The Reel Rejects - HOCUS POCUS 2 - Movie Review!!

Episode Date: September 30, 2022

A TASTY HALLOWEEN TREAT!! Sally returns as we check out the long-awaited sequel to 1993's holiday classic, Hocus Pocus 2! Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, & Sarah Jessica Parker return as the infamous Sanderson Sisters, out to wreak havoc (and plenty of musical numbers) on Salem Halloween Night as an unsuspecting young Coven lights the Black Flame Candle, awakening Book, Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), and a whole bunch more spooky, nostalgic hijinks!! #HocusPocus2 #HocusPocus #Halloween #MovieReaction #Disney #DisneyPlus Become A Super Sexy Reject For Full-Length T.V. & Movie Reactions + HOCUS POCUS 2 Watch Along! https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects Support The Channel By Checking Out Our High-Quality Merch: http://shopzeroedition.com/collections/reel-rejects-merch Follow Sally Lomonaco On Social Media: https://www.youtube.com/c/c/sallylomonaco https://www.instagram.com/sallylomonaco/ https://www.tiktok.com/@sallylomonaco?lang=en Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-reel-rejects/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sisters of the Reject Nation, welcome, welcome, and thank you for joining us, especially here in the podcast form. It helps us out, you know. It's a part of our growing repertoire of media, and yes, this is our immediate thoughts, our review upon watching Hocus Pocus 2. I am joined once again by Sally Lamanico, aka Salamander Sally, our good friend and collaborator once again. She and I, a few weeks back, checked out the fifth element. She's also done space balls with Greg and a whole solo series of Marvel reactions that are up on the channel.

But yeah, hocus pocus. We both grew up on the original 1993 film, revisited it again just before watching this, and got big, big love for that movie. I think it holds up extraordinarily well, actually, from, you know, my nostalgic childhood days. And so we were both, you know, a little trepidacious, but also very excited to return.

turn to the world of Salem through the scope of the legend of the Sanderson sisters and all that. And yeah, and the new movie was a nice surprise in a lot of ways. So, you know, we got some thoughts. We got some opinions. And, yeah, if you want to join us for any part of the immediate experience of watching the movie, you can check out the reaction highlights. Those are on our YouTube channel, YouTube.com slash the Real Rejects. Or if you want to get your own copy and enjoy the full experience with us, you can sync up

over at our Patreon page Patreon.com slash the Real Rejects and yeah if you're just interested in supporting the channel in other ways we have a merch store at shop0edition.com go check out some of our fun stuff over there and yeah

I think that's all the housekeeping it's time to talk about hocus pocus too happy Halloween people let's do it Not bad. And Fletcher. I need to look up what other movies she's done. Get that IMDB going.

It's not often you see a woman director. That's true. They have a woman director, woman editor. Oh, wow. Yeah. She directed Step Up, 27 dresses, The Proposal. Okay. Hot Pursuit and then some TV episodes.

It's interesting. Yeah, got a bit of a film on going. I mean, this is a cool legacy project to take on. I guess we should hang tight just in case there's something. Just in case there's post-credit scenes. I feel like, I don't know, I mean, you know, they've been kind of... There could be. They've been sent off into oblivion, and yet I still feel like there could be a gotcha.

There could be. Because she is very powerful. True that. I'm going to eat a Starburst while we wait. Do it. Is it one of the pink ones? Everybody likes the pink ones. I ate a pink one before.

We filmed. This one is Fruit Punch. Also a choice flave. That's good. Watching a Halloween movie means we want to eat candy. Absolutely. No, you were more prepared than I was. This is a pumpkin coffee.

Oh, you got the pumpkin coffee. I'm jealous. I want to. That's right. I was a little bit prepared. It's adult Halloween candy. True. True. True. I didn't kill the spider. It's still just chilling on my desktop.

I think I watched it with me. I don't know. It's just a little baby spider and it kept like going up and down like on my computer and my ring light. Like my people. My people are in this movie. I don't know. And that happens. I usually just try to be like, hey, I'm not going to bother you. You don't bother me. It will be cool. Don't make it scary stories to tell in the dark over here, but, you know.

