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Aly Michalka, Mind Tricks & Peak Disney Channel Energy | Episode 35: Now You See It…
38 Plays2 months ago
Abracadabra and Alakazam—it’s magic week on the pod! We’re diving into the world of reality TV and sleight of hand with Disney Channel’s Now You See It… 🪄🎩
We’re talking:
– Aly & AJ nostalgia
– Does this movie actually make sense?
– Power imbalances in the entertainment industry
– And yes… how hot Johnny Pacar was (and still is)
✨ All that and more in this magical episode! ✨
Now You See It… stars Aly Michalka, Johnny Pacar, Frank Langella, and Chris Olivero—and it’s streaming 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
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Transcript
Introduction: Mentalists, Magicians, and Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Natalie, have you ever seen a magician or a mentalist in person? um Like a real one. Okay, short answer is no. Long answer is what's a mentalist?
00:00:12
Speaker
I guess this is unrelated to Now You See It, but it is related to the fantastic film Now You See Me, where there's a mentalist in that. um A mentalist is somebody who like their act is that they can read minds, basically, but it's actually a lot of science.
00:00:29
Speaker
So all you listeners, if you happen to be in Vegas anytime soon, go see Colin Cloud. He's a phenomenal mentalist, and I saw him live a few months ago, and it changed my worldview.
00:00:42
Speaker
Oh, it's so amazing. I don't know how they do it. You know, I went to Vegas once, but I was like seven and we just went to Eminem World and saw the Blue Men group. And that's all I remember.
00:00:53
Speaker
That's the way to do it. You can do that at any age. Vegas is rough. I don't like it. But The Mentalist was phenomenal. Highly recommend. Oh.
00:01:05
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.
00:01:25
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to Once Upon a DCOM, the podcast all about your favorite Disney Channel original
Debating 'Now You See It': Nostalgia vs. Critique
00:01:31
Speaker
movies. My name is Natalie and this is my co-host Gabby. How are you? I'm so great.
00:01:36
Speaker
i love magic yeah Today we are talking about one of my childhood favorites and honestly like a sleeper cell in the DCOM universe. Now you see it. Dot dot dot.
00:01:47
Speaker
Yeah. um It's like one of those movies that doesn't really appear in and anyone's favorites list, but then when you mention it in a conversation with a millennial, people's eyes light up. People of our generation love this one.
00:01:59
Speaker
Yeah, I've noticed that. I don't know if I agree with them. Oh, shut your mouth right now. Shut your mouth right now. Maybe it's because I don't have the nostalgia because seen don't need nostalgia to understand how incredible this film is.
00:02:17
Speaker
Oh, don't even. Don't even. Oh, we're going to get in a fight in this episode. All right. So before we dive into the recap of this film and talk about where these stars are now, I'm going to give y'all some background info. Are you prepared, Gabby?
00:02:30
Speaker
Yes, I am still very excited to hear more about this movie. I think I need to open my mind to it. So tell me things. Of course. Okay. So now you see it dot dot dot. That is it's part of the title. So I have to add it.
00:02:43
Speaker
Oh, is that – I was like, why does she keep saying that? Because it's it's Now You See It dot dot dot is the title. It's like brink exclamation point. Okay. Okay. Carry on. Any whom, this movie premiered on Disney Channel January 14th, 2005. The teen pop duo Allie and AJ sang a cover of the song Do You Believe It Magic for the movie and that plays both in the actual movie and during the credits, which I hope you all watched through the credits because like, come on, that song iconic.
00:03:11
Speaker
It is also constantly played by me on Spotify to this day. It's a banger. You're keeping it alive on Spotify. I i am keeping it alive on Spotify. Speaking of Allie and AJ, this was the very same Allie's acting debut.
00:03:27
Speaker
And you can tell. You can tell. Oh, yeah, you can. I just didn't know this was her first movie. Yeah, this is our very first thing. um a One more fun fact for The Road.
00:03:38
Speaker
A huge portion of this movie was actually filmed in an abandoned bank in New Orleans. Random. But we love it. So cool. I mean, yeah, I could kind of see that. Probably a lot of the mansion, right?
00:03:51
Speaker
Yeah, right? You think? Mm-hmm. It tracks me. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. All right, Gabby, will you please lead us through this recap? Of course I will. There's a lot of details, so I hope you guys can keep up. Here we go.
Plot Recap and Character Introduction
00:04:03
Speaker
We open on a documentary-style narration from Allison, which I think is ironic because her real name is Allie, which is short for Allison. Anywho. She is an aspiring teen producer and a champion puzzle solver, self-proclaimed, and she is recounting a recent mysterious incident involving young magicians.
00:04:22
Speaker
So Allison tells us how she landed her big break when she was chosen to produce a behind-the-scenes documentary following a nationwide reality show competition. If you didn't understand that, there's this reality show. The main draw is it's entirely filmed, produced, and starred in by kids.
