Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
“Team X-Bladz Can’t Buy My Soul” | Episode 34: Brink!
25 Plays3 days ago
Grab your skates and meet us at the beach—this week we’re diving into Brink! 🛼
We’re talking:
– Passion vs. paychecks: Is “selling out” really selling out? 💸
– Brink’s dad NEEDS therapy 😬
– Where the cast rolled off to after 1998 👀
All that plus chaotic ‘90s energy in this episode!
Brink! is a 1998 film starring Erik von Detten, Sam Horrigan, Christina Vidal, and Robin Riker. You can stream it now on Disney+!
✨ Once Upon A DCOM is your favorite nostalgic rewatch podcast where we rave (and sometimes roast) every Disney Channel Original Movie ever made.
📱 Follow us for new episodes!
TikTok: @onceuponadcom.podcast
Instagram: @onceuponadcom.podcast
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Nostalgia
00:00:00
Speaker
I thought that I had never seen this, but when the opening sequence started, i was like hit with this wave of familiarity. I can't say that word. Familiarity.
00:00:11
Speaker
um Nostalgia. And this whole movie, I was like, wait, this all seems familiar. Like, i think I think I've seen this movie before. Oh, really? I did not have that.
00:00:22
Speaker
And I kept being like, is this and then this is going to happen. And then that would happen. I'd be like, my deep in my subconscious, I saw this movie at some point. I had never seen it.
00:00:34
Speaker
I'm not gonna lie. I kind of wish I hadn't.
00:00:40
Speaker
Welcome fellow Disney Channel babes, whether you're from the nostalgic 90s, or the awkward odds, or you're giving Gen Z, we're glad that you're here. I'm Gabriella. And I'm Natalie. And this is the podcast where we rave, and sometimes roast, classic Disney Channel original movies. You're listening to Once Upon a Decom.
00:01:01
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome back to Once Upon a DCOM, the podcast where we take you down memory lane re-watching some of our favorite Disney Channel original movies from our childhood. My name is Gabriella and I'm here with Natalie.
00:01:12
Speaker
How are you today? i was doing great and then I watched this. Oh no, i'm it wasn't that bad. I feel like we said that four weeks ago with Upside Down Magic.
00:01:23
Speaker
Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it wasn't that bad. itbo Okay. Okay. This is such a boy movie. That's what I have to say. And the the message, I fundamentally disagree with.
00:01:38
Speaker
We will get into all of that in a second. oh But that those are my two issues. All right. Okay, so we're going to come back to that. So during this podcast, we take some time to walk through the movie with you. We're going to talk about our deep thoughts and opinions, and then we'll get into what the public thought and where is the cast now.
00:01:55
Speaker
It's going to be a great time. So before we get started, let me give you some information on Brink! Exclamation point. Exclamation point. Yeah. First of all, any DCOM with an exclamation point, probably not good.
00:02:07
Speaker
Just got to throw
Overview of 'Brink!' and Its Themes
00:02:08
Speaker
that out there. Are there just the two? I don't know, but I feel like this is a trend. far, the track record is not great. Yeah. Yeah. So Brink came out in 1998 and was heavily marketed towards boys.
00:02:21
Speaker
It's about roller skating, so obviously. It was directed by Greg Beeman, which I just thought this was kind of fun. His first directing credit is two episodes of The Magical World of Disney.
00:02:33
Speaker
I like that. Like the old school one? Yeah. Love it. And we have seen his name before because he also directed Under Wraps, the very first DCOM in 1997. Wow. So he went from that to his he fell far.
00:02:48
Speaker
He fell far from grace in one year. Incredibly well directed. What happened? I don't know. And well acted. And this was not. Yeah. So the movie's tagline is about as weak as it's acting. It says, it takes a champ to stay in line.
00:03:05
Speaker
I don't even know what that means. That doesn't, that has nothing to with the movie. Yes. And final fun fact, if you can call these fun. Actually, this fact is fun.
00:03:17
Speaker
Brie Larson auditioned for the role of Katie Brinker, which is the little sister role. What the heck? I love that. She could have made this movie. ah she She could have. Although I do like that little actress.
00:03:29
Speaker
Spoiler alert. she I think we've seen her before, but we'll come to that later. yup we will come back to that. It's now time for us to recap what happened in the movie. Natalie, can you take it away?
00:03:40
Speaker
Sure. So Andy Brink Brinker, they call him Brink. I did not. It was like halfway through the movie before I was like, oh, his name is Brink. I don't know why I did not catch that soon enough. and I didn't either.
00:03:52
Speaker
Okay. Then it's not just me. I feel better. Okay. Yeah. So Brink is a high schooler in Southern California who lives for inline skating with his best friends, Peter, Jordy, and Gabriella.
00:04:04
Speaker
They call themselves the Soul Skaters, and they are a tight-knit crew who skate for the love of it, not for fame or money. And their laid-back philosophy clashes with this local corporate-sponsored team, which is called Team X-Blades with a Z because they're cool.
