This Week:
- The real practical magic of the week.
- My favorite meme…ever?
- I guess I love sports?
- The week’s TV MVPs.
- An all-time great speech.
Witch Better Have My Money
I’ve been watching Practical Magic 2 all week.
The last several weeks, really.
I had a realization while sitting in a theater, finally watching the much-hyped Sandra Bullock-Nicole Kidman witchy sequel: the movie was kind of beside the point. It was an accessory to the real event: The Sandy & Nicky Press Tour.
Sure, mining nostalgia for box-office bucks is the commercial reason for mounting a sequel, 28 years after the original, to a cherished piece of IP like Practical Magic. But culturally, the point is to spend several weeks parlaying A-list celebrity as entertainment.
I really enjoyed Practical Magic 2. The real show, however, was every wacky, hilarious, occasionally weepy interview Bullock and Kidman did promoting it.
In revisiting the original Practical Magic ahead of the new movie, I remembered that, objectively, it’s not very good. The reason that it has permanent residence in so many Gen X and millennials’ hearts is that it radiates appealing vibes: witchy fall, sisterhood that you rarely see on screen, margaritas with your fun aunts, Sandra Bullock running while Faith Hill’s “This Kiss” blasts… (I am fully in my margarita aunt era, wistful for my Sandy-in-centrifugal-motion one.)
After Practical Magic came out, Barbra Streisand allegedly wanted to buy the house from the film, devastated to learn that it was just a facade. That’s how good the vibes were.
The sequel catches up with the cursed Owens family of women, witches burdened by the mystical misfortune that any man they fall in love with will die. Nearly three decades after the first film, it’s Sally’s (Bullock) daughter, Kylie (Joey King), who is foolishly swept away by a handsome guy (Xolo Maridueña). When an inevitable freak accident puts him into a coma, Kylie travels to witchy Ground Zero in the U.K. to break the curse, with Sally and her sister, Gillian (Kidman), in hot pursuit.
The film ties itself in knots escalating stakes to justify a sequel while dutifully acknowledging the already confusing mythology from the first movie. But it doesn’t matter. The vibes are there! Oh, there are such vibes! There are Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman palling around while occasionally doing spells vibes. And then Lee Pace shows up, looking sexy as hell. What a treat this mediocre-yet-must-see movie is.
But, again, I think the reason seeing Bullock and Kidman reunited on screen is so intoxicating is because it’s so directly tied to the incessant, inescapable seeing-of-them on my social media timeline, on my TV, and, because of the relentlessness, in my dreams once I closed my eyes this last week.
Not since Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo during the “holding space” days has a press tour been as much of a pop-culture entity as the product itself. Bullock and Kidman have been everywhere, to an alarming degree, really.
Yes, it tracks that they would have a classic Hoda Kotb interview that is equal parts tears and guffaws. But they also donned costumes and crowns to talk to Brittany Broski on YouTube? They subjected Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock to Jake Shane? Is no one safe?
Yet they effortlessly conformed to every vibe in spectacularly entertaining fashion, like celebrity contortionists. It’s pure performing talent to be that good at being that engaging in all of the different arenas they were forced into as publicity gladiators.
The “there’s a point to all of this, I swear” of it all is that Bullock and Kidman together proved the enduring viability of the pointless movie-star pairing—let’s face it, the only reason Practical Magic 2 exists is to get these two powerhouses together again—which is a tried-and-true Hollywood commodity, but rarely afforded to women.
We’re accosted with endless “Kevin Hart and [Insert Movie Star]” comedies. (I resisted putting quotes around the word comedies.) There was a full decade of Will Ferrell and a friend acting goofy together being an entire film genre. It’s about damn time we’ve come around to the idea of “let’s do something with these two Oscar-winning actresses because it just seems fun.”
There doesn’t need to be any further interrogation of the whole endeavor than that. Don’t bother judging whether or not Practical Magic 2 is “good,” whatever that means. Don’t start playing industry odds on what its box-office numbers might mean for the future of female-led films.