00:04:37
Speaker
Their goal is to find the best young magician in the nation, and she has been chosen to produce a behind-the-scenes featurette about this show. Okay, we're tracking. Moving on. It's confusing, but, like, you you know, you get it.
00:04:50
Speaker
It's kids. get it. It's easier to watch than to hear a recap of, but I just wanted everyone to understand. Yeah. Okay, so day one, Allison goes in. She's a bit of a know-it-all. People don't love her, but you can tell she's very passionate about what she does.
00:05:03
Speaker
She meets her team, including Cedric, her kid camera producer, and Paul, their adult helper, because of course they need an adult helper. And three of them set out to- Yeah, especially Cedric. He looked like he might be 13 or something.
00:05:19
Speaker
He was very That child was negative eight.
00:05:24
Speaker
He was a fetus still. Yeah. The little Ron Weasley kid, he was still a fetus. Yep, yep, yep. So Allison and her team set out to audition the best kid magician contestants in their area.
00:05:37
Speaker
Unfortunately, the first several auditions go horribly, with no one showing any real promise or talent, until they meet Danny. At first, Danny seems to be another failure, but then he marvels them with an unexpected trick making doves come out of the trunk of their car, and he joins their team.
00:05:54
Speaker
So Danny, Allison, Cedric, and Paul, along with two other teams, are shuttled to the Magic Mansion, a famous and secretive place where all magicians' tricks are stored and practiced.
00:06:06
Speaker
They are greeted by a man named Mystic Max. He's a world-famous magician who will be hosting the show. He tells the finalists that each team will face three challenges in which the magicians will get to grow in and show off their skills, and the rest of the crew will follow their progress.
00:06:22
Speaker
But as Allison documents Danny's journey through the competition, she begins to suspect that his powers might not just be stage tricks, but something unusual. So Danny's magic is incredible, unexplainable, and despite being entertaining, his tricks never seem to go as he planned.
00:06:40
Speaker
So it's very odd. You don't really know what's up with this guy. Along the way, Allison, Cedric, and Danny discover a hidden library in the mansion where Danny becomes obsessed with researching magic.
00:06:51
Speaker
Allison tries to befriend Danny and riddle out what's really going on with him, but he is incredibly mysterious and secretive about his abilities. And incredibly moody. I feel like that's a big part of it.
00:07:03
Speaker
Yeah. Important to note. He's a teenager. Like a really, really teenager. But 100. He's very moody. Yeah. ah Very moody. He's like, get off my case. Leave me alone. i like my privacy. And you're like, okay, dude, maybe take a breath.
00:07:18
Speaker
It's interesting because he seemed really excited, or at least his parents led us to believe he's like really excited about the competition, but then he doesn't seem to care or want to be there basically the whole time he's there.
00:07:29
Speaker
Well, we find out why though. Yes, we do, but I'm not there yet. um I'm so sorry. Please continue. That's okay. ah So after the second challenge, when Danny's magic takes an unexpected turn, he is put on the spot and given an ultimatum to either give up how he did the trick or admit that his magic is real and he's a wizard with supernatural abilities. These are his two options presented to him.
00:07:54
Speaker
And so to help smooth matters over, Max, again, the magician who's hosting the show, He decides to have Danny analyzed by the Worldwide Skeptics Society, which is a group of distinguished experts mastered in debunking paranormal pretenders, or basically people claiming to be really magical.
00:08:15
Speaker
They figure out that they're not.
Danny's Powers and Max's Manipulation Plot
00:08:17
Speaker
It's this group of, like, two other men and a woman who is a real psychic, because she's, like, the counter to them. She believes in it all.
00:08:27
Speaker
This is who he's decided is going to determine if Danny's a real ah wizard or not. Yeah. Which, by the way, nobody believes he's a real wizard. They're just like, you are so, like, your tricks are unexplainable. So we're going to, know. Well, there's one guy who calls him out. The blonde guy is like, you're magic for real, for real. And then that's when Max is like, I can analyze this. Even he is like, I don't know how you do this. So this has to be the explanation. Everyone's like, you're crazy.
00:08:55
Speaker
Right, right, right. Yeah. So Danny kind of starts to freak out, and in his vulnerability, he shares with Allison his entire backstory and how since he was 13 years old, strange things have been happening to him that he can't explain.
00:09:08
Speaker
He tells her that he came to the mansion in the hopes of finding some answers, which is why he's been researching so much. Allison tells him that she doesn't really understand it all, but she knows what it's like to feel like an outsider, and that he should talk to the society in the hopes that they can help him understand and control whatever is happening.
00:09:25
Speaker
So basically, he just never got his Hogwarts letter is what I'm hearing here. Sure. At the meeting, Danny attempts to prove to the group that he is really able to do magic by levitating in his chair.
00:09:36
Speaker
Everyone seems to be kind of convinced, except for Max, who shows that the chair is really a mechanical device that Danny must have stolen out of the basement to mislead everyone. This hurts Allison deeply as she really believed Danny was magical now, and she thinks that he's a trickster, even towards her, despite his claims that he wasn't lying and that Max must have set him up.