00:04:22
Speaker
And they're apparently
Brink's Personal and Financial Struggles
00:04:23
Speaker
super famous, even though they're all in the same high school. Sure. yeah i mean they're like we're in the we're in all the skating magazines and i'm like there can't be more than two so calm down but sure anyway so team x blades is led by the arrogant and this hyper competitive i'm sorry you're gonna have to restart that that's so mean i loved it here's the thing like they're they go on and on about like oh we're like in all these magazines we're in all these photo shoots i'm like
00:04:53
Speaker
For a very niche audience, calm down. It's true. Calm down. It's so true. And there's like skateboarders in the same exact park. So it's like, i feel like they're very elite about the fact that they're not skateboarders.
00:05:08
Speaker
Like they're only about roller skates. Yeah. And I'm like, you just cut out half of the already very niche people that you could be interacting with. yeah I don't, I guess I don't know enough about skate culture, but I feel like that might not be a rivalry that actually exists.
00:05:25
Speaker
I don't think so, but maybe. Maybe in the 90s. I don't know. Okay, continue. So anyway, in case you missed it, they're led by Val, who is a jerk. Okay, so on the first day of school, the soul skaters and the X-Blades are really messing with one another. And honestly, we can just call it what it is. They're bullying each other. There is bullying happening on both sides.
00:05:47
Speaker
There is name calling and tripping and physical abuse and eating worms. It's bullying. Some of which comes from their teacher.
00:05:58
Speaker
Yeah. What the worst? Yeah. ah Horrible. Anyway, um they decide that they are going to have a race to determine who is going to have to stop bullying the other group. I don't know.
00:06:11
Speaker
The race ends with Boomer, which is one of Val's teammates, seriously injured. Brink stops mid-race to make sure he's okay and he calls the school nurse, but all the racers are suspended from school for skating at school because they're not supposed to.
00:06:26
Speaker
Sure. um The same day, Brink learns that his family is struggling financially. His dad has been on disability leave for six months and is unsure if he will be able to return to work.
00:06:38
Speaker
So wanting to help out the family, Brink secretly joins Team X-Blades as Boomer's replacement. So that he can get a weekly paycheck and winning bonuses.
00:06:49
Speaker
He knows it goes against everything he believes in. Because remember, he's like all pro fun and anti money or something like that. um
Turning Point and Decision to Quit X-Blades
00:06:56
Speaker
So he hides this decision from his friends and from his family who do not encourage his skating.
00:07:02
Speaker
When his dad encourages Brink to get a part-time job, he's completely unaware that the skating gig already exists. um And he sets him up with a job at a dog grooming business called Pup and Suds.
00:07:15
Speaker
Pup and Suds. um So Brink, not wanting to tell him that he's doing the skating thing, now juggles school, skating with X-Plates, working at Pup and Suds, and pretending that nothing has changed at all with the Soul Skaters.
00:07:28
Speaker
So basically, he is exhausted all of the time. Brink pretends to be sick so that he can get out of a skating competition with the soul skaters and instead skate with the X-Blades.
00:07:39
Speaker
But of course, obviously, it's a DCOM, his friends catch him. They feel betrayed, and even when Brink tries to apologize and reconnect with them, he is rejected. He continues to skate for X-Blades.
00:07:51
Speaker
But when the X-Blades and the Soul Skaters have a run-in next time, Val suggests a downhill race between Gabriela and Brink. Val sabotages the course by tossing gravel into the street, and Gabriela crashes hard, getting seriously scraped up and possibly breaking her arm.
00:08:09
Speaker
unclear it seems to heal really fast but also it seems like she broke her arm i don't know no i think her mom says nothing's broken thankfully so maybe it's just a screen i don't know something bad and she's get really scraped up and it's like yeah concussion worthy she rolls a lot like girl very dramatic But it is finally clear to Brink after all this just how unhinged and completely dangerous Val really is.
00:08:34
Speaker
So Brink tries again to apologize, but he's still getting iced out by his friends. He is depressed and now and on neither skating team, but he finally is able to open up to his dad about joining X-Blades and his problems with his friends.
00:08:49
Speaker
And in this actually heartfelt discussion, his dad tells him that even though the family is struggling, he would rather his son skate with joy than do it for the money. And he tells his son that he respects his love for skating and supports him if this is what he wants to do with his life, which is actually kind of nice.
00:09:07
Speaker
And then they make jokes about like, don't tell your mom we had a heart to heart conversation. She'll start having hope for our relationship or something like that. Which just points out how horrible their relationship is. You've not mentioned it, which is fine. But I would just like to mention that the dad is like Satan for the whole first half of the movie. And I don't buy his redemption.
00:09:27
Speaker
No, I don't either. I hated him. I hated him the entire time. He's horrid. horrid it's a discussion point but like i just want to talk about how i think his dad is in his own bad mental health state because he's out of work because all this stuff but he's taking it out on everyone else in the family yep yep my dude go to therapy unhinged and it's toxic to the entire environment and his mother is a delight and she handling it with so such grace and Okay, we'll come back to this because I... yeah Sorry.
