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 in...

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...

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...

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...

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.

As the world flocks back to Runway with the release of the sequel this month, the Silver Nitrate Witches take a look at The Devil Wears Prada (2006), growing up with Anne Hathaway, and the strangest grilled cheese with a special surprise guest.

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks to Fine Motor for the use of their music. 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 have an addition to our coven - our first guest Audra Lambert, who joins us as our art, gallery, and museum correspondent! Together, the three of us gather around the cauldron to chat about Ocean's 8 (2018), heist movies, and headlines of the art world.

Audra Lambert currently serves as Curator of New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art at the University of Southern Indiana, and has worked in an arts advising and curatorial capacity with a range of civic organizations and institutions. You can find her online at audraveronalambert.com, and...

I got 99 problems, but Agent 99 ain't one of them! I spy with my little eye a new episode about super secret agents and the sub-sub-genre of the spoof spy movie.

Also, Isabelle's desk is noisy and the world's loudest snow plow was coming down Laura's street, so apologies for any background noise!

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 witc...

Join your Silver Nitrate Witches on a trip to Frell this week, visiting Hathaway in her fantasy role of Ella, from Ella Enchanted (2004). We talk all things Cinderella story, some early aughts fashion, and Heidi Klum. Isabelle even agrees with Roger Ebert for once!

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

This week, Isabelle takes us back 25 years to the film debut of the star of our season, Anne Hathaway, with The Princess Diaries. We spend some time appreciating Garry Marshall's and Meg Cabot's separate visions, reminiscing about the cool girl-power movie we grew up with, and being bothered by Roger Ebert.

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches, Laura Valenza and Isabella Lang, on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their music. You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for...

We are opening our third grimoire (aka season 3) and it's dedicated to the high priestess that is Anne Hathaway. If that sounds archaic, it's not as old-fashioned as Laura using "obstruse" instead of "abstruse." Find out what movies we'll be discussing this season in our podcast that is held together with duct tape and dreams, like Belle's favorite book.

Your Silver Nitrate Witches are just popping in this cozy evening to wish our listeners happy holidays, and introduce you to our next season next year!

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

Merry Witchmas, Coven! Let's dive into the winter wonderland that is the history of the Christmas movie, particularly the Hallmark Christmas movie. Stay till the end and get a little dose of movie magic, holiday-style, too! Btw, Fern is the cat :)

You can follow Laura Valenza @ljvalenza and Isabelle Lang @bellang303. Special thanks to Fine Motor for the use of their song "Highway Moon." Learn more about the band at finemotormusic.com.

This week, Isabelle brings you the podcast of your dreams, literally, with some movie magic from the film Inception (2010). Can you believe she doesn't say the phrase "dream team" once? She's impressed with her restraint.

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

Hey baby, we're honoring the legacy of Diane Keaton by taking a closer look at her classic and empowering comedy, Baby Boom. Topics include art, Frank Stella, architecture, Bauhaus, and more. CLARIFICATION: the Bentwood chair was invented in the 19th century, but it was still very popular in the 20th!

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks to Fine Motor for the use of their music. You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks so much for listening...

Your Silver Nitrate Witches are taking a break for the holiday this weekend, but we'll be back with more mini episodes next week. Plus, we'll be announcing our third Grimoire (aka Season 3) and returning to full-length episodes soon. Stay witchy. And keep watching movies.

Creme de la creme a la Edgar. That's it. That's the episode.

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

Let's shed some light on the feminist politics around George Cukor's 1944 film Gaslight starring Ingrid Bergman. This history might have some surprising connection to today's political climate.

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

Join Isabelle this week as she joins the coven from The Craft (1996) and takes a trip down slumber party memory lane with Light as a Feather.

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

Blessed sanhaim, ciné-coven! That's right—this week, you get not one but TWO episodes. In our Halloween bonus special, Isabelle and Laura tackle paranormal investigative reality television. In this spirited investigation, we're feeling the magic of Conjuring Kesha, Dead Hot with Vanessa Hudgens, Living for the Dead, the Girly Ghost Hunters, and more!