00:09:58
Speaker
Later that night, Allison is investigating Danny's tricks with Cedric, they're reviewing footage together, and they discover there's no way all of his tricks could have been explained with science, so he must have been telling the truth about being really magical.
00:10:11
Speaker
Allison goes to find Danny and sees him in a secret meeting with Max. She overhears Max tell Danny that they are both what he calls true wizards, an incredibly rare magical sorcerer that only comes around once or twice a generation, and he had to make it look like Danny was a talented magician to help keep the secret.
00:10:30
Speaker
Danny is concerned that he can't control his abilities, and Max offers to train him the same way that he had been trained by a previous great magician named Antonio de Milo. He gives Danny a magical ring that will suppress his powers until he can properly control them.
00:10:44
Speaker
After Danny leaves, Allison overhears Max talking with their other teammate, Paul, and Max tells him that so long as Danny keeps the ring on his finger, Max can absorb all of Danny's power.
00:10:55
Speaker
Dump, dump, dump. Max is the bad guy. Max is the bad guy. and he's just trying to steal Danny's power. He also notes that this plan will work because Danny won't be able to get the ring off himself. Someone else would have to do it.
00:11:10
Speaker
After this, Allison tries desperately to warn Danny about the ring and Max's true intentions, but she continues to have her efforts thwarted. Max even gets her kicked out of the program, claiming that the stress of the show must have taken a toll on her mental health and she gets sent home.
00:11:25
Speaker
On her way back home, she decides to do some research on Max, and she discovers that in the past, his mentor, quote mentor, Antonio DeMilo, was actually killed in a freak accident during a live show where one of his props fell on his head and crushed him.
00:11:42
Speaker
horrible. Allison sees that he was wearing the same ring as Danny, and she concludes that Max is probably planning to bring Danny to the same fate later that night in the final challenge of the competition during another live show.
00:11:56
Speaker
Allison rushes back to warn Danny, but it's no use. Danny doesn't believe her claims, and he is too preoccupied with how great he's been feeling now that the fear of losing control of his powers has been lifted from him.
00:12:08
Speaker
So during the performance, Max promises Danny that he will do all the magic and Danny can just act the part of the showman. But Max does attempt the same murderous trick on Danny that he did on DeMilo.
00:12:19
Speaker
And Danny narrowly gets away from being crushed by a thousand pound weight. After realizing that Allison had been right, he attempts to get the ring off his finger, but as we noted earlier, he can't remove it himself.
00:12:31
Speaker
Uh-oh. What's gonna happen? Allison cleverly sneaks herself into the show by acting as Danny's assistant, and she is able to remove the ring just before Max can make another attempt to take Danny's life.
00:12:44
Speaker
In the end, Danny is able to force the ring onto Max's finger, making it all look like part of the show, and Max disappears. We cut back to Allison narrating the events from her room because remember this whole thing is her like making a documentary about what happened kind of.
00:13:02
Speaker
So she's back in her room and she's talking to us and she says that since that night no one has been able to find Max. Danny went into hiding and he's been training to hone his skills and control of his powers.
00:13:13
Speaker
She claims that she has no idea where he is, but the final scene shows Danny teleporting Allison to an outdoor park where they sit on a bench and laugh together, seeming to be a couple now?
00:13:24
Speaker
i know, they're sitting real close, his arms are around her You're like, ooh. And honestly, guess that's kind of it. That's Now You See It, maybe?
00:13:35
Speaker
It yeah they've really confused me at the end there. Listen, it was the perfect setup for a sequel. There should have been a sequel called Now You Don't. Yes.
00:13:45
Speaker
The dot, dot, dots. Like, come on. they're oh I would kill. I would kill for a sequel. In my opinion, they didn't earn the sequel. Okay, but that's rude. they set it up that it needed one.
00:13:59
Speaker
who This is going to be our Cheetah Girls episode all over again. How dare you? Oh, no. How dare you? I absolutely love this movie.
00:14:10
Speaker
I loved this as a kid. love it now. I thought it was fantastic. Absolutely stood the test of time. i had a wonderful time. i was completely engaged.
00:14:20
Speaker
Love this movie. Wow. Did you understand this movie? Oh, yeah. No, I was totally tracking. I got everything. Okay. Okay.
Diverging Opinions: Critique and Praise of 'Now You See It'
00:14:31
Speaker
Okay. My initial thoughts were that the opening immediately hooked me. Though it was dramatic and Ali's acting left much to be desired, yeah I was really hooked at the beginning.
00:14:43
Speaker
I was hooked all the way until probably close to the ending. But there was so many mismatched motivations that I truly couldn't follow who wanted what. Like, I knew...
00:14:59
Speaker
logically what the plot was doing, that it was like, okay, Dany is a wizard, doesn't really know what to do, trying to figure out answers. Max doesn't want his powers to be revealed. Max wants to steal his powers. So all this is happening.