00:10:01
Speaker
So Brink quits Team X-Blades in a very dramatic fashion. He confronts Val on the boardwalk and throws a chocolate milkshake in his face. It is delightful. um Boomer, which you'll remember is the skater from before who got injured when they were all racing at school.
00:10:17
Speaker
He is now recovered and he stands up for Brink when Val tries to go after him. He really calls Val out for his toxic leadership and negativity, and it is also delightful.
00:10:28
Speaker
um Brink says that he'll see Val at the upcoming competition and they can settle their differences then. to make amends, Brink uses his own money to buy new skating gear for his friends and proposes that they make a new team sponsored by his current employer, the dog groomer, Pup and Sutz.
00:10:45
Speaker
They are hesitant at first, but ultimately the others forgive him and they all get ready for the competition. With the support of their families, Team Puppinsuds performs really well, and the final event is a head-to-head downhill race between Brink and Val.
00:11:00
Speaker
Val repeatedly tries to cheat and shove Brink off of the course, eventually crashing. And Brink, because he's a good guy, of course, stops to help him. But Val was faking it and he uses the moment to pull Brink down and gain the lead.
00:11:14
Speaker
Ultimately, though, Brink takes a shortcut, which is also cheating, but they don't mention that. And he wins the race. know. Afterward,
Critiques and Themes of Passion vs. Money
00:11:21
Speaker
Team X-Blade's manager is disgusted by Val's cheating, which was broadcast live on ESPN, apparently.
00:11:29
Speaker
A fun thing that was brought in later, not mentioned beforehand. Anyway, kicks him off of the team and he offers Brink the spot as captain. Brink declines, choosing instead to stay with the Soul Skaters because skating should be about friendship, freedom, and fun, and not about financially supporting your family, apparently.
00:11:50
Speaker
the movie and also his dad got his job back so the weight of supporting the family is at least off of him at that point i get sure whatever
00:12:01
Speaker
Overall, it was a C- minus for me. I think it started strong. I was like, oh, this is going to be fun. And it just got worse and worse. It was just a downhill slope for me. Yeah. I think that I enjoyed aspects.
00:12:16
Speaker
Like, I think all the skating was super fun. i think, I cannot confirm, but I think all those actors did at least most of those stunts. And they're like, that's very impressive to me. Really? Yeah. Because like, you can see their faces at a lot of those tricks. Yeah.
00:12:29
Speaker
Yeah, it was actually very entertaining to watch the skating. And Val was significantly better. They portrayed him in a good way. Like he was trained and polished and it looked really cool when he skated.
00:12:41
Speaker
Same with Brink. um So I did enjoy watching the skating. I thought yeah the Gabriella girl was pretty cool. Loved her name. um I mean, great name. Yeah, yeah. And I thought her character and her arc was wonderful.
00:12:55
Speaker
So that's fine. She was the best part of the movie. Agreed. I liked Boomer's Redemption. I think a lot of the guys on the other team that, what it called? X-Blades. I think most of them were actually pretty decent people. And Val is just like the obnoxious leader. I think he maybe had like a side croony. But like other than that, that team was pretty cool. I'm like, it could have been quite good, but it just fell so flat.
00:13:18
Speaker
there There were elements. Yeah. It was it at the end of the day for me. I did not agree with the message of the film. Okay. Tell me more about that.
00:13:28
Speaker
Because like, what was the message? Because I couldn't riddle it out. Also that. Well, I feel like the whole thing is like you shouldn't have to sell out for whatever it is you enjoy doing.
00:13:44
Speaker
And I agree that the term sellout has a negative connotation, but like, I don't think that's always a bad thing. Like this the soul skaters use the term like sellout to describe people who do skating for money instead of just pure passion.
00:14:03
Speaker
But like Brink joins the X-Blades team because his family is struggling financially. He's trying to be responsible. Like he's like, that's not a sellout. I don't think that's a sellout.
00:14:15
Speaker
His motives aren't selfish. I agree. i don't think that in this situation, Brink is a sellout. I could see situations where that could be true. And I don't think it's always best to try and make money from your passions. I think maybe the pendulum has swung in our culture to like,
00:14:29
Speaker
If you love something, figure out how to make money doing it. And that's not always the best option either. There's like a balance, right? Like some people, it's great for them to be able to make money from their passions. Other people, it's better for it to be a hobby.
00:14:40
Speaker
And in this case, I think it was good for Brink to join the team. I actually was rooting for him Like, I didn't like his OG team. I didn't like how they turned on him. The only thing I really was upset about was how he lied about it and tried to manipulate the situation. That wasn't good. But joining the team to make money, not a problem.
00:15:00
Speaker
He should have been able to tell his teammates, hey, I really need this money right now. And I'm really sorry, but I need to go join the X-Blades team for a while. And they should have said,
00:15:12
Speaker
we understand. like right you know Right. They were not good friends. That's why I didn't support them as much. and And I want to go back to what you said before, because I think that I agree with you kind of, but I mostly disagree. Like, I think if you don't want to monetize your passion, don't.
