Eliza Dushku Movie:

Editorial Review:
Sunny, happy Torrance (Kirsten Dunst) is the new leader of the Toros, the cheerleading squad of Rancho Carne, an affluent San Diego high school that has lousy football players but one hell of a cheerleading team. National champions, they're the ones who bring in the bodies to the football games with their award-winning moves and sassy grace, and they're poised to take their sixth national cheer title. Torrance's new reign as cheer queen, though, is cut short when she discovers that her snotty, duplicitous forerunner was regularly stealing routines from the East Compton Clovers, the hip-hop influenced cheerleaders of a poor inner city school, and passing them off as the original work of the Toros. Scrambling to come up with a new routine for the Toros--and do the right thing by giving the Clovers their due--Torrance butts heads with the proud and understandably wary Isis (Gabrielle Union), the leader of the Clovers, who wants nothing to do with a rich blond white girl, but does want to get her squad to the championships. Problem is, only one team can take home the national title. Who's it gonna be?

An unexpected box-office hit in the late summer of 2000, Bring It On is a smart, snappy teen comedy that bristles with good cheer (literally) and lively, down-to-earth characters. The story may be fairly predictable (who's going to win the big championship?), but director Peyton Reed and screenwriter Jessica Bendinger have fleshed out their characters with formidable strength and provided them with sharp dialogue. Dunst is a radiant comedian, projecting warmth, determination, sincerity, and a sublime airheadedness, and Union is an impressive dancer and counterpart to Dunst, matching her admirably despite her limited onscreen time. An excellent young supporting cast rounds out the film, most notably Eliza Dushku (Faith of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Jesse Bradford (Steven Soderbergh's King of the Hill) as siblings new to Rancho Carne, who become Torrance's best friend and potential new boyfriend, respectively. All in all, a pleasantly surprising and intelligent teen movie. Don't miss the opening sequence, a hilarious send-up of all those high school cheerleading routines you had to sit through at boring pep rallies. --Mark Englehart

Bring It On [Region 2] Reviews:
Oh, don't play dumb. We're better at it then you
2009-09-29 - I can picture "Bring It On" director Peyton Reed in high school. He was on the Audio Visual Squad, and when they were showing a film in class he would wheel in the 16mm projector. The cheerleaders would look right through him, like he didn't even exist. They only went out with the jocks on the football, basketball, or baseball teams. Someday, he told himself, I will be a film director, and then they will notice me. He began his familiar day dream that went something like this:

He was transferred from another school to one with horrible teams, but really hot cheerleaders. He was an outsider, a loner, who spent his time honing his electric guitar skills, and he could really rock out. His sister, also an outsider, spent her time honing her gymnastic skills. This school didn't even have a gymnastic program, so she had to join the cheerleading squad. Though he and his sister both shared a cynical attitude about cheerleading, she made friends with the head cheerleader and they had sleep overs. The head cheerleader's boyfriend was also a cheerleader, but he is now away at college. Maybe he was a little light in the loafers. Anyway, he is out of the picture. Since nature abhors a vacuum...

[At this point the film gets stuck and the hot projector lamp begins to melt the frame. Still caught up in his daydream, young Peyton can only stare at the melting film. A blonde cheerleader looks at him and thinks: "What a dork."]

When I saw Peyton Reed in the bonus material, I was struck by his resemblence to Jesse Bradford, who played Cliff in "Bring It On." Of course Bradford was better looking than Peyton Reed ever was, even in his prime, but he was what Peyton Reed might have looked like in his own fantasy. Cliff was clearly a wish fulfillment projection of the director's. The fact that the vintage rock band t-shirts that Cliff wore were all taken directly from the wardrobe of Peyton Reed is only further evidence. The whole "Bring It On" project is a ploy for Peyton to live out his cheerleader fixation through Cliff.

The Cheerleader Fantasy scenario is very potent. Just ask Charlie Sheen. It explains the bikini car wash scene where they are raising money to hire a choreographer, too. That was all a part of the day dream that Peyton Reed would slip into whenever he got the chance, the dream he has been chasing since high school...