00:15:12
Speaker
But when you're watching it and you don't really know what's going on, the character motivations make literally no sense for why they're doing the things that they're doing. Like, for instance, Max, he doesn't want it to be revealed that Dany has real magical powers.
00:15:27
Speaker
Why are you inviting him to this very public competition? There are so many other ways that you can befriend him and get his powers. Two, nobody thinks he's actually a wizard, as Natalie said, except for that one guy.
00:15:39
Speaker
So why is he making it this big deal like, let's have you tested and then setting it up to look like Danny's a wizard and then framing it to make it look like he's lying to everybody? I'm like, dude, there are so many layers and it was so unnecessary.
00:15:56
Speaker
Like, I guess the reason was that he was trying to get rid of Allison, but he didn't even know that they had had this connection about the magic. So I'm just like, Max's motivations make literally zero sense to me. He could get caught i'm here so easily. Don't worry. I'm here to answer your questions. Okay. so So he has to invite him to this competition because he suspects that this is real magic, but he doesn't know. he has to get in the same room with this kid and he has to test him.
00:16:26
Speaker
So after the first trial, he's like, yeah, I'm feeling it. This kid's a real magician. Right. So that's step one. He has to get him there. Step two is that he has to make sure he has to like see what this kid is really like.
00:16:41
Speaker
So he needs to see if this kid's going to be like, I have magic and I'm going to tell everyone. Or if he's going to be like, I don't know what's happening to me. I need help so that he can figure out how to appropriately manipulate him.
00:16:52
Speaker
So that's the in-person element. And then why he's making it seem like it's fake after like trying to like disprove him or whatever, it's manipulation. It's gaslighting.
00:17:03
Speaker
It's intentional like undermining and exploitation in order to make sure that nobody else trusts him or thinks well of him except for Max.
00:17:15
Speaker
And so he's isolating Danny so that he can only trust Max. Okay, I just feel like all of that, unnecessary.
00:17:25
Speaker
Find the kid in his home or at wherever he's doing magic and be like, I noticed something special in you. I'd like to train you. And then like get to know him. Like why are you doing this very public, very large competition?
00:17:39
Speaker
Why is he trying to murder him publicly Like in such an obvious way, the weight he could have gotten away with, making him float 50 feet in the air and then dropping him while he's on stage and everyone can see what's happening.
00:17:55
Speaker
No one's going to be like, I don't think that guy was involved. This was a trick wrong. wrong I disagree with you. you're You're thinking too much that this person has pure intentions. You're thinking of Max like a Dumbledore.
00:18:07
Speaker
Max is not Dumbledore. I'm thinking of Max as someone who should be clever enough to get away with this. This is a DCOM, Gabriella. This is a DCOM. Oh, go on. I cut you off.
00:18:18
Speaker
No, no. i was just going to say, like, I specifically really love the reason that Max does all these things because it's this, like, this theme of the abuse of power and, like, authority figures in an entertainment environment.
00:18:36
Speaker
And, like, I don't know if, like, this was an intentional contrast, but, like, you know Max seems to be taking Danny under his wing and helping him, but then we learn it's all you know self-serving and manipulative.
00:18:49
Speaker
He's literally like grooming Danny in order to take his power. And like it's very reflective of very real and very troubling pattern that exists in the entertainment industry as a whole. And like I don't know. so I really enjoyed seeing this deep theme of like this this gaslighting, this, you know, influential figures like holding the key to these opportunities to success for young talent and like how that can be weaponized if wielded by the wrong people.
00:19:25
Speaker
And again, i don't know if they meant to draw that parallel, but like it's there. And that is honestly one of the reasons that I loved this movie as an adult because it's like really, really interesting to watch.
00:19:37
Speaker
h I see what you're saying and I can appreciate what you're saying for sure. It's a good point. I still didn't enjoy it because it was too confusing along the way. like All of that was not clear to me from the onset. It just felt very disjointed.
00:19:55
Speaker
I think also they took such a long time to set up Danny as a character that the payoff felt weak to me. So, okay, I'll go in a different direction. I think you're right that maybe Max's intentions, whether or not it was intentional, are a great reflection of the abuse of power. I still feel like it felt super disjointed. And I think the reason is because they spent so much time setting up Danny And i really wanted his character to have an interesting backstory. And it just felt so weak to me that he was like, I've always had magical powers and I don't know how to control them. I almost like I did not want real magic being introduced. This is a movie about...
00:20:33
Speaker
like magic trick so i wanted this to be like the greatest magic trick like in now you see me there's no real magic but or is you feel like it or is there and that's kind of what i wanted from this and i was like oh you're just a udm like you're just how dare you compare this movie to under eight what is it underage underground see now you're calling it underage mess what is it called Under... Upside Down.
00:20:59
Speaker
Upside Down Magic. The worst movie ever made by Disney. I'm not comparing this movie to that. was just joking that maybe that's what Danny is. I'm just saying... I didn't like that he was genuinely magical.
