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Griffin Dunne Discovers That Halloween Has Become His Unpaid Publicist
· New York time
Griffin Dunne says he is glad to see renewed interest in “Practical Magic” and “An American Werewolf in London.” The director of the 1998 witchy romance told Variety that conversation about “Practical Magic” began gaining steam perhaps a decade ago, particularly around Halloween, and that he noticed memes about its “midnight margaritas.” A film’s second life can arrive without a conventional opening weekend. Fans share a favorite moment, seasonal viewing becomes a habit, and work that once had a fixed release date finds a recurring place in the calendar. Dunne’s own assessment of his career, “I seem to be the king of lapsed love,” gives the revival a suitably affectionate title. The economics of nostalgia are less tidy than a studio schedule. A movie cannot simply order viewers to make it an October ritual. It needs an audience willing to keep bringing it back, one reference and recommendation at a time. That makes the popularity gratifying for its creators and wonderfully inconvenient for anyone trying to predict a film’s entire future from its first appearance. Dunne gets the pleasure of watching old work reach new people. Halloween gets another excuse to put margaritas on the agenda.
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