But I don't begrudge him his dream. Most writers, musicians, or film makers are motivated by such delusions. Even athletes, I dare say, get into the game for similar reasons. The question is, how was Peyton Reed able to channel those fantasies into a successful film?

Here is how:

The characters of Cliff (Jesse Bradford) and Missy Pantone (Eliza Dushku) give us a hip and cynical point-of-view from which to observe the cheerleaders. We are all too cool to care about a bunch of cheerleaders, but secretly wish we could date them or be one. Cliff and Missy allow us to do that while still maintaining our distance. We can mock the cheer leaders, as Cliff and Missy do, but through Cliff we can date the head cheerleader, and through Missy, be a part of their clique.

------------------------
Whitney: [talking about Missy to Courtney] Excuse me, where did you park your Harley?
===============================

Though Courtney and Whitney try to discourage Missy from joining the squad, Torrance Shipman (Kirsten Dunst), the head cheerleader, is the only one whose opinion matters. Missy and Shipman bond, to the point of having sleep overs. Kirsten Dunst does a great job of making you care about her character. Though she is kind of obsessed with cheerleading, you still feel like she is not a bad person. She has compassion for others and tries to do the right thing. We are still cheering for the rich White cheerleaders, The Toros, even when it is revealed that Big Red, the former head cheerleader, had stolen their routines from an inner city squad from East Compton, the Clovers.

-----------------------------------
[Torrance is stressed after knowing they had stolen Clovers' routine]
Torrance Shipman: Do you know what this means? My entire cheerleading career has been a lie.
Missy: Well, look on the bright side - It's only cheerleading!
Torrance Shipman: I *am* only cheerleading.
===========================================

Gabrielle Union plays Isis, the head Clover, and three of the cheerleaders are in the group Blaque, who also perform on the soundtrack. The rap and hip hop elements really invigorate the Cheer genre. Even though The Toros, the mostly White cheerleading squad, stole their routines from The Clovers, "Bring It On" is slanted to favor The Toros. There are some barbs directed at the friends of Dorothy as well. But wait a minute, give "Bring It On" a chance to "Do The Right Thing." Before you judge its political correctness, watch until the end. You might be surprised.

--------------------
Whitney: Oh, don't play dumb. We're better at it then you.
===========================

The New Twenty (2009) Nicole Bilderback was Julie Kim
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Kirsten Dunst was Mary
Deliver Us From Eva (Widescreen Edition) (2003) Gabrielle Union was Evangeline 'Eva' Dandrige
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) Eliza Dushku was Sissy
Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000) Jesse Bradford was Jorge
She's All That (1999) Gabrielle Union was Katie
10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Gabrielle Union was Chastity
Can't Hardly Wait (1998) Nicole Bilderback was Ready to Have Sex Girl
Race the Sun (1996) Eliza Dushku was Cindy Johnson
Clueless (1995) Nicole Bilderback was Summer


-----------------------
Theatre Boy: [performing] Give my regards to Broadway, remember me to Harold Square...
Courtney: Excuse me! What's... with... the song?
Theatre Boy: Isn't this the audition for... Pippin?
Courtney: [waves finger] No.
===================================

Excellent "white guilt" movie
2009-09-19 - This movie's target audience is composed of black moviegoers who believe that white people cannot compete with black people in any athletic endeavor, including cheer competition; and white moviegoers who agree because they feel guilty about their "white skin privilege". In other words, the target audience is Democrat voters.

Oh, and young men who like to look at young women in cheerleader outfits.

I think that about covers it. All others should steer well clear of this silly film.

It is better to BRING than to TAKE
2009-08-14 - She says, "Missy is Bank", referring to "the new girl". 'Missy', is a name,
whereas 'bank' is usually a noun; but here, 'bank', is used as an adverb
modifying the word 'is': "Missy is Bank".