00:21:10
Speaker
And then it's just like, oh, I'm just an evil wizard trying to steal your power. That just felt so out of left field in a movie about like magic tricks. I wanted to see Danny like thrive in the competition and like actually get away with some cool stuff. And instead he just became this like super victim. And then Ali's character felt odd to me.
00:21:32
Speaker
like just strange overall and she was only there to really be like like at first an antagonistic force to danny and then second like his love interest which also was a weird change and and then final thing was just like the way it ended the way that that danny like flew superman style at max and you don't even know what happened and max just disappears i was like what and then he's wearing a weird hat in the end scene it's a magic wizard and i was just like it's a top hat that's what magicians wear feel like in night at the museum too when the guy's like there's just too much going on here just simplify
00:22:15
Speaker
I disagree with all of it. That's fair. i will give you the things you said about Max. I 100% agree you're right about all of that. I didn't get there on my own, though, and I don't think it's strong enough because I didn't.
00:22:26
Speaker
I was just like, you're just an evil wizard? That's so lame, you know? man. And also, like, i do – okay. I will give you a piece of information about me that affects how I feel about this movie. Okay.
00:22:41
Speaker
Okay. However, independently, I still think it's a good movie. But I was deeply in love with the actor who played Danny in this movie. Ah, there it is. So as kid, that's why. also, like, I'm still in love with him as an adult. So, like, that's part of it. Yeah. However, I do think it's a fantastic movie. I love the angst.
00:23:04
Speaker
I love the enemies to friends to lovers trajectory. i love the power imbalance. I love that you're like, oh, these tricks are so fun. he He's bad at magic, but he's like really good at magic. Then you're like, oh, it's real magic. Yeah.
00:23:21
Speaker
The twist that was twisted when we were little kids and saw this. Oh, wild. I mean, that's fair. I'll give you all of your love for it. Like, that's, I'll just shut up.
00:23:33
Speaker
You enjoy it. I'm sorry. also, can we talk real quick about, like, the whole reality TV element? Like, the found footage feel that makes it, like, yeah feel really real and fun?
00:23:47
Speaker
That is fun. And that's what I mean. At the beginning, I was hooked. I was very excited for where this movie was going to go. I just thought it was going such a different direction. And all of that got left behind once we're introduced to this concept of real magic.
00:24:00
Speaker
But not really. That's what I meant before. There's so much setup of like, it's a documentary. And then it's like, now we have wizards and there's nothing to do with the documentary anymore. It's just about Allie trying to figure it out.
00:24:11
Speaker
But that's not necessarily true because there's still found footage elements and stuff. there's There's moments where Danny literally looks at the camera and says something or like they're talking about how to portray themselves on camera.
00:24:23
Speaker
So like they have moments of that. Yeah. And i really I really like the element being added in of like the constant cameras and like the the presence of an audience always watching you because I feel like that affects the characters and how they act.
00:24:40
Speaker
Yeah. You know, Danny is a very closed off person and that's like times a hundred when he's constantly on camera. And then Allie, Allison, is very much like ah trying to show off and like prove herself and be a people pleaser and be a know-it-all. And that like gets ramped up to a thousand when the cameras are on. And I just think like, I don't know, it's a really good ah fiction version of what reality TV actually does to people who are involved in reality TV.
00:25:11
Speaker
That's totally fair. And I do feel like that ah shows one really positive thing about the movie, which is that they introduced this vault that the kids find at the beginning. And that's where all of the deep, meaningful conversations happen between Danny and Allison because that's where there's no cameras. When cameras are And they're there. Yeah. yeah So that that does actually play into it really well that they have a safe space.
00:25:32
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I liked it. I didn't really get why Allison was doing a documentary as her like narration at the beginning and end. um I guess because like Danny wanted her to because it says that like the tapes all showed up in her house.
00:25:48
Speaker
But I wish that they had maybe just a little bit fleshed out like what the purpose – was it for school? Was it just for her own entertainment? That's what I'm guessing was like her own joy. But I wanted to see more of why she was making this final documentary and like where it went.
00:26:03
Speaker
you know I mean, put it up on YouTube is what I'm saying and expose magic to the world. I think that will go over so well in the sequel. Yeah, it needed a sequel because it can't stand alone, in my opinion.
00:26:17
Speaker
That's fair. I will agree with that. And you and I will be funding it. So everyone, please leave a rating a review on this podcast so we can get some sponsorships up in here and we can make Now You See Me 2, Now You Don't.
00:26:30
Speaker
All right. I think it's time to transition into public opinion. I'm so ready. And if the world hated this movie, I'm going to throw something and you will hear it on mic. Well.
00:26:44
Speaker
Don't even. don't know how you're going to feel about it. Okay. I'm already aware. i ah how Guys, you all love this movie. Don't pretend. It's not as bad as you might be thinking, but it's not good either. If it's lower than 70%, I'm i'm mad Okay, you're mad.