No. Live and let live, I say. In the spirit of Halloween, I will not kill the spider. This is very soothing credits. It is. I just saw a 19 testing coordinator. That's a credit now. That's right.

That's right. They probably had to deal with a fair amount of that, yeah. Oh, we're at the music. I do like the musical score kept, for the most part, that kind of clas. classic vibe. Yeah, classic villain. Yeah. But fun and fantasy-filled.

Fanciful, macabre. Yes. Oh. Here we are. Is it the boy? Thanks. Is it the reverence boy? No.

Why is there a second candle? What are you playing at, Cat? And you're not even Biggs, so I don't care. Yeah. I'm actually glad that they let Binks just be... Me too. I would have been so pissed if they brought him back. Yeah, it's like it makes sense that Billy might come back, but yeah, like Binks gets to...

Bings gets to the rest of the sister. Yeah, Biggs are in that. Oh, my goodness. Well, hey, what did you think? What's your first impressions? Hocus, Pocus, 2, 2020. that's what you want to hear that's the way you want to review to start off um um okay well okay i want more that's my general consensus after seeing this movie it's good but i want more

that's a good way to put that yeah yeah yeah you know what i mean like go further do go it's like an appetizer give me more we waited 30 years give me me Give me a full-course meal. Give me more character beats. Give me a little more of that horror. And then, yeah, and then twist me around and surprise me with the feels at the end. Yes. I still love the first one more.

I think that's, I think everyone will. Okay. They had a lot to live up to, right? Yeah. Big shoes to fill. I think the plot was fun. They kind of like filled in a lot of plot holes in my head. In the beginning, I was like, wait, this doesn't make sense.

they like explained it so i was like oh okay it was directed wonderfully i would agree it felt like a tv movie it does does that make sense yeah for sure i i get what you mean it's like i think they did have you know some pretty solid production values in general but yeah it does feel more like the tv special follow-up and and not necessarily which i'm not mad about yeah in like the least insulting way you could say that i don't know how to say it yeah i think too like I was expecting a different finale you know like in the beginning when it started out I love the beginning by the way like when they came back and how terrifying that like it was such an epic reintroduction I wanted that same energy of like they weren't scary in this one like they had

moments where it was like kind of film like a horror movie and I wish it kind of would have kept that energy I I agree I was afraid like the first one had so much heart to it and you're rooting for the good guys but then in this one I was like how are they going to bring that heart back and they did with Winifred at the end being upset that she lost her sisters so I'm like okay there's the heart you know what I mean yeah I wasn't expecting like that actually got me a little misty eye that was right I was like that was a cute that was a cute moment but it like humanized them um and as a way to like actually ostensibly sense them off and really close the...

Really close it. They sting you at the end. They could always come back. But yeah, if this was the end, that was actually felt kind of nice. Yeah. There's something the original movie has that's more classic

in terms of storytelling. And also, I think they, they, I think this movie competes with itself a little bit between being just a story about what happens next with the Sanderson's and even the things they've thought of, like, okay, we're not going to do the same spell

as last time, we're going to, you know, go for the ultimate power, the ultimate spell. The spell that's forbidden. And, you know, even the way they brought Billy back, we need his head because that's what Winnie thinks she loved. Like, there were a lot of things where I'm like, okay, cool. Like, I feel like you actually thought of how to grow this out of the previous one. And I think a time jump like this is actually kind of nice for this situation.

But, yeah, there is a certain amount that is also kind of occupied with a more modern sensibility so it's like okay we got to be cutting around and we got to you know throw in some hip jokes and then we'll throw in some classic references and then we'll expand on stuff and so i i think it just makes for yeah just like a slightly less succinct and graceful whole but something that's still like really enjoyable and has the spirit of the season and and of the country that you know you're in salem mass so like it's a very unique place to be at you know Halloween time especially yeah so like I think there's a lot they got right here. It's not like, it's not necessarily like a slam dunk.

But I think people would enjoy this generally, and I am certainly not let down, really. I feel like I came in with some managed expectations, but, you know, optimism generally. And for the most part, I thought this was, yeah, this was fun. Not like necessarily essential, but it had enough unique, interesting idea. That's that thing.