You can follow Laura Valenza @ljvalenza and Isabelle Lang @bellang303. Special thanks to Fine Motor for the use of their song "Highway Moon." Learn more about the band at finemotormusic.com.

This week, the Silver Nitrate Witches pause talking about HOW we talk about movies, and instead Isabelle tells Laura all about WHERE movies get filmed, in this special Potion episode about on-location filming projects.

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

Join Isabelle this week to share a bit of insight about why Harvard gets a guest appearance in Legally Blonde (2001)!

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

Your silver nitrate Witch Laura is attending a toga party this week. What came first, the toga party or Animal House? Find out in this mini episode!

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks 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.

Do you believe God plays dice with the universe? How about just with the stars? Join Isabelle this week as she talks about astrology, star gazing, and magic telescopes...literally, along with the 1994 film IQ.

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

A bit of tea magic to help you feel more like yourself? Yes please! Join Isabelle as she examines a cozy scene from Studio Ghibli's film Ponyo (2008), and walks you through a delightful drink recipe.

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

Your silver nitrate Witch Laura is flying solo on her broom this week. But she meets some feisty and funny friends, Butch and Sundance, while flying over the Wild West. We departing from our educational theme this season to honor the life and legacy of actor Robert Redford.

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks 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...

Toga! Toga! Toga!

Join your Silver Nitrate Witches on Fraternity Row this week as we explore National Lampoon's Animal House, college in the 60s, and the National Lampoon itself.

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

Your witchy guide this week is Isabelle, who takes you through some ins and outs of candle magic, as inspired by our OG silver screen witches: The Owens Sisters.

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks 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.

Forrester? Where are you? This week, your host witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, are Finding Forrester, with its epic cast comprised of Sean Connery, F. Murray Abraham, Anna Paquin, and starring Rob Brown in his debut role. You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks to Fine Motor for the use of their songs "Highway Moon" and "Movie." Learn more about the band at finemotormusic.com.

This week, your host witch, Laura Valenza, is looking like "a high-end stripper, the kind for governors or athletes." Can you guess the movie? Dust off your red A's and stitch them on your bustiers because we're headed to Ojai High with Emma Stone in Easy A. You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks to Fine Motor for the use of their song "Highway Moon." You can find out more about the band at finemotormusic.com.

This week, your Silver Nitrate Witches reunite IN PERSON in New Orleans! Together we chat a bit about a fantastically weird and wild movie, Cat People (1982), the Audubon Institute, and pool scenes. What more could you want?

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, on various online platforms @ljvalenze and @bellang303. Like the theme song? You can check out the band Fine Motor at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.

It's not October 3rd quite yet, but your Silver Nitrate Witch Isabelle Lang is always ready to talk about Mean Girls (2004).

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, on various online platforms @ljvalenze and @bellang303. Music for episodes is provided by Fine Motor, and you can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com. Thanks for listening, stay witchy, and keep watching movies.

Why are we called the Silver Nitrate Witches' Movie Review Brew? Hear the story behind the name in this week's mini episode by Laura Valenza. (And learn a little film history, too!)

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thank you to Fine Motor for the use of their song "Highway Moon." You can find out more about the band at finemotormusic.com.

This week, your host witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, head back to middle school to take a lesson from the goofy god of rock himself, Jack Black. You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks to Fine Motor for the use of their songs "Highway Moon" and "Movie." You can find out more about the band at finemotormusic.com.

Reese Witherspoon, Victor Garbo, and Bette Davis, oh my!

You can find your Silver Nitrate Witches, Laura Valenza and Isabelle Lang, on various online platforms @ljvalenza and @bellang303. Thanks so much to Fine Motor for the use of their music. You can check out more about the band at finemotormusic.com.