00:27:02
Speaker
I'll just... We'll put that there. Anyways, so we always head over to Rotten Tomatoes to check out the Tomatometer and the Popcorn Meter. Our Tomatometer comes from the critics' reviews, and then the Popcorn Meter is what the audience thought.
00:27:15
Speaker
So to have a Tomatometer, you need at least five critics' reviews. This movie only had one, and it was from Common Sense Media. So it was more of like an overview than an opinion. Yeah, we don't like Common Sense Media.
00:27:27
Speaker
Yeah, we're going to skip that. No Tomatometer, sorry. Popcorn meter. Are you ready? I'm not. 63%. Ugh, you know, it's fine.
00:27:39
Speaker
It's wrong, but it's fine. Well, let's hear what the people thought. So there were, this will make you happy, mostly positive reviews. and Because it's a great movie.
00:27:51
Speaker
And lots and lots and lots of comments about how hot Danny's actor is. Because he is. Almost every comment. m And if you all would like to see what he looks like now, please head to our Instagram because we will be doing oh ah Where Are They Now?
00:28:09
Speaker
pictures reveal. So excited about that. All right. So our first reviewer says, performances, pacing, storytelling, dialogue, and characters, this film manages to blend it all while building the world and fleshing out the overall narrative.
Reviews and Cast Updates
00:28:24
Speaker
This decom is one of the most well-constructed from the batch. I agree. Gabriella disagrees, but I agree.
00:28:35
Speaker
Okay, next review. started out engaging with some energy, but despite trying out different styles, it's still an average DCOM with the same IQ on predictability and simplicity and behavior.
00:28:46
Speaker
So the result of this, quote, magic trick was a dud when it was at a DCOM level so kids can be amazed by the TV effects. Although it's enjoyable for everyone else if they like what Disney Channel can offer.
00:28:59
Speaker
Boo. I feel like basically what they were trying to say is it's good if you like DCOMs. It's good if you don't, so. All right.
00:29:10
Speaker
Next review. A somewhat interesting Disney movie that tries to be edgy and different. The characters were all right, but not great. And I could just not stand Allison's character.
00:29:20
Speaker
It was too irritating. Tricks are pretty good, but you can do a lot with editing. Sure. Sure. To which I'm like, you mean when he flies through the air? Of course that's editing. That's not magic trick.
00:29:32
Speaker
but's It's magic. I think he's talking about the doves coming out of the car. Magic. Okay, last review. And again, I want to remind you guys, most of them were positive, but they were like one sentence that was like, love this movie. It's my entire childhood.
00:29:46
Speaker
This movie is perfection. It needs a sequel. Like those are the positive ones. So that's why I pulled the more, the longer, more sophisticated negative ones. Okay. I just want to say this review is from 2020. So five years ago, and the movie came out in 2005.
00:29:59
Speaker
So 15 years prior, just keep that in mind as we listen to this review. ah right Pretty good, entertaining Disney Channel original movie. Out of all the Disney Channel movies I've seen lately, this has been the best of them.
00:30:12
Speaker
Allie, whatever her last name is, was ah amazing. And this is exactly how she was in Phil of the Future, which is a huge positive. She's going to have a huge career, hopefully. Dude, it's been 15 years since this movie.
00:30:26
Speaker
What do mean she's going to have a huge career, hopefully? And she did have a huge career. don't know. I just found that so stupid. ah had to bring it up on the podcast. Well, okay, sure.
00:30:38
Speaker
Also, she was way better on Phil of the Future than she was in this. Let's give her a little respect, okay? Agreed. And in Cowbells, which I know you don't like, but I love that hate Cowbells. I'm going to be so excited when we get to that one so we can switch roles and I can be like, no, it's perfect and here's why.
00:30:54
Speaker
I mean, I haven't seen it in 15 years, so maybe I'll be wrong. My reasoning is going to be the cowboy guy is hot. That's my reasoning. I don't even remember that actor.
00:31:06
Speaker
Oh, well, we'll get there. Before we move on, we want to take the time to highlight another great podcast, No More Late Feeds. These ladies are throwing it back to the movies of the blockbuster days in the most hilarious ways. Let's check them out.
00:31:20
Speaker
Welcome to the No More Leafies podcast. I'm Jackie. And I'm Danielle. And we're just two best friends and ex-blockbuster employees. For me, this is not a democracy. it's a cheerocracy. We're watching some of the best and worst movies from the late 90s and early 2000s. I burn. I pine. I perish. And diving into the pop culture moments that defined a generation.
00:31:41
Speaker
as we reminisce about the movies of our youth. What, like it's hard? Or to see if your old faves still hold up today. And one time at band camp. Tune in every week for deep dives, behind-the-scenes stories, and a trip down memory lane. Because at No More Late Fees, the late fees may be gone, but the memories are here to stay.
