Silver Nitrate Witches

Hey witches, let’s dig into Hollywood history like the Owens sisters dig into a grave in the 1998 movie Practical Magic.

Sandra Bullock. Nicole Kidman. Great hair. Practical Magic’s a cult classic. It even got a sequel this year.

But did you know critics were pretty dismissive of this spooky season (air quotes) “chick flick” “train wreck” for the (and more air quotes) “women and date crowd” when it was released in 1998?

The worst word critics used to describe Practical Magic wasn’t “sadistic” (which they used twice). It was “charming.”

Why does a clever and innocent-enough word ultimately feel dismissive? Stay tuned for a discussion on gender and whether or not it's fair to dismiss popular film when it's not high art.

Topics Include: The charm factor and gendered criticism | Continued debate… Roger Ebert: Friend or Foe? | The box office bang vs the critical reception bomb | The genre issue with witch movies | Did you read the book before you saw the movie? Novelist Alice Hoffman and literary adaptation

And, remember, there's a little witch in all of us! This season's/grimoire's theme is witch movies, so check out previous episodes on Hocus Pocus, The Craft, and I Married a Witch. Your homework for next week is to watch Blair Witch Project.

New here? Welcome to Silver Nitrate Witches and our Movie Review Brew. We’re here to explore the way we review movies! From experienced critics to posts from casual viewers, we want to talk about how we talk about movies, how that’s changed over time, what directions we see it going in, and more. We review the reviewers (and do a little tarot for movie characters!).

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @silvernitratewitches and @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their songs "Movie" and “Highway Moon.” You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.

This week we dive deeper into 90's witchcraft with the Fairuza Balk film, The Craft (1996)! And, special guest Karley Pardue (@karleypardue) joins us to break down the elements of the iconic horror movie shower scene.

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303, and now @silvernitratewitches on Instagram. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their songs! You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.

This week, the Silver Nitrate Witches head back to old Salem and spend some time with the Sanderson Sisters!

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303, and now @silvernitratewitches on Instagram. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their songs! You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.

She's got hex appeal! Grab your broomsticks, ladies, and swoosh a tress over one eye—we're flying away with bombshell Veronica Lake in I Married a Witch, a WWII–era rom com. We'll talk genre, gender, and other hexy topics.

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @silvernitratewitches and @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their songs "Movie" and “Highway Moon.” You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.

Welcome back to Silver Nitrate Witches, and our Season 4 Grimoire: Witch films! We explore movies about (and for) witches of any age and time period, from the 40s to the new millenium. Hop on your broomstick and join us for a ride!

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang 303, as well as @silvernitratewitches on Instagram! Thanks to Fine Motor for the use of their songs. You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies!

Your Silver Nitrate Witches invite you to join their book coven—er, I mean, club—to learn about the birth of the concept of the movie star and how it's tied to the Old Hollywood studio system. We consult film scholar Jeanine Basinger's seminal text on the subject, The Star Machine (2007) (great read, highly recommend!). We also discuss whether or not Anne Hathaway is truly a movie star, conflicting American values, zaniness, our first grimoire/season, and... Hags! (What?! It means 'Have a Great Summer'...)

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their songs "Movie" and “Highway Moon.” You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.

The adaptation theme continues as the Silver Nitrate Witches discuss Eileen, the 2023 movie based on the Ottessa Moshfegh novel of the same name. This episode features a guest, film critic Payton McCarty-Simas. Your Silver Nitrate Witches consider how Eileen star Anne Hathaway's career has changed over the course of two decades.

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their songs "Movie" and “Highway Moon.” You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.

This week, the Silver Nitrate Witches explore the darker magic Anne Hathaway has brought out in her more recent indie films, where the actress has embraced serious and not-so-likeable roles that showcase her full range. We're talking about Armageddon Time (2022), a film set in 1980 that explores connections between that era and American racism, classism, and antisemitism today.

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their songs "Movie" and “Highway Moon.” You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.

Mother Mary comes to me speaking words of wisdom, and she will NOT let it be in this new movie that is as flowing and beautiful as red silk and Shakespearean poetry.

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their song “Highway Moon.” You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.

Have the Clackers at Runway finally grown a backbone? We’ll have to watch and see.

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their song “Highway Moon.” You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.