00:15:29
Speaker
That's totally fine. But I think there is something fundamentally wrong with shaming people for making the decision to monetize something that they're passionate about. Oh, I agree.
00:15:39
Speaker
I wasn't trying to shame anybody. I was saying it's not for everyone to monetize their passion. That's not always what people want to do. I don't think there's anything wrong with the people who choose to do that, though. Right. Good for them. Term sellout. Like, yeah, no, good for them. Have you ever had a friend or even a coworker or stranger who has monetized something in their arts or sports passion and you've been like,
00:16:02
Speaker
wow, what an idiot or like what a sellout. I've never done that. I have always been like, that's so freaking cool that you have your own Etsy shop. You go. I don't know why the culture was different back then, but it was different back then because that's much more common now. I think with like the internet advancing and things like Amazon and Etsy and whatever, it's become more easy to monetize your passion. So I don't really understand why in the past it was frowned upon.
00:16:26
Speaker
ah but it was because this is a common theme in a lot of shows and movies from back then. Like a lot of people used to get upset about this and I don't really understand why. I think that people still get upset about it though, just like in different ways.
00:16:40
Speaker
Like one example that I thought of that was very similar kind of to this is like when professional athletes like in football or any of the other sports, I'm clearly a sports person, but um When they switch a team for a better contract, like if they've been on the Dallas Cowboys for years and they decide to switch teams to the Patriots because they'll get paid better. And then everyone's like, oh, that's such a sellout. You should have stuck with your team.
00:17:07
Speaker
Well, if they are going to give him a better contract, why wouldn't he switch teams? I don't think that's a bad thing. Yeah, I could see why people feel that way because their heart is so invested in that team.
00:17:18
Speaker
And if the athlete doesn't have that same investment, if for them it's a job and it's a way to make money, then yes, the better contract is the way to go. But if you're the fan from that perspective, there's like a loyalty factor.
00:17:31
Speaker
And I could see how in a smaller group like this, like in the X-Blades versus Soul ah Skater, Surfer, whatever, I can't remember the name. It's so... Isn't Soul Surfer a movie? Yeah, that's the one with the girl in the one arm who surfs.
00:17:45
Speaker
Oh, yeah, that's where I got that from. Anyways, in this situation where it's like closer to home, I can absolutely see how they would be like, you're going to ditch all your friends for this. I'm not saying they were correct. I just can see where their loyalty to their friend would be like challenged and that could be difficult for them.
00:18:02
Speaker
I think if somebody does it only for the money and there is a factor of like they're leaving something that's good for them not, like that they enjoy to go to a team or to go to something where it's like, this is going to make me money, but it's going to make me miserable or like, you know, tear apart my family or whatever, then I don't think it's a good idea. I think, like I said, there's a balance to it. Like you have to weigh the pros and cons because it shouldn't just be about who makes more money or who will give me more money.
00:18:31
Speaker
It should be about what's the best like holistic decision for me. You know what I mean? I get that. But also I wouldn't like, it's not for me to judge. like I would be like, that's for you. like You should think about the whole picture. But I am not going to be like, that's not going to be good for their family. like you know I'm going to be like, okay, sure. Take that other contract. You clearly need it for whatever.
00:18:54
Speaker
Well, it it also differs if it's a professional athlete you've never met or your best friend that you've known for years. And that's the situation we find ourselves in in the movie. Because I could see a situation where if my best friend was doing something like that, I would be more like personally offended or upset or concerned for them about it, depending on what it is.
00:19:14
Speaker
So I don't know. I know we're
Communication and Parenting Styles in 'Brink!'
00:19:16
Speaker
really digging in on this point. I'm sorry, listeners. But like, okay, Gabby, if you are doing this podcast with me and we don't make any money, which PS guys, we don't make any money. So if there's any sponsors out there who'd like to sponsor us, we are so willing to be sellouts. Anyway.
00:19:32
Speaker
um I agree.
00:19:38
Speaker
if podco comes and says gay we'd like you to host this show um about decoms but you're going to be solo and we're going to pay you three thousand dollars a week i'm not going to be mad at you for like ditching me to go do that you know like that's very kind would love some people would be hawk me about it but i'm not mad about it that's what i'm saying Well, that shows maturity on your part for being able to not be hurt about that. And it would show maturity on my part to have the conversation with you.
00:20:08
Speaker
I think where it broke down in the movie was that he lied and manipulated them. Exactly. So then they were additionally hurt by that. The fact that they're first hurt by the fact that he's selling out for money is the part that we disagree with.
00:20:21
Speaker
We can agree that him lying and manipulating and then being hurt by that. Because he's a dumb teenage boy. Yeah. In our fake case scenario, if I were to leave you for Podco, I think the important thing for me would be to make sure that our friendship isn't going to be lost over it. Because if you did express to me like this really hurts me or whatever, I'd probably second guess and reconsider if I actually want that. Like I would have to weigh like how much is this friendship worth to me versus this, you know, potential opportunity.
00:20:50
Speaker
um And I would hope that you would understand that. I would not forgive you if you didn't take that. Just to be clear, you should take that also someone who values Some people don't value that as much as others. Different personalities, you know.