00:31:57
Speaker
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you listen to your podcasts. Just look for No More Late Fees Podcast. And remember, be kind and rewind. All right, Natalie, tell me where they are now.
00:32:09
Speaker
Okay. Speaking of our dear, sweet Allie, I feel like we need to start with her. um i i have never known and still do not know how to say Allie and AJ's last name.
00:32:20
Speaker
Please fill me in if you know, audience. How do you spell it? M-I-C-H-A-L-K-A. Michalka? Michalka? Michalka? Y'all, I have literally never known. They are just Allie and AJ to me. We're on a first name basis. So our girl Allie, who played Girl, Allison, obviously.
00:32:37
Speaker
um She continues to thrive as both an actress and a musician. She performs with her sister AJ in the pop duo Allie and AJ, releasing multiple albums and touring internationally.
00:32:49
Speaker
Wait, still? Oh, yeah. Like currently? Oh, yeah. They're any day now going to announce a new tour. What? They were the voice of our generation and our childhood, and they continue to release music. And if you have not heard their recent stuff, you need to because it is still good.
00:33:06
Speaker
It is still good, y'all. That is so amazing. I had no idea they were still making music. I'm going to have check them out. After we're done here, literally, please do. They're really good. um So in 2024, Allie competed in season 12 of The Masked Singer as Strawberry Shortcake.
00:33:22
Speaker
She finished in third place. Should have been first, but whatever. um She appeared in- This how I found out. ah I'm sorry. This is how I found out about the Jonas Brothers thing.
00:33:33
Speaker
About what Jonas Brothers thing? You didn't look it up. You told me you were going to. Her sister dated Joe. oh She was like his first kiss. But there was like a connect there was like a clue in the Masked Singer that led everyone to believe it was her sister. Oh. And the clue is about the Jonas Brothers.
00:33:52
Speaker
Got it. Got it. um Allie has appeared in a ton of film and TV projects over the years. um And she eventually met her husband, Stephen Ringer, in 2015 on the set of the movie Sequoia.
00:34:05
Speaker
They welcomed their first child, a son named Jack, in April 2014. So she's doing all right. Nice. Next we have Johnny Picard, played Danny.
00:34:17
Speaker
And I... Y'all, I love Johnny Picard. After his role in Now You See It, Johnny starred in series like Flight 29 Down and Make It or Break It.
00:34:32
Speaker
Quick aside, but if you have not seen Flight 29 Down, you are missing out. He is the best character on that show. I was so in love with him. He basically plays the exact same character as he does in this movie. He is a delight.
00:34:47
Speaker
While you can still catch him in a few acting projects, in recent years, he's shifted mainly to focus on music. He performs with his band called Forever the Day. He maintains a low profile in his personal life, but he does still live in LA and he is still very, very attractive. And I am now sending a picture to Gabriella that she can look at and enjoy.
00:35:12
Speaker
Is this going to be like another Ned from Minutemen? It's better. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Uh-huh. Yeah. What a gentleman. he held A gentleman and a scholar, might I say.
00:35:27
Speaker
You have the best phrases, Natalie. Oh, thank you. We'll just tell the world that I invented that. I definitely didn't, but we can tell them that. That's especially nice in black and white. All right, continue. ah I love him.
00:35:41
Speaker
He was recently in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. Anyway, that's all I got for you. Next up, we have Frank Langella, who played the main magician and host of the competition, Max.
00:35:54
Speaker
He's someone that you probably recognize. He's been in a million and one things from film to TV to literal Broadway. He has Tony Awards. um But I'm going to highlight a few of the bigger things.
00:36:07
Speaker
ah He played Richard Nixon in Frost slash Nixon in 2008, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. And he played Count Dracula in 1979's Dracula and Skeletor in 1987's Masters of the Universe.
00:36:23
Speaker
He is in everything. You have probably seen him or heard his voice in some animated project where he plays the villain because his voice sounds like that. I was going to say, how do I know him? Because I definitely do, but I didn't want to look it up.
00:36:37
Speaker
I didn't know him from any of the things you said, but I'll do my research tonight. Here's the thing. he is ah in Muppets Most Wanted, I think, or he's officiating the wedding of Miss Piggy and the fake Kermit.
00:36:51
Speaker
And like, that's what I recognized him from. But he's like literally in it for like two seconds. All right. I actually have never seen that. So it's not that, but I'll look it up later. Yeah, I mean, a million things. You've seen him in something, everybody.
00:37:04
Speaker
Okay, I got two more. So next we have Chris Oliviero, who played the rival producer kid, Hunter, the one that's briefly like, maybe he's a real magician. Everyone's like, shut up, you're an idiot. Anyway.
00:37:15
Speaker
He was very busy in the 90s and early 2000s, but his most notable role where he got his fame, I guess you could say, was the character Declan on ABC Family series Kyle XY. Did you watch that?
00:37:27
Speaker
No, but I've heard of it. Another great show. for Everybody was in great shows and a great movie because this was a great movie. Anyway, um he married fellow actress Alexandra Piccato.