I come back to that. It's like, it's, in some ways, I'm like, this had the ingredients to be like the definitive, like, that's the sequel. Hell yeah. Yeah. No, I think, I think they were very creative with the plot and I was actually pleasantly surprised with it, with like the way that they described everything and how they could justify it being in modern day. You know what I mean? I was like, oh, that's actually really clever. I think that's it.

It's like a lot of things feel like running gags more than full. It felt like a show. It felt like episodes of a show, like the tone of it. And then seeing she directed a lot of shows, I was like, okay, yeah, like the beats of the comedy and stuff like that. Yeah, it does have a sort of episode. Yeah, that's how it felt. And then when I saw that, I was like, oh, okay. Not knocking it.

It was just different than like. Obviously, movies in the 90s also have a very distinct. Like, you can't, like, do those anymore because they've been overdone, if that makes sense. Like, yeah. There's, like, a lot of cliche things in that movie that I'm like, okay, yeah, you definitely can't do that now, but it's still a classic. So they did modernize it, and I get it. It's of its time. The book having a personality, that was the only part I was confused about, because in the first one, I don't think there's any indication that it can think.

It has, like, a degree of personality, but it doesn't read quite as like it's a sentient character. or with its own will the same way it does here where it's full on like no the book is resisting them and I thought that was a cool I did yeah I thought that was a cool development I mean the book has an eyeball in it that looks around so you think that it would yeah I thought it was it made it kind of cute like in the in the first one it's like ew and then in this one I'm like oh like yeah yeah and I mean like the whole thing where they go to the to the to the yeah they go to the Walgreens and they're drinking all the beauty products and stuff like that and they find the rumba's like those are those are callbacks but that build on things yeah they don't feel quite as like lurid to me like I feel like a lot of the callbacks a good portion of them at least are in character which is nice and then you have your other flashbacks where it's like oh that's a line they said or that's a you know a thing that we kind of have to a bell we have to ring is it just me or did did you feel like they were trying to like set up a new show or something like with the girls it felt more like that was their goal than to actually do like a solid hocus pocus sequel that maybe wasn't trying to

set up something else yeah i wonder about that because i mean part of me i feel like it ended in a way where with both sides of the story i'm like these could easily continue if they wanted to like they definitely do a spinoff of the girls that's what it felt like to me i don't know i was i just wanted more at the end like they kept uh the beginning was so solid especially with the flashback um and having oh my gosh i'm blanking was he like a reverent yeah yeah so having having that character be the villain and so at the end i was expecting the mayor to have this big like moment with them or something and it didn't it didn't happen there were some things that felt like they maybe got snipped out in editing or something for time because like especially the whole thing with the party

at the house yeah felt like it wrapped up really fast and then we had like rejoin characters after that situation. It feels like a whole bunch of stuff happened with them off screen or same with, to a different degree um, uh, what's the name? Gailbert. Like they, you know, go off finding all the ingredients and stuff

like that and you kind of cut away from them for a long time and then once they show back up again, you're like, oh, that's right. You guys are doing something. You guys are on a mission here. And so yeah, there are these and especially with the mayor, you know, because once he goes back in the house after the whole garage thing, I feel like it's

kind of that's kind of it and then the like boyfriend character he was hilarious and like it would have been funny if also he would somehow stumbled at the ending and been like what like the powers and it would have been funny i don't know the ending yeah maybe it was it was the ending seemed a little like maybe things were cut out or rushed or something this is one of those situations for me where i'm like i i really enjoyed watching this and i think yeah as a fan you know i'm sitting here And I'm like, yeah, I'm, you know, none of my big red flags or big, you know, warning lights went off about like, oh, you know, they're taking it in a direction I don't like. When it comes to sequels like this or sequels to anything, yeah, it's super hard. And sometimes I feel like for me, the metric becomes, is it a sequel or is it the sequel?

Like, sometimes you just know, like, ah, this is the perfect story. This is the perfect kind of, you know, take for updating or whatever. and I feel like where I'm sitting right now I'm like this is a sequel that gets close to being like the sequel at times It started off strong for me You know what I mean?