00:21:07
Speaker
Anyways, this, yeah, this is good. I like this discussion. I think we kind of do agree. We're just like beating around it a lot. Okay. Okay. We don't think people are sellouts if they choose to make money from their passions.
00:21:21
Speaker
Yes. Also don't manipulate your friends. Is that what we like? Maybe just communicate and talk to each other. Maybe that would solve a lot of problems. Right. And don't judge people who have made that decision that you don't know personally. If they haven't hurt you, you're fine. Get over it.
00:21:36
Speaker
They can do what they want. Because you never know what's going on in someone else's life. Right. Also, to that point, I didn't really feel invested in Brink's motivations because his parents were giving very mixed signals like to him and to the audience.
00:21:50
Speaker
I think he is a teenage boy interpreted. We have significant financial troubles, but the mom is consistently like, we're fine. We're totally fine. Don't worry about it. And they have a house and they have everything they need.
00:22:01
Speaker
And I think he kind of was like, oh, well, that's about to all end. I need to step in. And the mom kept saying, like, no, we're fine. So I was like, I don't feel like you have to take this job with the X blades.
00:22:13
Speaker
yeah Like, you're going to be OK if you don't. Also, $200 a week isn't going to make like that big of a dent in your four person family's financial troubles. You know what I mean? But also this was the 90s. So that is more money than we think. More money than we think.
00:22:28
Speaker
But yeah still probably not enough to cover the dad's salary, you know. For sure. And I will say the parents also suck at communication. Like that is also a major breakdown in this. Like if they...
00:22:39
Speaker
First of all, they probably shouldn't be having such a serious, ah deep conversation in listening ears, like range of their teenage son who is very sensitive.
00:22:49
Speaker
um But also, if there is a problem, they have every right to keep it to themselves, but they also have every right to talk to their child about it. And if this, like if his skating is actively a problem, I feel like they need to sit him down and talk to him about it. Because like after he got suspended first for low-key skating in school, right? For racing in school.
00:23:11
Speaker
His dad was like beating him up, not physically, but like were're berating him in the car over this. And at no point did he set any boundaries of like, I want you to stop skating.
00:23:22
Speaker
And I'm like, okay, so parenting 101. Not that I'm a parent. I'm not a parent. But like, if that's something that you fundamentally think is a problem, perhaps you set some boundaries in place.
00:23:34
Speaker
He did not. And like, no it doesn't seem like this kid is struggling in school. It doesn't seem like skating is impacting his life. He's a very happy, positive, nice kid who cleans his room when he's told and shows up for dinner.
00:23:48
Speaker
Why are we mad at him for having a passion? Yes, which is part of why I hate the dad. So we can get into that just quickly. yeah We're already like running out of time. and We've barely hit any of our discussion.
00:23:59
Speaker
But this is good, though, because he has no reason, no founding for why he hates that his son is a skater other than that. just doesn't like it. And he continues to express that that's why he's like, I just don't like it.
00:24:12
Speaker
He even said that he is the one who introduced his son to skating. That's true. what the heck? He is determined to hate Brink no matter what he does because at the beginning, he's like, he's too happy.
00:24:25
Speaker
And then when Brink is exhausted from his jobs and skating and school and all that, he's like, he's miserable and tired and I wanted him to fall somewhere in the middle. Yep. I wanted to punch the television. Yeah.
00:24:36
Speaker
So the dad just is determined to dislike Brink and everything about his identity that makes him unique and fun and special. So i don't I don't really feel like he would set boundaries with him because it's not a boundary on I dislike skating. It's a boundary on anything that makes you smile. I don't like it.
00:24:52
Speaker
And that just made me so angry. The dad needs therapy. i think like I think honestly, we can just put a period on the discussion. like The dad needs therapy. Yes, he does.
00:25:03
Speaker
Yeah. And it they made it seem like because he's getting his job back, this is all going to go away. And I'm like, your job is a band-aid for some kind of much deeper issue. Yeah. Thank you. Yes. Yeah.
00:25:13
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Well, let's move on because this has been heavy. I think other just one-off things that I was just going to share briefly. um The ending had way too many climactic moments for me to grab a hold of any emotional tie.
00:25:27
Speaker
Like the climax of the movie was like six times at the end. Yeah. Yeah, I kept thinking the movie was over and it wasn't. Yes, the final songs felt so out of place. It was jarring.
00:25:38
Speaker
Yep. Keeping in theme with terrible adults and DCOMs, not only were the parents bad, but the the teachers were terrible. And the producer. Yeah, yeah.
00:25:49
Speaker
Horrible, horrible. Loved having the diversity of Gabriela being Peruvian. I feel like that wasn't as common in the 90s. Yeah, and I loved every discussion that came up about that. That was really fun. I agree. Yeah. She was really, really funny as a character.
00:26:01
Speaker
And that's it. That's all I got. So. Incredible. Do you want to hear what the rest of the world thought? I kind of do. I hope it's bad. But I actually feel like they're all going to be like, this is so great. I love speeding. I was going to say, prepare to be disappointed.