00:37:39
Speaker
Piqueto. Oh, I've heard of her. In 2006. Yeah. She's been in some things. Yeah. She stopped acting a really long time ago and now she's an accountant, if you cared. um Anyway, they have a kid now and it's great.
00:37:50
Speaker
Aw, good for them. Lastly, we have Brendan Hill, who played the cameraman kid Cedric. I was hoping you did him. Oh, I did. I sure did. um He was very, very, very busy in the 2000s doing lots and lots of guest star roles on shows like Frasier, Lizzie McGuire, Seventh Heaven, and ah million more.
00:38:12
Speaker
um His last acting credit was in 2009. Wow. And I wasn't able to find any more information on his life now. ah Hope he's doing well.
00:38:22
Speaker
I did some Instagram stalking, found a handful of men who could be the same Brendan Hill, but could not confirm. So Brendan, if you're out there, please write in and let us know that you're alive. um We would like to interview you because you're delight.
00:38:40
Speaker
That is where everyone is now, Gabby. Wow, that was a fun time. Thank you for doing that. I'm little sad that there are not more places, but pretty cool. I know. Allie's really got going on, though. i'm I'm in shock that they're still working together and performing music. like You just don't get that a lot.
00:38:57
Speaker
Yeah, I actually not too many years ago had a group of friends who went to an Allie and AJ concert and they were like, it was incredible. And they didn't think they were going to sing um potential breakup song.
00:39:08
Speaker
And then they they like came back for a second. They came back for a second encore and they played it and they were like, oh my God, they played it. Because it's our childhood. Party like it's 2008. I love it.
00:39:21
Speaker
Rollercoaster Ride was an anthem for me. I still sing that. That was in Minutemen. That was also in High School Musical 3. Wait, what? When? At Troy Bolton's graduation party.
00:39:33
Speaker
Or not graduation. It's his, what? you're right. We've won the tournament party. You're right. But it's diegetic sound. It's like in the movie. It's not like a theme music. Yeah.
00:39:44
Speaker
Yeah. Good stuff. All right. Let's move on. What are we watching
Next DCOM Announcement and Closing Remarks
00:39:47
Speaker
next week? Oh, I'm so ready. Okay. So every week we use a random number generator to pick a number on our list of 117 DCOMs.
00:39:55
Speaker
So that'll tell us what we're watching in the next episode. And you will have two weeks to watch the movie. Get excited. Get your discussion points together. And then we'll come back and talk about it. Natalie, are you ready?
00:40:06
Speaker
I'm so ready. Okay. Here we go. I have a number. Let me look. Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh. It's perfect. I haven't been this excited in weeks for a film.
00:40:19
Speaker
Okay. You better be happy about this. Okay. Well, what is it? We're watching the Even Stevens movie from 2003. All right. all right Let's do it Why are you laughing?
00:40:31
Speaker
This is great. i I mean, like, I know I've seen it. i i wasn't an even Stevens girl. No, me neither, Natalie. Me neither. I haven't seen a single episode of the show. You haven't seen it? Okay, well, that's weird.
00:40:45
Speaker
I know. But like the Lizzie McGuire movie, this was my childhood. Like, okay, I like the Lizzie McGuire movie more, but the amount of times I've seen this is probably equal to that.
00:40:55
Speaker
And it's like a perfect summer movie. Yeah. And it's summer. I'm here for it. I'm definitely not upset about it. I just like don't have any strong feelings. Okay. Well, you will. No, maybe not.
00:41:08
Speaker
So in case you guys didn't know, this movie is like the finale to the Even Stevens show, which was on the Disney Channel back a while ago. I don't know. I guess 2003 and before. And it has LaBeouf, who we love, and Chrissy Carlson Romano, who we've seen before in um that movie with Cadet Kelly.
00:41:26
Speaker
in You know, in that one. That one movie. She's the voice of Kim Possible. That's the other one. I'm like, we've definitely seen her twice on this podcast. We didn't see her. But we've heard her.
00:41:38
Speaker
Yeah. We've done her Where Are They Now twice. So if y'all don't have it memorized by now, you're you'll learn it again next week. Now I want to go watch Kim Possible. Kim Possible. And then go back and re-listen to our episode about it.
00:41:50
Speaker
Or Even Stevens, I guess. Even Stevens, yes. I need to watch that show. I'm going to go watch a couple episodes of Even Stevens. You're going to go listen to Allie and AJ's latest album.
00:42:01
Speaker
And we will see you guys in two weeks. See you in two weeks. Bye. Bye. Thank you all so much for listening to this episode of Once Upon a Decom. Like what you just heard? Leave us a rating and review. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
00:42:14
Speaker
Also follow us on Instagram and TikTok at onceuponadecom.podcast and share this podcast with your Disney loving friends. 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. This is Gabriela. And Natalie. Signing off with a sprinkle of pixie dust. And a whole lot of nostalgia.