And she does that when she's younger. And then she gets married eventually. And he doesn't have those characteristics.
00:50:13
Speaker
But then eventually, basically, the what brings this guy here in the movie is basically this spell that kind of like gas that she cast when she's younger.
00:50:25
Speaker
And he has all these characteristics. I think it's interesting that that's not in the book, but he's still kind of drawn to her in the same way that's in the movie.
00:50:37
Speaker
Alice Hoffman said and um in an interview that I watched earlier today that she thinks that love is the most magical of all miracles.
00:50:49
Speaker
So I think in a way she thought you didn't need a spell. It's magic on its own. see yeah So that does bring us to the final verdict. What do you think, ladies? Book or movie?
00:51:04
Speaker
I'm curious of Lindsay. Lindsay, you go first. um I'm probably going to go movie on this one. yeah I have to agree. There's a clear-cut story. We know what's going on. We're not going 50 other directions.
00:51:19
Speaker
There's a beginning. There's an end. We're done. Yep. No, i'm I'm with you. i think I think I'm probably going to go movie if we're comparing just the one book to just the one movie.
00:51:31
Speaker
But I am very excited to read the other books see if that changes my opinion. So I'll let you know. So now our question of the episode.
00:51:45
Speaker
What is your cocktail of choice for an impromptu pajama party? Carrie? I am a tequila girl through and through. So I'm definitely going to be making a margarita. But my other option is I love a vodka soda. Vodka soda is my favorite.
00:52:09
Speaker
Where, like, especially for, like, honestly, you know, like, I got a sensitive tummy, okay? So, and i I'm like a Tums girl, okay? So, I be ive be eating eating those Tums like candy. Right.
00:52:21
Speaker
Margaritas do not help. margarita at midnight? Yeah. In the middle of the night, girl? Mm-mm. I don't know about all that. That's a lot of sugar. So, I might need a vodka soda. So, I don't have all that sugar. So, I'm going to have to say vodka soda. That's fair. Lindsay?
00:52:39
Speaker
I'm a little bougie. Oh. I like a like a alcoholic milkshake. Ooh. That sounds really good actually like a mudslide or. I love a mudslide. Yeah. But my drink of choice is called Slap-A-Ghost and it's vanilla ice cream half and half vodka, Bailey's and Kahlua.
00:53:02
Speaker
Ooh. Ooh. Sounds really good. I'm Kind of a basic bitch. I don't want to mix anything. I'm just going to have some wine. oh Lots me and lots of wine.
00:53:16
Speaker
Because chances are I'm going to forget how to mix after a couple of drinks anyways. so I do love some wine. Wine is really good. I know. You know that... that video that was going around of like the girl shows up and she's got a bottle of wine but then the other girl who showed up too was like oh and then they each pull a second bottle from that's me that's gonna be me yeah i also love an espresso martini like that my favorite but like at midnight i'm gonna be up all night yeah our silent book club where we meet for our silent book club here in town has the best espresso martinis but we don't meet until like six in the evening and like
00:53:56
Speaker
I can't have that much caffeine that late at night. i'll Yeah. Yeah. I, I have an obsession with espresso martinis. Like I think they are so good. They really are. They really are.
00:54:08
Speaker
the Well, ladies, that wraps up this week's episode. Covering practical magic. We hope you enjoyed it. If you want to join the conversation, please head over to our socials. We have Blue Sky, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
00:54:23
Speaker
If you're not watching us on YouTube right now, you can also head over there to comment on what you've heard, read, or watched. If we have inspired you to read this or any other title, check out our affiliate link to Libro FM, our favorite place to get audiobooks while supporting local bookstores.
00:54:41
Speaker
We hope you'll join us next week for our Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun episode hosted by Carrie. But until then, keep rosemary by your garden gate.
00:54:52
Speaker
Plant lavender for luck. and fall in love whenever you can. We'll see you in the next chapter based on a book.