Beauty Break: Ten Sexiest Witches in Movies

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 👻🎃

Julian Sands in Warlock (1989) though, alas, we haven't seen it.

In the absence of writing time today, how about a visual list. Have you ever wondered why there are so few male witches (or warlocks if you will) in cinema? They're far more common on television. And when warlocks or sorcerers are portrayed in cinema they're usually asexual (sorry but Doctor Strange is the least sexy Avenger!) or old men and are just as likely to be good as evil.

Witches on the other hand are often sexual and usually beautiful... though the beauty is often an illusion. Many of those most glamorous witches are hiding a hideous side -- like they're secretly an old decrepit crone or something less than human (think of Anjelica Huston in The Witches... which we often do). Or maybe they are beautiful but their favourite disguise is something hideous (think Snow White's Queen). This frightening dichotomy and their dangerous sexuality surely has got heaps to do with cinema's male gaze. (This is a way of saying that we hoped for some gender parity in this holiday list of "Sexy Witches!" but it's almost all women.)

AFTER THE JUMP - TEN SEXIEST MOVIE WITCHES...

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Soundtracking: Hocus Pocus

by Chris Feil

As derided as Hocus Pocus was at the time of its release it was ultimately wholeheartedly embraced by a generation well-accustomed to watching Disney villains sing splashy musical numbers. In just a few numbers, Hocus Pocus somewhat accidentally honors a tradition that the audience instinctively recognizes. It may not be a complete musical, but Hocus Pocus falls right in step to Ursula’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls” or Scar’s “Be Prepared”. It’s no wonder that fans constantly demand it be given the Broadway treatment -- they already think of it as belonging to the genre.

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Unlinkable

Awards Daily Jazz interviews Ali Fazal of Victoria & Abdul
Variety Rock star Tom Petty was reported dead today but reports may have been premature. Story developing but sounds dire
Coming Soon M Night Shyamalan's sequel to Unbreakable starring Samuel L Jackson and called Glass is now shooting
/Film Charlies Angels, a property which never truly dies but keeps trying to find new relevance, is trying again. They're talking up Lupita Nyong'o and Kristen Stewart for leading roles. Kristen's been doing amazing work lately but she is 100% wrong for Charlie's Angels which needs exuberant pop flair when she's all minimalist / sober as an actor. WTH?

Decider surprise! Gerald's Game, a Stephen King adaptation for Netflix starring Carla Gugino, is good
Coming Soon Daniel Dae Kim's stunt training for the Hellboy reboot
/Film Hocus Pocus moves forward as a TV movie remake - none of the original actors or filmmaking team are involved
David Poland on Blade Runner 2049 with no spoilers "It is Aliens to Alien" ... whoa, that's high praise
Billboard composer Danny Elfman interviewed about Superman's iconic theme (redeployed for Justice League) and his long collaboration with Gus Van Sant
Playbill Judy Garland's final concert, restored/remastered from 1969 will be released for the first time
i09 on why you should be watching the Exorcist TV series, back for Season 2
/Film Amazon still has a lot of work to do to catch up with Netflix and Hulu but they're diving into the sci-fi genre big time

stage of screen
Playbill a new musical version of Roald Dahl's The Witches (previously dramatizes wonderfully with Anjelica Huston as the High Witch in the 1990 film) coming to the National Theater of London
Gothamist more on the Pretty Woman musical coming to Broadway
Playbill the Mean Girls marquee is up on Broadway now. It's not just on Wednesdays when it's pink

funny haha
Electric Literature what 7 classic literary characters' dick pics would look like from Atticus Finch to Jay Gatsby (p.s. this is actually safe for work so go ahead and click if you're at your place of employment)

Bette Midler Just Won Halloween

She dressed up as her own character Winifred Sanderson from Hocus Pocus for a screening yesterday in NYC

I put a spell on you
         and now you're mine ♫ 

Tweetweek: "I'm not one of your fans!"

You know what's weird? I kind of miss Amy Adams. I was so exhausted by her in recent years with all the Hollywood Report roundtables and the easy awards track even for minor work that was forgotten instantly (Big Eyes anyone?). But the year off as well at that recent David O. Russell confessional has made the heart grow fond again. Funny how that can happen. See also Cate Blanchett's short break some years ago.

Which is why we'll start with Amy for this week's collection of a dozen favorite tweets. Tweets featuring A History of Violence, Carol, Vertigo, political hilarity, Joan Crawford and drag queens are after the jump... 

It's such a shame that we didn't make a Tonya Harding biopic when Amy Adams was young enough to play her. pic.twitter.com/LFKnF52HGk

— Kacey Bange (@kaceybange) March 13, 2016

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