Yeah It started off strong for me And then I was like oh sweet Like they're they're gonna keep the same lore And everything like from the first movie And like the backstory was fun And it was creepy And then it just

I don't know what it was It just didn't go there For me like okay a good example of like a really great sequel that was almost better than the first movie would be parts of the Caribbean because they kept the same energy and they kept the same lore and then they just added to it this one I feel like um had that in the beginning and I was like oh my God yes high hopes and then I don't know it's weird yeah it's like I'm sitting here trying to figure it out because this is a slightly longer movie than it didn't feel longer at all

to me. I felt shorter. In a weird way, and that's maybe perhaps my gripe is I feel like you look at hocus pocus and there's something that's I don't begrudge them for the story they wanted to tell or the characters they wanted to focus on. I actually

really like, as much as people whinge about wokeness now and, you know, female empowerment stories, I feel like telling a hocus pocus follow up about a budding coven of young witches is a perfectly reasonable take and something that makes a lot of sense but also yeah gives you the opportunity to tell a different story however

the original movie has such a classic blend of things it's like you got kids moving to a new town i got to take my kid sister out i don't want to and i'm trying to fit in i'm trying to be cool there's a love story and then you have the sanderson sanderson sisters on top of all that and like yeah i get what you mean the hocus focus one movie focus more on the actual family and of characters and like you you really get invested with like the brother and sister and like his crush and um and they have a beautiful character arc at the end like it really gets you with this one i felt like i didn't know the friends that well you know what i mean yeah like i wanted to know them they're the main girls are like the main characters of this movie but i feel like i didn't know their lives that

well so it didn't i didn't care how that sounds mean no i get you it's like you don't you don't You don't like attach to them the same. Yeah. Yeah. What they were given, I thought they did nicely with to the point where, yeah, I just kind of accepted them as characters and enjoyed their journey. And too, for again, like a story of friendship and empowerment and sort of learning to rise to an occasion and come of age and embrace a newfound gift or ability.

Like I thought they naturally made that work in a way that didn't feel like, oh, it's 2022. And that's the story we tell right now. You know, like it made a lot of sense. And for a movie that it has always been, you know, at the center has mostly female characters anyway. Like, I think that makes a lot of sense. That's true. Gilbert, no offense. Awful character.

Like, you're not rooting for him at all. I think that I, I, I, I'm like an understanding. The actor did a great job. I enjoy him. I think he's funny. But also, yeah, I mean, Gilbert is in a bit of a different movie, I feel like. Like, there's a. weird there's tone didn't match for me but he yeah him and and and again i like him and i liked him

and billy together and i liked uh tony hale especially as the mayor but there there is an interesting the sanderson sisters have a cartoony almost three stooges quality about them there is cartoonishness within this world but i feel like this movie this follow-up yeah didn't always i feel like the original one, like the cartooniness was pretty appropriate and pretty well placed, whereas there were times... And it stood out because it was just the girls and everyone else was a little more grounded. You know what I mean? Yeah, and then you would have the occasional... Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you would have occasionally like the kids would come up with some kind of clever way to trick them or whatever. But for the most part, yeah, like everybody kind of lives on

earth in, you know, heightened 90s fashion. But yeah, here it's like there are certain moments that do. And I think that contributes to its feeling like a TV movie or like a family TV movie is you do get more broad like here's a wacky moment with the mayor here's a wacky moment with and you know like I again like both of those actors are fun and and I enjoy watching them but as yeah for the consistency of tone I wasn't like annoyed or anything by it but it does do a lot of like we're doing a bunch of nods to all sorts of lines and moments you're remember i love the uh the nods to the original film but yeah i was like wondering where the uniqueness would come from it and i guess the characters like the girls let me just how do i put

this my mom as a christian woman would have let me watch hocus pocus as a kid she would not have let me watch this one as a kid if that makes sense in terms of message well yeah i was about to say And especially, I don't know if, you know, the rules are different when it's just a streaming movie, but I kept thinking to myself, like, oh, there's no way they can play this in China. No, the message is definitely different in this movie than it was in the first movie. Like, as a kid, I was terrified of them in the first movie because they were bad. And in this movie, I feel like I wouldn't have been us scared.