Instead, fantasize about who we could do this with next. Cate Blanchett and Amy Adams? Michelle Williams and Angela Bassett? I have my pick: a The Help reunion between Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer. Let’s get that sequel greenlit.
The Best Meme of the Year?
It is rare, in this, the year of our Oprah 2026, for there to be a meme that is not cringe-inducing, corny, annoying, or all of the above. And yet, this one has defied the odds.
Culture’s most talented prankster/satirist/menace/absolute genius Nathan Fielder stunned with the announcement—and surprise screening—of a new documentary with notorious fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, filmed in the days before she went to prison. The trailer is nuts. The two of them are in some sort of battle of wits, or maybe even of conscience, as a crazed-looking Holmes tells Fielder, whose stare is both unnerving and wildly sexy, “Why would I deceive you?”
The mix of sheer conviction and brittle anxiety in Holmes’ eyes has now been screenshotted to oblivion, and, I have to admit, I laugh every single time I see it memed. Here are some of my favorites:
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This Is Truly Unbelievable
The highlight reel alone of the Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton U.S. Open match may be the greatest sports video I’ve ever seen. (I would love to say that I was up until 3:33 am watching the incredible, once-in-a-lifetime event, but I am 100 years old and was asleep before it even started. I co-sign everything writer Jason Gay said in this plea to stop the late-night matches.)
You must watch this highlight reel. I’ve never seen athleticism like this. It’s absolutely thrilling.
This U.S. Open, as a New Yorker and tennis fan, has been insufferable.
It’s untenable for anyone without a trust fund or stock options to cash in to attend. The influencers have poisoned the event completely. And yet, people are finally paying attention to the fact that tennis players are the most elite athletes there are. They’re required to be masters at the signature skill of every other popular sport, all at once. It’s unreal.
I feel like we’re at a watershed moment for the game, and I’m loving it.
Opens in new windowThis Week’s TV MVPs
I can’t decide which of these two women I want to spotlight from this week in TV, because they’ve equally brought me so much joy.
The Paper, the spinoff of The Office, returned with its second season this week. I think the series is best when you don’t compare it to its predecessor. It’s a smart, funny workplace comedy in its own right. And the highlight is the utterly bats--t, almost incomprehensible turn by White Lotus alum Sabrina Impacciatore. Of course, I mean all of that as the highest compliment. It is the wildest, yet funniest performance on TV right now.
Also, as a reality TV obsessive, I can’t remember a more unusual, yet more entertaining, debut than new Real Housewives of New York City cast member Hailey Glassman.
She was introduced while rollerblading through the streets of Manhattan wearing a fur coat and smoking a joint, stunned castmates with the revelation of her lavender marriage, relayed an anecdote about the time a woman who was using a dildo on her broke her nose with her Double D boob, and then realized midway through a gossip session that she couldn’t remember the details about the drama because she was too stoned and tired when it was happening.
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When Award Shows Get It Right
Give Betty Gilpin every acting award because she deserves it. But also because it will mean more speeches like this.
More From The Daily Beast’s Obsessed
I talked to Emmy-winner Kristen Johnston, and it’s one of my favorite conversations I’ve ever had. Watch here.
I spent a day in the Hamptons with the new cast of The Real Housewives of New York City. Read more.
Cory Michael Smith is one of the most exciting rising stars in Hollywood. Watch here.
What to Watch This Week:
Practical Magic 2: Why not delight in two hours of Nicole and Sandy? (Now in theaters)
The Real Housewives of New York City: I can’t believe it myself, but I think this show is truly back. (Now on Bravo and Peacock)
Colin From Accounts: The most delightful thing you could do this weekend is binge this series. (Now on Paramount+)
What to Skip This Week:
The Uprising: Is it a Robin Hood origin story? Is it good enough to care? (Now in theaters)
Runner: At least you get to look at Alan Ritchson for an hour or so? (Now in theaters)
