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    Full out

    New Netflix hit show puts North Texas' Navarro College cheerleaders on the mat

    Stephanie Allmon Merry
    Jan 14, 2020 | 10:10 am
    Cheer Netflix
    Cheer is now streaming on Netflix.
    Photo courtesy of Netflix

    A Netflix crew found its way to tiny Corsicana, Texas for a reality show about cheerleading, and less than a week in, America is flipping out.

    Cheer, a six-episode series about Navarro College Cheer Team’s 2019 quest to win its 14th national championship, started streaming January 8. Six days later, it's earned a 100 percent rating from critics and 93 percent from audience members on Rotten Tomatoes.

    Twitter users have tumbled into their feelings about #CheerNetflix, and Buzzfeed has already published a "Which Navarro Cheerleader Are You Most Like?" quiz.

    Even the vaunted Washington Post has called it “The documentary that hard-working cheerleaders have long deserved,” with acclaimed TV writer Hank Steuver admitting that it "quickly and effortlessly becomes all-consuming for the viewer."

    Viewers are getting hooked one episode in. And anyone who's ever been a Dallas-area cheerleader will get hooked 10 minutes in.

    Dallas, as the show reminds, was the birthplace of modern cheerleading. Southern Methodist University cheerleader Lawrence Herkimer famously invented the “Herkie” jump in the 1940s, then went on to found the National Cheerleaders Association, or NCA. Dallas is home to many competitive cheer gyms, and the owner of one is interviewed throughout the show.

    But somehow, just 50 miles from Dallas, Navarro College’s cheerleading legacy is a bigger secret than the Collin Street Bakery fruitcake recipe (which also calls Corsicana home). Not even residents of the town, population 24,000, know about it, the first episode reveals.

    The two-year college of 9,000 is attracting some of the most elite cheerleaders from around the country to cheer in one of the best programs in the world under one of the best coaches in the world, Monica Aldama.

    “The kids,” as she calls them, are fearless flyers, powerful tumblers, and superb stunters. She pushes them to the highest levels using her motto, “You keep going until you get it right, and then you keep going until you can't get it wrong."

    Most of Cheer (directed by Greg Whiteley of Last Chance U) is spent in the gym with the team and the coaches, choreographers, and athletic trainers — someone’s always there to render aid when a stunt falls (50 push-ups for everyone if a girl hits the ground!).

    Like every great sports documentary, Cheer details the highs and lows along the team’s journey: who gets “on mat” (makes the competition team)?; who’ll replace injured stunters in the routine?; can they finally achieve pyramid perfection before the championships in Daytona?

    But the heart and soul of each episode are the backstories of the kids; the life experiences that have shaped them and brought them to Navarro — and the personal drama that they must check at the gym door to succeed on the mat.

    We follow Lexi, the troubled high school dropout from Houston; Morgan, the flyer from a broken home in Wyoming; Gabi, a “cheer-lebrity” balancing college demands with the challenges of being her own brand; La’Darius, the over-the-top former football player who’s been called “fruity” his whole life; and Jerry, the big-hearted stunter who lifts his teammates up as high emotionally as he does physically.

    Their relationships with each other, and with their beloved coach Monica, are the emotional sunshine that the world needs right now. There’s no Real Housewives-style cat-fighting; no season-jeopardizing drunken college parties; no surprise mid-semester pregnancies. Positive “mat talk,” not negative “trash talk.”

    When a stunter drops his partner and blames her behind her back, Monica swoops in to suggest he call her and talk through what went wrong. They do, and they nail it the next day. When a female tumbler’s social media account gets hacked and compromising pictures get posted, Monica takes her to file a police report. A conservative Christian, Monica passionately defends her team members who are gay or nonconforming, saying, “These are my kids and I’ll fight tooth-and-nail for them.”

    It’s no wonder they revere her.

    By the final episode, we’re practically toe-touching for the team and “mat talking” each person through their 2 minute and 15 second-routine that we've come to know so well. The performance is utterly heart-pounding, augmented by the fact that Netflix wasn’t allowed to film it and relies on shaky cellphone coverage shot by attendees. And yes, their chief rival is also a Texas school — Trinity Valley Community College in Athens — but if Navarro wins, we get to see them run into the ocean with the trophy, and we really, really want to see this happen.

    By the end, we’re also cheering for the kids to make good life choices. As Navarro is a two-year school, many won’t be back. And as the series points out, there’s no professional career for competitive cheerleaders. This is it — a college national championship is their biggest, best, and last moment as a cheerleader.

    One thing we know: Coach Monica is back at Navarro, and tryouts for next year’s squad are already under way. According to the school's website, a Recruit Clinic and Tryout will take place there January 20.

    No pressure, Netflix, but this might just make compelling footage for a Season 2.

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    Movie lineup

    USA Film Festival returns to Dallas for 2026 with free films and big stars

    Alex Bentley
    Apr 6, 2026 | 10:42 am
    Molly Belle Wright and Aaron Eckhart in Deep Water
    Photo by Jen Raoult
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    The Dallas-based USA Film Festival returns for its 56th edition April 22-26, presenting 22 narrative features, documentaries, and short films.

    All screenings and events will be held at the Angelika Film Center Dallas, with most of the programming offered for free as part of the Festival's community outreach programming.

    Among the notable programs will be a salute to celebrated fashion photographer Arthur Elgort, who will be in attendance for a screening of Warren Elgort's new documentary, Arthur Elgort: Models & Muses.

    In the film, Warren Elgort as he turns the camera on his father, whose candid, movement-driven style transformed the pages of Vogue and redefined the look of modern fashion photography.

    The Centerpiece Selection of the festival will be Renny Harlin’s new disaster thriller, Deep Water, which will be presented as part of a salute to the filmmaker’s career. Both Harlin and executive producer - and music legend - Gene Simmons will be in attendance.

    The film, starring Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley, is about a flight that goes down in the middle of the Pacific, where survivors soon discover they’re not alone and must survive the shark infested waters.

    The Spotlight Screening will be Guy Jacobson’s madcap legal comedy, Out Of Order. Brandon Routh stars as a young New York lawyer who ends up working for two opposing law firms, inexplicably representing both sides of the same case.

    Jacobson will be in attendance to present the film - which also stars Brooke Shields, Sam Huntington, Sandra Bernhard, Luis Guzman, and Krysta Rodriguez - and participate in a post-screening Q&A.

    The Closing Night lineup will be led by Matthew Thayer’s No Limbs No Limits, with the film’s inspirational subject, Nick Vujicic, presenting the film.

    Born without arms or legs, Vujicic defied every expectation the world placed on him - surviving childhood depression and a suicide attempt at age eight to eventually reaching millions of people with his message of faith and perseverance.

    Other notable programs will include a salute to Oscar nominee Lesley Ann Warren, a special 75th Anniversary screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1951); and Jay Duplass’ See You When I See You, starring Cooper Raiff, David Duchovny, Kaitlyn Dever, and Hope Davis.

    “We are pleased to once again celebrate Dallas Arts Month with our annual Spring Festival,” USAFF Managing Director Ann Alexander said in a statement. “This year's program celebrates some very independent and inspirational artists, and includes programs ranging from important documentary topics and classic films, to pure entertainment fare."

    Advance tickets are now available online at eventbrite.com/cc/56th-annual-usa-film-festival-4827625.

    Any unsold/unreserved tickets will be made available at the Angelika Film Center upstairs Sales Desk beginning one hour prior to each showtime.

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