00:26:17
Speaker
So we head over to Rotten Tomatoes to look at what the rest of the world thought of this movie. And we have no tomato meter, which is the critic score because there were only four critic reviews.
00:26:28
Speaker
I pulled two for you. um The first one is from The Ringer and it says, Brink is a coming of age underdog story that succeeds through style despite featuring overly Y2K lingo and the peer pressure tropes that were baked into every early DCOM.
00:26:43
Speaker
but so true yep and then the second one said a standard issue wholesome teen conflict movie with a likable protagonist and some pretty impressive inline skating action but not a shred of anything original i really liked that shred joke i don't know if that was intentional but i thought it was funny i didn't even catch it nice and then the audience rating i would love for you to tell me what you think it is gabby I have no idea what it's going to be, but what it should be is in like the 40s or 50s.
00:27:15
Speaker
Okay. This was rated 75%.
00:27:19
Speaker
Oh, I mean, I did say the beginning I give it a C minus, but i I would like to take that back. It's a D for me after having my discussion with you. I've talked about it and i hate it more. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:27:32
Speaker
Yeah, people love this movie. um Most of the audience reviews were some variation of this is the best DCOM ever or this was my favorite to watch when I was a kid.
00:27:43
Speaker
I didn't poll any of those, but please know that was the majority of all of the reviews. Wow. It was a classic for some reason. And I think the skating.
00:27:54
Speaker
And if you watched it as a kid in the early 2000s, these things that we're upset about were not upsetting to you. at that time okay so i did pull let's see three of these um just some ones that i thought were interesting or funny so here we go this first one said it is a formulaic drama that makes 90s inline skating actually look cool it it was cool um that takes a lot of skill kind of made me want to skate and i actually don't know how to skate fun fact um This next one said, i was pretty much obsessed with this movie when I was a preteen. I would watch it with my sister whenever it came on Disney Channel. And Eric Von Detten is so dreamy.
00:28:35
Speaker
ah No, he wasn't. Not in this movie. With his floppy Maybe Princess Diaries. With his very floppy, greasy hair. It was very 90s. All right. Last one I have here.
00:28:46
Speaker
Andy Brink Brinker and his band of misfits brings that pure 90s ska nostalgia to a full boil. This movie brought back so many memories and really made me wish I could bust out my old inline skates and get out there.
00:29:00
Speaker
Sadly, the nostalgia wears off and I found myself actually paying attention to the film itself and it is not as amazing as I remembered it to be. I mean, it's a Disney Channel original movie, so I wouldn't expect too much, but I found myself laughing at some of the concepts.
00:29:15
Speaker
You don't
Cast Updates and Reflections
00:29:16
Speaker
want to be paid to skate? I thought that was the end goal, to make a living doing what you love. Telling young children that you should never be paid to do what you love is a great message, but why can't we have both?
00:29:29
Speaker
Interesting. All right, Gabby, will you tell me where they are now? Yes. Okay, this one is fun. So we're going to turn this podcast episode around and have some positivity. Yay. Let's do it.
00:29:39
Speaker
ah I will just start by saying that a lot of the characters, like the more side characters, like some of the other members of the skating gangs, they just haven't done very much or I couldn't find very much on them. So I just picked the people that I thought had interesting credits or interesting current lives.
00:29:55
Speaker
Here we go. Starting with Eric Von Detten, who played Andrew Brink Brinker. He had a massive number of acting credits in the 90s and early 2000s.
00:30:05
Speaker
Here are just a few that stood out to me. i will warn you, none of these are big roles or big deals. I just, these are the ones that just jumped off the page. and ah We already discovered he was Josh Bryant in Princess Diaries, which he yeah is very well known for.
00:30:21
Speaker
Where his hair was also equally floppy, but he was older and a little bit more handsome. And his voice was much deeper. Speaking of his voice, I don't know if you would have recognized this, but he voiced Sid in Toy Story.
00:30:35
Speaker
you What? No. Yeah. I don't like it. i don't like it. Oh, no. Well, he also came back for Toy Story 3 and reprised his role when Sid gets his little cameo as the trash can guy.
00:30:49
Speaker
i didn't. I don't like it. like oh It makes him 25% less attractive. Interesting. Okay, what about this? He was additional voices in Hercules. That's kind of funny.
00:31:00
Speaker
Nailed it. Love it. He also was Flint in Tarzan, which is the friend gorilla that's like, stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. That's him. What?
00:31:11
Speaker
Guys, Tarzan's my favorite Disney movie. Oh, I'm back on board. Okay. Eric, I see you. yeah Okay, okay. And finally, my absolute favorite. He played Chan in a single episode of Avatar The Last Airbender, the episode The Beach.
00:31:25
Speaker
He's the one that's like, we're Chan and Ron John. oh my gosh. This is... What a roller coaster of credits, my guy I know. And like I said, none of those are like his big deal credits. But I was like, this is what I care about.
00:31:38
Speaker
Yeah, that's fun. Is he still acting? No. So he has largely stepped away from the limelight. Since 2018, he's worked for Rosland Capital, a precious metals asset management firm.