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, because they do, it's in the characters, again, to be fish out of water and to get wacky. and, you know, the original movie picks and chooses to do that. And I love that, too. And I think the three of them... The Walgreens bit was fun. Yeah, yeah. And, I mean, Beth Midler, Kathleen, Nejimmy, and Sarah Jessica Parker, like, I love watching

them together still. I really like their comedic chemistry back and forth together. You know, like, their performances are on point. But there's also that. And, I mean, I like it in the context, like we talked about the ending where it's like, oh, you know, like, what is something that? actually matters to this character that's not going to feel trite her sisters are gone that makes sense but yeah that was done beautifully by the way even though i i think i wanted a bigger ending i think

that that one was still shot directed and acted beautifully because it did get me it got me you know what me like the way she delivered those lines i was like oh my god and that was a cool way to end it off because we've seen them outlast the dawn and that's true though yeah freeze up and and explode and all that. And so yeah, I think as a way to do something different and also as a way to solve the problem, but without a big powers battle, I think is a really good touch, especially if you do want to, you know, have some kind of empowerment story going to. I think that's kind of a neat solution. And I'm also surprised that they embraced as much as they do. Like I kind of got a kick out of, you know, we live in a time and place where people are much more aware of.

of metaphysics and you know now there are witchy stores all around and you can get crystals and herbs and whatever else and it's a more mainstream thing and I was kind of surprised that they were just like yeah that's what these girls are into and by the end one of them's going to be a witch and they're going to have their own little coven and we're cool

with that because you know they'll be white witches instead of you know dark magic witches. My little Christian self is like oh no the amount of girls that are going to watch this movie and want to go do that stuff I'm like and and that I mean in a way takes me back to that older time where I'm like cool you know and and I think it's funny like there are things in here like they confront uh it's like virgin can only light the black flame candle that was funny he's like I can't light it yeah and I feel like that the original movie is probably the movie that taught me that word but even then like they have the little boy like ask like what's a virgin and like you know when you're a kid watching it it I think a lot of those things go over your head

And when rewatching the original one, there are a lot of subtle things, especially like the way Billy acts toward Winifred the whole time. Like, there's subtle things that are a bit more adult that come to the surface. And those are present at times here. They had hocus pocus playing on TV, which I didn't quite understand. That threw me off. I don't know what that was. Yeah.

Because if he saw them as a kid. So at first I remember thinking, Did the first movie even happen? And it wasn't until that he explained that he saw them as a kid in the 90s. I was like, oh, okay. Because in my head, I thought they were going to, like, skip over that movie. Because in the beginning, it just seemed like that's the route that they were going. But then he did say that he saw them in the 90s.

But then the TV thing, I have no idea what that was. It reminded me, I don't know if you saw the recent Pinocchio, but they have, uh, those, Jepetto has a wall of clocks. Yes. Cuckoo clocks. And they're all branded Disney. property clocks and it reminded me of like a way less obnoxious version of that but where you're still like wait wait hold on how does this work now what does this make the rules of this like is hocus pocus is that now ostensibly like the film made about the events that happened in 1993 do you think they should have brought back the original trio at all or no the original trio of kids um yeah i think it was thinking they were going to be like like teachers or something and like that's a good cool yeah that's a good point i mean i know

thorra birch doesn't do much acting now i can't remember what her story is if she got like blacklist or what the brother because the brother was kind of like the lead i guess but sure yeah i mean i i have a strong association with the three of them and i'm a little surprised now part of me is like i wonder if they maybe showed up as they they didn't seem to show up in any kind of like here's a cameo that's clearly a cameo you know so like if they are maybe they're in the background someplace i'm just saying that would have been fun it would have been fun for at least like one of them to have been like a character in this it's like wait they're back i don't know but then maybe that would have been cliche i don't know i wasn't thinking about it now that you brought it up

it is sort of like an interesting it's just as interesting to me that they didn't as it would have been if they did you know yeah i think either yeah that makes sense yeah and it's like it's not something that the movie is hurting for anything because yeah I mean part of the the point is getting the Sanderson's and Billy I guess and any black cat back and I appreciate yeah again that they left

