Sneakerheadz

Shoe shrine.

(2015) Documentary (Gravitas) Jeff Staple, Elliott Curtis, Rob Dyrdek, Russ Bengtson, Mike Epps, Frank the Butcher, Hommyo Hidefumi, Ben Baller, Jeremy Guthrie, Andre “Dre” Lustina, DJ Clark Kent, Wale, Jon Buscemi, Futura, Matt Fontana, Jon Wexler, David Ortiz, DJ Skree, Samantha Ronson, Dazie Williams, Oliver Mak, Mike Jensen, Dean Point, Dr. Carolyn Rodriguez. Directed by David T. Friendly and Mick Partridge

Most of us use sneakers as footwear. We put them on to go work out, or do some walking, or to go to our local theme parks. We don’t really think of them much beyond their utilitarian function.

That’s not true for all of us. For some, sneakers are a personal statement of who they are. They are a symbol of status, of hipness, and of belonging. To an even smaller group of people, they become an obsession – not just items of status but things to own. While once upon a time people bought their Nikes, Adidas and New Balance sneakers  to wear, there are Sneakerheadz – the collector segment of society – who buy them to store and/or display without any intention of ever lacing them up.

This documentary explores the phenomenon which exploded onto the scene in the 1980s as sports, the hip-hop scene, movies and street culture in general began to collide and merge. Everyone wanted to wear the same shoes as Michael Jordan, Carmelo Anthony and Run-DMC. The latter even had a hit song about their footwear – “My Adidas” which of course is prominently featured on the soundtrack here. Soon, the manufacturers realized that the demand was high for limited editions and that they could charge a premium price. They also began using a variety of materials, including leather and suede in addition to the traditional canvas and rubber. They began hooking up with designers, athletes, musicians, artists and actors to design these shoes, which would sell out in minutes.

Collectors would buy shoes they could barely afford, and those that could built elaborate storage and displays for their shoes. Enterprising young people discovered that the shoes they bought for $300 on the day they came out would sell on e-Bay for $1500 (and more) to collectors who had missed out when the shoe sold out in hours.

At first, it was an obsession that involved going down to the stores, finding new stores and going out of town to hunt down special editions only released in other cities. Veteran Sneakerheadz speak of that era fondly, as it was a testament to their commitment that they would fly to Japan and buy shoes there, or to New York City for those non-jet set types. These days, ordering shoes can be done with the click of a link on your laptop and some bemoan that it takes the fun out of it and fills the ranks of Sneakerheadz with those who really haven’t earned it.

Still, plenty of shoes are on display here and some of them are really amazing, truly works of art. I was kind of surprised about this; in all fairness I’m one of those Luddites that wear shoes to cover my feet. I’m more apt to wear Crocs than sneakers and sneakers more than patent leather. But I understand the collector’s mentality. I collect ball caps myself, although I have probably around 40 or 50 rather than thousands, which is what some of the Sneakerheadz here have in their collection. As a psychologist specializing in hoarding muses, where is the line between collecting and obsessive psychosis?

And really, that’s what this movie is about. Yeah, the sneakers are cool and all, and some of the designs are really amazing. but this is about the collectors. We do get a more than cursory history of the sneaker phenomenon, as well as some insight into the cultural impact of them but the emphasis is on those who buy the sneakers and keep them without ever wearing them (well, most of them anyway – the reason collectors buy two pairs of each item is explained succinctly as “one to stock, one to rock”).

One thing that isn’t really explored is the way this is perceived. For the most part, the film’s tone is upbeat and affectionate but given the way that the sneaker culture essentially evolved from the young African-American male community and how that community is viewed by authority figures and the white community, sneakers are looked upon as more or less as the domain of street thugs, hip hop artists and NBA worshippers by a certain segment of our society, which is a reflection of how society views young African-American males in general. There’s a political aspect here that isn’t explored and it should have been. The truth is that this is no longer limited to urban culture in general; the obsession has spread globally with some of the more rabid collectors located in Japan and Europe.

This is a much better film than you might expect it to be. Granted this is a very niche subject, but it can be said that is true about most documentaries. The filmmakers infuse this with a great deal of energy and attitude which I found refreshing. The graphics that identify the interview subject look like the end of a shoebox, complete with the shoe size of the subject (I’m assuming). That tells me that the filmmakers don’t take themselves too seriously, as documentarians are sometimes wont to do.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t some serious moments. One of the best and most heartbreaking sequences of the movie is an interview with Dazie Williams, whose son was murdered for the brand new Air Jordans he had just bought for himself and his son; given the resale value of unworn shoes to collectors, the motivation is pretty clear.