They who say, "Jesus is God", deny the Christ, the Father and the Son.
See, 1 John 2:22, KJV. For they say that the son is the father, and the
father is the son, and by doing so, deny Christ, the Son of God. God
is a spirit, whereas Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. If you do not know
what words mean, or basic grammar, how will you understand what is
written? See, 1 John 4:1-3, KJV. To say, "You are A God", or "You are
MY God", is not the same as saying, "You are God", or "You are THE God".
See, 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Corinthians 12:1-3, KJV. Jesus is THE Lord:
Jesus Christ is Lord. See, Luke 2:1, KJV.

What does IN mean? In the car-wash scene, it is easy to imagine a
sponge submerged in a bucket of water: The sponge is IN the water,
and the water is IN the sponge. See, John 14:10-11, KJV. Words
matter. What you don't say is as important as what you do say. See,
John 4:24, KJV. The spiritual is to only be compared with the spiritual,
and not the carnal (the earthly). The example of the sponge in water
tells you what this word IN means. I could have said, imagine a lit
candle in a pumpkin, the pumpkin is IN the candlelight, and the
candlelight is IN the pumpkin. God is a spirit. God is invisible. God
is Light. Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. How do you see that which
is invisible? By words, spoken? By a voice? Or by the way somebody
moves? A dance, perhaps? Missy is bank.

If you say, "FDR is President" (where 'President' is an adverb), then you
are saying that FDR is in the quality, or state of being, the President
(which is a noun). A person who occupies the office of President,
ought to be presidential, but regardless of whether he is presidential
or not, he IS President, (a direct consequence of being, the President).

'Missy is THE Bank', or 'Missy is bankly', or 'Missy is A bank', would make
more sense, but you get the gist of what she is saying: She's not bankrupt.
She's got "the stuff that winners are made of".

Another girl auditions, but is rejected, for she attempts to "take it off" rather
than "bring it on": A 'cheerleader' is to lead the cheers, and not follow them.
She is to dominate the crowd, rather than cater to the crowd's whims. It takes
"team work", apparently.

A 'car wash', who cares about the cars, rather than they who wash them?
"That's OK", they say, "you can pump our gas someday".

The other message this movie delivers is: Eat that which tastes good, and
not that which tastes horrible, though it be called 'nutritious'...Also,.."Y'all
should have just stuck with our routines" she tells them. It is stealing, when you
take from one source, but when you take from several, that is called, Research
and Development.

This movie, moralizes. It is 'mind candy', which justifies the 'eye candy'.
Quiet on the set, the 'it' girl has arrived. But will she stink, or smell good?
Shampoo good?

I cannot really say why I like this movie soo much. Usually, profanity means
I throw the DVD away, but this one I kept. I think I just like the way they talk:
They rhyme, yet their grammar is impeccable, to the point of logical bliss.

Also, the dancing, is not really dancing, but more like barely constrained: What
ballet might look like if the emotions were reigned in, and more thought went
into the motions themselves. Or is cheerleading the ultimate form of dancing?
The energy, rather than being fluid, is forceful, explosive. It is fun to watch.
Sometimes seeing is hearing. Some can look at a sheet of music and hear music.
Dance can be like that too. And sometimes hearing is seeing. Some hear music,
and want to dance to it, in a specific way...But if you were deaf, and you saw a
dance, could you guess the music? Could you hear it, being not blind?...Michal
left David, for dancing before others, the handmaidens to be more specific.
Perhaps because she felt betrayed. as in, "you were my song, but now I seek
another". Males who sing, or dance, uncover themselves, revealing their feminine
side: Some do it because they like to, and others do it for the money, and the
attention. David said to Michal, It was for the LORD. But perhaps God allowed
David to dance so that Michal might seek another? And remain a virgin.

Original and funny!
2009-05-31 - "Bring It On" has an original story with real characters. Although I wouldn't recommend this movie to kids or young teenagers, as there are plenty of sexual references: a stripper-like girl trying out for the cheerleading squad, a gay cheerleader, etc etc.

Going beyond all that, it's a good story.

Love/hate.
2008-07-04 - I kind of love and hate Bring It On starring Kristen Dunst. Parts of this teen flick are clever and funny but after a few viewings of this film, you get pretty sick of all the cheerleading nonsense. Cute chick flick but fades with time, decide for yourself.