I kept expecting it to be that I was like please no please no yeah don't bring like I think that's a good sign of like yeah they approach this with a reasonable amount of I wouldn't be surprised if they did do that and then like did a screening and took it out afterwards

because they had that black cat in it a lot yeah see i feel like this movie had it's hard in the right place enough that it that probably wouldn't i don't feel like that was in the mix i think like the tease is good enough but yeah i mean you never know what could have been cut out but yeah yeah overall i mean you know especially after so much time i got a kick out of this i had it it made me feel you know kind of warm inside even if it didn't always like nail it i still think it was like a pretty solid update like this could have been so much worse and i'd be happy to kind of watch them back to back and i'd be curious to know what the people this is more aimed for think of it because

i feel like there are a lot of callbacks for people who grew up on that movie but it doesn't feel like it's quite aimed directly at those people no it feels like it's it's putting things in there for us but I feel like it's still definitely aimed towards like the teenage or preteen demographic for sure yeah like preteen I think but like the production values like the aesthetics and stuff like that like the shop and the the woods and the beautiful giant moon that's always looming over and the different costumes and stuff like it was beautiful and I think too like the opening uh sequence with them when they were younger was solid. The actors were so good.

They played younger versions so well. I was a little worried about that aspect just because I was like, ah, you know, like going back to the origin isn't always necessary and it's the thing that Hollywood movies love to do. And then I was like waiting and I was realizing like it didn't really come back. It kind of did in conversation of like,

oh, we need the blood of the reverent and whatever. But other than that, it really didn't. But it does thematically. Like, I appreciated that. I liked it as the theme because it at least reflects the journey that then Becca and her friends will go on, you know, the coming of age, 16 years old, you know, having your powers unlocked. When they were around 16-ish, I guess, in that flashback versus, like, you know, the new girls now. And then I did really like them doing the walk at the end. That was really great to tie it in.

There are a number of things they do, too, to also make it a little more. meta or self-aware where they're like who are they singing why are they singing who are they singing to and and uh other you know there are other ways in which they do that and i thought that was i feel like they could have done maybe more with that because i feel like they were mostly doing that just to kind of answer just the general people's question like i feel like in the in the original movie there there is song perhaps a bit more gracefully blended in i was gonna say yeah yeah and so like on the one hand, I like that they come out. Like, I like that there are ample opportunities for them to sing

and to do the, you know, harmonizing and all that stuff together. But also, yeah, it is, that's another very sort of modern, very now thing of like, you know, who are they doing this for? Why are they? And I thought, you know, I appreciated them commenting on it. I could have used maybe, like, a better payoff to that. But these are, like, all my gripes are just, like, little things. That's little things.

There's, like, a fair amount of, like, little, tweaks and things that I think could have been finessed. But yeah, I mean, all in all, especially after some of the sort of Disney reboot things we've seen lately, I think this is a pretty decent one overall, you know? The three of them are just terrific together. Like, that's a joy in and of itself, because I love a good witch story anyway, but I think you still get that Halloween vibe that I think is very special because, you know, not Halloween movies for Halloween time are fewer and further between than, you know, the grand

majority of horror movies. Yeah. And I definitely felt that. And even though you don't get a ton of character fleshing with the trio, because it's pretty much just their rift with their friend and them growing apart and this thing with her boyfriend. And, you know, it's like the Mike character, whatever, his name was the goofy football player. like I like that thread and I thought it was a neat way to flip

the bully story but even in the original one that's like you know Jay and Ice have it's just that thing it's like it's a little more well rounded here it feels like he's a funny side character who shows up every now and again and is funny luckily that's why I thought he'd come in at the end

at some point tie it together like with you know the other bullies in the first movie where they end up in the cages that was funny but yeah I think they didn't do a lot of tying of motifs or of characters. They didn't do a lot of tying around.

That's where I'm like, I think that's where the comment of, oh, it felt kind of rushed at the end a little bit came in, but I'm also thinking if they shot this during a pandemic. Yeah, I mean, that could have had a lot to do with it.

Yeah. And for a while now, we're going to be kind of handicapping movies that way. And I think that is, you know, that that lends that's part of the classic it's like the original movie has these classic story beats new kid in town you know young romance blah blah blah but it it also has that classic nature of like okay everything that's brought up that's prominent gets you know touched on or or uh paid off in some way um you know like a like a spell um and so yeah i think that that contributes to the It's a lotion.