00:31:52
Speaker
Okay. Whatever that means. Okay, my guy. Yes, but he did get married also in 2018 to a woman named Angela who is a Taiwanese American real estate agent and she is stunningly gorgeous.
00:32:07
Speaker
Like on his Instagram, I was like, this woman is unreal and they have three children together. Is he still handsome? ah He's fine. I didn't think he that handsome back then. He's fine. Okay.
00:32:20
Speaker
Moving on to Christina Vidal, who played Gabriela. And I would just like to point out that Gabriela's name, even though she's apparently from Peru, is the Italian spelling of Gabriela with two L's. If you're Hispanic, it should be one L. Otherwise, it's Gabbie-a-ja.
00:32:37
Speaker
Shouldn't laugh at that, but that was quite funny. It's hilarious. That's what people think my name is on my husband's side of the family. Anyways, I married a Hispanic, guys. Moving on.
00:32:48
Speaker
So you may recognize Christina from one of her more well-known roles in Freaky Friday, where she played Anna's friend Maddie. They were in the band together. i think it's been too long since I've seen that movie because I do not recall.
00:33:01
Speaker
Okay. Well, Anna has like two friends in that movie and it's very obvious which one she is. But she will also be reprising her role in the upcoming Freakier Friday, the Freaky Friday sequel, which is coming out this August.
00:33:14
Speaker
I don't know what she's going to do in that, but she'll be coming back. All right. So she has number of other acting credits, but nothing big that I recognized. um She was briefly in a band called Gemstone.
00:33:26
Speaker
She had a kind of like a minor musical career that never really took off, but she was presented with the opportunity to be the lead singer for the Pussycat Dolls. But she said no because she was uninterested in the group's image.
00:33:38
Speaker
Maybe she didn't want to sell out, Gabby. Yeah, maybe. oh my gosh. Her Instagram bio, though, was fun. It says, that one actor from your favorite childhood show, because a lot of her credits are like similar to this, where she made an appearance in an early nostalgic film.
00:33:55
Speaker
Cute. Okay. Also kind of interesting, in 2016, she married a guy named Marcus Mitchell, who apparently is very famous from Dr. Odyssey. Have you heard of him? and No, I've heard of the show, but I don't know anything other than I've heard the name.
00:34:09
Speaker
Okay, well, he's in that and he's kind of a big deal. They're married. They are adorable on social media. He loves and supports her so much. And they also have three children together. All the babies.
00:34:20
Speaker
Okay, and then this is my last like full one, but then I have some honorable mentions. Okay. Sam Horrigan, who played bad guy Val, who looks like Eric, I think, from Boy Meets World. From Boy Meets World. He kind of does.
00:34:34
Speaker
Okay. I kept trying to figure out who he looked like and it's that. guy They're not the same guy, obviously, but it's mainly the hair. Yeah, for sure. Well, he's kind of got the weird eyebrow thing going on too.
00:34:46
Speaker
Not the weird eyebrow. That's like what Eric's known for.
00:34:53
Speaker
okay Anyways, he is most known for playing Spike in Little Giants, which was obviously way before this movie. His last acting credit was in one episode of Modern Family in 2016.
00:35:06
Speaker
Honestly, i couldn't find much on him, but I thought this was kind of fun. He, along with several other castmates from this movie specifically, are all very active on social media. They love to interact with their fans about their old roles and the nostalgia, and um they also like to interact with each other.
00:35:23
Speaker
So, like, there was a fun back and forth between him and the guy who played Boomer about, like, an action figure of him that he found recently. Incredible. Yeah. And also just because I'm a Christian, I like to point this out. Many of them, like at least five of the people I looked up are really strong Christians and they use their platforms on Instagram to share about their faith.
00:35:44
Speaker
So that's, I think, pretty cool. That is cool. Okay. So now I have some honorable mentions. I don't have a lot on these people, but just things I needed to point out. Walter Jones, who played Boomer, the guy that got hurt at the beginning from the X-Blades team, he was the original Black Power Ranger Zack.
00:36:01
Speaker
And that's like his big deal thing. What? Yeah. Good for him. Yeah. It's all over his Instagram. That's like what he is known for. So that's kind of cool.
00:36:12
Speaker
Love it And then Katie Volding, we already kind of mentioned this. She played little sister Katie Brinker. She also was the little sister Angie in Smart House. Yes, she was. In case you forgot from way back in episode five when we did Smart House, one of my favorites, she retired from acting years ago and now runs a tattoo shop in upstate New York.
00:36:34
Speaker
Love it. Very cool. And finally, this is so crazy. This guy I'm ready. Tom Virtue, who played their science teacher. He was in this room for exactly three seconds.
00:36:47
Speaker
But I was like, oh, that's that guy. yeah. Oh, yeah. He has... been in a billion and one projects mostly with small roles like this one and i'm just gonna read you like a small percentage of the things that he's been in again these are mostly roles where he like barely shows up he was in under wraps which we've seen on this podcast he's the voice of ruben and joseph king of dreams which is the animated film love it yeah s sabrina the teenage witch the fresh prince bel-air malcolm in the middle
00:37:22
Speaker
That's so Raven. Desperate housewives. Charmed. Kicking and Screaming, Drake and Josh, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, and Iron Man 3. And hundreds more. has over 230 acting credits on IMDb. Yeah.