Nobody should have to die over a pair of shoes, but people do, over a thousand per year according to the movie. If so, that’s a sobering statistic and it is barely touched upon in the movie. That’s a subject that should have gotten a lot more time in the movie, as the willingness of collectors to pay exorbitant prices to complete their collection is at least a factor in the crime surrounding the new release of sneakers, which sometimes are accompanied by riots.

But enough about what the film isn’t. What the film is, is a fairly light but fascinating look at a subculture in our society that gets little or no notice but generates billions of dollars in revenue every year. Sneakerheadz certainly has their hearts in the right place, and the affection of the filmmakers for the subjects is obvious. One of the most important keys to making a good documentary is for the filmmakers to have an emotional connection to the subject; without it, the audience isn’t going to get one. I was pleasantly surprised that I developed affection and respect for those so devoted to their obsession. I wasn’t expecting to, and that’s always a icing on the cake when tackling a new movie. This one certainly is worth consuming, although you may be tempted to head on out and buy some of these shoes for yourselves afterwards. Maybe this should come with a warning label.

UPDATE 8/24/15: Sneakerheadz is now available on Vimeo on-demand. You can stream it here.

REASONS TO GO: Fascinating subject. Graphics are fun. Hip hop energy.
REASONS TO STAY: Missed opportunities. Sneaker overload.
FAMILY VALUES: Some salty language.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The first Air Jordan was released for public purchase in 1985.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 8/7/15: Rotten Tomatoes: 50% positive reviews. Metacritic: 51/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Fresh Dressed
FINAL RATING: 7/10
NEXT: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

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Flypaper (2011)

Patrick Dempsey auditions for a TV cop show role.

(2011) Comedy (IFC) Patrick Dempsey, Ashley Judd, Tim Blake Nelson, Mekhi Phifer, Matt Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, John Ventimiglia, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Curtis Armstrong, Rob Huebel, Adrian Martinez, Natalia Safran, Octavia Spencer, Eddie Matthews, Rob Boltin, James DuMont, Judy Durning, Joseph Nemmers, Monica Acosta, Kasey Emas. Directed by Rob Minkoff

Greed is a big motivator. It attracts us like a magpie to shiny things. We want more, we want it all. Well, that’s true for some of us anyway.

It’s closing time at a bank which is about to receive a major security software update. Once the doors are closed the bank will be locked down for the night, its security systems offline. The employees are getting ready to go home when a trio of armed bandits come in through the back. They’re well-armed and professional.

As if things weren’t bad enough, a couple more robbers come in through the front door – two bumblers named Peanut Butter (Nelson) and Jelly (Vince). They aren’t affiliated with the other gang – they’re just there to take down the ATMs. Still, you can’t have two gangs in the same bank without a gunfight and that’s precisely what happens. An innocent bystander gets shot and killed in the crossfire, further raising the stakes.

Locked in the bank now, the last customer of the bank, a compulsive man named Tripp (Dempsey) suggests that both gangs can have what they want. An uneasy truce is negotiated between PB&J and their rivals (Phifer, Ventimiglia, Ryan). Tripp and the remaining bank employees – obsequious manager Blythe (Tambor), the creepy security guard (Martinez) and tellers Kaitlin (Judd) and her sassy colleague Madge (Spencer) are herded upstairs and told to wait in a conference room.

But Tripp, the obsessive sort that he is, can’t let go of the nagging thought that there’s someone else pulling the strings. Too many coincidences. So he decides to investigate. That can be a very dangerous thing when amidst trigger-happy thugs who take their place on the FBI’s most wanted list quite seriously.

Minkoff is best-known for directing The Lion King and Stuart Little. He hasn’t done a lot of non-family films and he went after a script penned by the co-writers of The Hangover. This isn’t on par with any of those films except for maybe Stuart Little.

It’s not for lack of effort. Dempsey is one of the most engaging actors today. It’s incomprehensible that he isn’t an A-list star by this point but most of his romantic comedies have done solid but not spectacular business. Here he shows some real skill. His character is full of tics that could easily have overwhelmed the film but Dempsey wisely plays them down and let’s his character serve the story rather than the other way around.

Judd is a usually reliable actress who has been flying under the radar of late. She does a credible job here but she really doesn’t have much to work with. She does have a bit of a romantic subplot with Dempsey’s character but it really doesn’t burn up the screen nor prove to be anything more than a brief distraction.

Nelson and Vince make a good team as Peanut Butter and Jelly, with a kind of earthy bumpkin charm to the both of them. They make an ideal counterpoint to the other three who are straight men with an edge. Phifer deserves better.