Episodic feeling. I know like a syrup. Like a syrup. But yeah. No, I'm a happy camper, though. Generally speaking. I'm a happy clam. I was just happy to see them together again.

After what, 30 years? Yeah, that did not disappoint. Like, after so much time, like the three of them together. And, you know, like, I could have, I can always take more of that. I wanted more. I think that's why I'm sad, because I wanted more. It didn't feel that long to be. but I guess it was.

Well, that's a good thing, though. Like, the pacing was very fast, so that's good. I'd rather have it feel shorter than feel like it's dragging on. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because even if it's not always symmetrical or it doesn't always, like, gracefully tie things together, chances are they move on to something that's amusing or endearing or fun in some way or spooky.

And, yeah, like, I'm not looking for a reinvention of the wheel. I like that they put those touches in, like when they show up. the first time and they are kind of in these strobing effects and they do have the scary sort of imposing quality like those flavors you know if you're talking to me as a cinema fan i'm like go further with that that's what i was saying the beginning i was like i wanted them to go more with that horror aspect that would have been sick but yeah but there is a third right a third hocus yeah that's kind of what they were implying we'll see how this does again it could always if this is a hit You never know.

I feel like nowadays they have to leave it open just in case. I think there will be a third. I don't see why there wouldn't unless people really don't like it. But. Sign up. Get your Disney Plus account and stream it 100 times to make sure they make it. And yeah, I mean, sitting here, I would happily, if they made a Hocus Focus 3, part of me would be like, please don't mess this up.

Don't mess this up. But as of now, I would be happy to return again. Me too. they've set up a whole new group of characters. It would be fun to see more since I feel like they didn't get to go that deep with this one because there was a lot they had to pack in. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Sorry, Gilbert. I hope you get a third movie, Gilbert. Yeah, man, he's going to be the lead next time. I need to see some redemption, Gilbert. What's Eating Gilbert? That's the last thread they need to play off in this. That's the third movie. Ocus Phocis 3, what's eating Gilbert. Yeah.

Yeah. And I mean, yeah, I mean, those three, like, I would be curious to see where they might go in this world. I thought those three actresses did a nice job together, especially the two who... They had big shoes to fill, and they filled it. Yeah, and without having to do the exact same thing the previous movie did. And even though it is... It's very different, yeah. Yeah, and even though it is centered around, like, you know, these, you know, this trio of friends who were having, you know, drama between them.

and then, you know, oh, there's a boy who's, like, tearing us apart and, you know, there is, I don't know. And it's usually that the boy's an asshole, and he's just stupid, and it's so funny. Yeah, and I mean, he is, but in a more fun in a viewing way. But in, like, a fun, like, oh, poor soul kind of way, not like the stereotypical, like, oh, we hate your boyfriend. I could definitely see that I'm doing, like, a show with the girls, you know. I could just see it with the spellbook and everything. I'd be curious to see how they would. how they would go. I think you always

this universe begs that you have the classic over the top you know, you know, 17th century speaking witches, but even so yeah. And who knew that the book is the new banks? I know, yeah. Oh, yeah. See, they have enough clever twists

and enough clever ideas to make it stick. So, yeah. So, yeah. Some good, some good some good makeups too, some good music. took me back. Yeah, good for them. Good for you guys.

Well, all righty. Thank you for joining me, Salamander Sally. This has been fun. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. We'll have to get another one on the books soon, but for right now, folks out there and the Reject Nation,

leave us your thoughts on Hocus Pocus, too. Was it everything you hoped it could be? Was it nothing you hoped it could be? Or was it kind of in the middle somewhere? Also, the one thing they did leave out is that it's just a bunch of hocus pocus. Am I right? They didn't say that, I didn't think.

Say it. I was waiting for it. It's just a bunch of hocus pocus, too. That's what my pillow says. Well, that's why they have to make part three then, so they can get that. Just to say it. Come on, guys. They got one more Easter egg reference to pay off.

They did every other callback. Like that one. All the checklist except for one. All the ingredients for the spell except for one. yeah well all right leave the like comment do whatever you guys are going to do and we will catch you next time much love cheers happy Halloween happy Halloween