00:37:36
Speaker
Man's busy. And it's all like one episode, one episode, one episode, one episode. And you know what? That's the kind of career we should all be striving for. Like, don't want to be big and famous. I just want to do three lines in ah two movies a year.
00:37:52
Speaker
That's all. Yeah. Yeah, and we will see him again three more times on this podcast. So we've already seen him in This and Under Wraps. We'll see him again in Miracle in Lane 2, which is an early one.
00:38:04
Speaker
We'll see him in Read It and Weep, which is one of my favorites. do Do you like that movie? but well and yeah I've seen it lots of times. Let's say that.
00:38:15
Speaker
Okay. Okay. And then also he's the dad in Even Stevens, one of his only roles that's reoccurring. So we'll see him in the Even Stevens movie. Yes, that was absolutely what I recognized him from. i Well, like I've seen the other things you've said and I know that he's been in a lot of things, but I was like, that's the dad from Even Stevens.
00:38:32
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I saw his like side profile. I was like, oh, wait, that guy. What do I know him from? Turns out everything. Oh, I heard his voice. Because you hear his voice before he shows up on screen. And I was like, even Steven's dad.
00:38:47
Speaker
Yep, yep. It was just what a wild ride. So that's where they all are now. Natalie, what are we going to watch next week? Yes, let's let's leave brink exclamation point in the past.
00:39:00
Speaker
that was a That's it for me. That's fine. So um if you are new here, we have a giant list of every DCOM ever made and we use a random number generator to figure out what we will be watching for the next episode.
00:39:13
Speaker
Gabby, are you excited? Because i I'm nervous. Yeah. I'm nervous. Okay, I'm not going to lie. I was looking over our list to see like what we still have to watch. And there were so many that made me so happy. b And I was like, why did we have to watch Brink and Underage Magic or whatever it was called? Underage. Sorry.
00:39:34
Speaker
What is it called? Oh, upside down magic. Like, why am I wasting my nights with this crap when we still have read it and weep.
00:39:46
Speaker
ah And cowbells and things I actually like. We've lost Natalie. I'm sorry, I can't with underage magic.
00:39:58
Speaker
I'm so out of left field. I couldn't remember. I'm so Okay. um Okay.
00:40:09
Speaker
Are you ready? Okay. Okay. Yes, I'm ready. Okay. Okay. I don't know if you know this one, but this is actually, this is one that I love. Okay.
00:40:20
Speaker
This is from 2005. Now you see it. I've heard of this one. i was actually very excited to watch this. Yes. This is, i my sister and I, Megan, who you all know from the Teen Beach movie episode, she and i watched this ah a lot as a kid.
00:40:37
Speaker
I don't remember exactly all the details, but I remember that I loved it. Okay, I'm assuming it has to do with magic, or am I just thinking that because of Now You See Me, the adult movie?
00:40:48
Speaker
Yeah, so this is Now You See It, but it does have to do with magic. I feel like there's some type of magic competition or something like that. It has the guy from Flight 29 down and one of the Allie and AJ sisters, but I don't know which one.
00:41:04
Speaker
Ooh, okay. Well, I'm invested in this. It sounds like it'll be good. i kind of wish it was one I've seen before, but maybe next week. Maybe I'll rig it since I get to pick next week.
00:41:16
Speaker
It's Allie. It's Allie from Allie and AJ. I was like, it's one of them. i don't know which one. Is she the one that dated Joe Jonas? I think she is. One of them dated Joe Jonas? Oh, oh girl.
00:41:27
Speaker
And you better do your research for next week because we're all going to want hear about him. Yep. Yep. One of them dated Joe Jonas and was his first kiss. It's the, it's the younger one with the straight hair. Okay, I think Allie's the older one.
00:41:39
Speaker
Okay, then maybe it was AJ. But you should, regardless, look that up for next week because should talk it. I'm very curious. I'm going to do that research literally right now. Yep.
00:41:50
Speaker
Thank you guys so much for hanging out with us this week. Go watch Now You See It. You will not regret it. Great movie on Disney+. plus And we will see you in two weeks. All right, see you guys in two weeks. Bye. Bye.
00:42:01
Speaker
Thank you all so much for listening to this episode of Once Upon a DCOM. Like what you just heard? Leave us a rating and review. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Also follow us on Instagram and TikTok at onceuponadcom.podcast and share this podcast with your Disney-loving friends.
00:42:15
Speaker
A big thanks to Gabby for editing this whole podcast together. Thanks, Fran. Plus, shout out to Kaori for sweetening the audio on this track. And don't forget to subscribe because there's always a new episode on the way.
00:42:25
Speaker
This is Gabriela. And Natalie. Signing off with a sprinkle of pixie dust. And a whole lot of nostalgia.