There are some real funny moments but not enough of them for my taste. The twists and turns are pretty predictable to the moviegoer with even below average intelligence and the characters other than Tripp aren’t particularly well-drawn. Still, it has its own innate charm and that can’t be discounted. You can seek this out if you’d like to but I wouldn’t spend a lot of time looking for it.

WHY RENT THIS: Dempsey should be a bigger star than he is. Some funny moments.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Not enough funny moments. The twists are pretty predictable.

FAMILY VALUES: There is some violence, a fair amount of bad language and some sexuality.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Tripp’s medication, Depakene, is a mood stabilizer normally prescribed for Bipolar disorder patients, implying that is what Tripp is suffering from.

NOTABLE HOME VIDEO EXTRAS: There are some one-on-one interviews with members of the cast and crew.

BOX OFFICE PERFORMANCE: $3.1M on an unreported production budget.

COMPARISON SHOPPING: Dog Day Afternoon

FINAL RATING: 5.5/10

NEXT: The Godfather

Ladron Que Roba a Ladron

Danny Ocean ain't got nothin' on us.

(Lionsgate) Fernando Colunga, Miguel Varoni, Julio Gonzalo, Oscar Torre, Gabriel Soto, Ivonne Montero, Saul Lisazo, Ruben Garifias, Sonya Smith. Directed by Joe Menendez

The best way to get away with something is to escape notice. The least likely suspects are the perfect cover for the perfect heist.

Alejandro Toledo (Colunga) and Emilio Lopez (Varoni) are con artists, and they’re pretty damn good. They’ve snuck into the United States to take on a target that has some particular meaning to them – Moctesuma Valdez (Lisazo), a Latino infomercial king who preys on his own community, advertising ludicrous products that purport to reverse hair loss, relieve arthritis and even cure cancer. None of them work, of course. He’s made millions but because he distrusts banks, has it all stored in a vault deep in his Los Angeles mansion. Toledo and Lopez want it all.

Part of their zeal is personal – Valdez used to be a member of their crew. However, the current members of their crew don’t want anything to do with this caper; it’s far too risky and their ploy of having the crew pose as day laborers doesn’t appeal to the professional villains. So, rather than throwing in the towel, they recruit actual day laborers with a particular set of skills; an unemployed actor and master of disguise (Torre), a sexy mechanic (Montero) and her valet father (Garifias), and a ditch digger and tunneling expert (Soto).

The two masterminds come up with a brilliant plan, but they need people who have never before committed a criminal act in their lives to be cool as cucumbers under pressure. The stakes are high, but the payoff is worth the risk.

Menendez is mostly known for his television work, both in the young adult and Latin genres but he shows a surprisingly deft touch here. The movie balances the heist elements with a light comedic touch and even a bit of social commentary, as the status of illegals and day workers as non-people in this country are aired.

This is a bit of Oceans 11 lite, albeit on a less ambitious scale – which I guess is what lite implies anyway. While Danny Ocean robbed casinos to open his ex-wife’s eyes about the man she was with (which I suppose is a cause), there is a kind of Robin Hood feel to this one as the crew are fighting to protect the exploitation of desperate Latinos.

The cast are mostly veterans of Latin American television, both here in the States and south of the border as well. Some of them are extremely well-known in the Latin community but are for the most part largely unknown to mainstream audiences. However, they acquit themselves well and several of them – particularly Montero and Colunga – could cross over to more mainstream movies very easily without missing a beat and find a lot of success in doing it.

I knew very little about the movie other than the translation of the title which is loosely “It takes a thief to steal from a thief” so I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It’s not a game-changer mind you – it’s a little bit too much of a niche film for that, but still in all it’s entertaining, packs a great deal of charm, is smartly written and well-acted. That’s the recipe for a good movie whatever the language.

WHY RENT THIS: Surprisingly charming and well-written, you find yourself drawn into the story and the characters.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: The movie suffers a little bit from Oceans 11 envy.

FAMILY VALUES: There’s a little bit of sexuality here and some course language but otherwise pretty well acceptable for almost every audience.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: While the crew was largely English-speaking, the movie is shot entirely in Spanish and no translated scripts were provided to the crew, so they were unaware what the plot and story points were; they were also unaware of how popular the cast, largely stars from Mexican telenovelas were and they would be dumbfounded when the shoot would have large crowds of Mexican housewives trying to get glimpses of the cast.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: None listed.

BOX OFFICE PERFORMANCE: $6.9M on an unreported production budget; judging on the way the movie looked, I’d guess it made some money.

FINAL RATING: 6/10

TOMORROW: Mister Foe