''Just for Kicks'' is a 2005 American documentary film about the

sneaker Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used fo ...

phenomena and history. It includes self-confessed " sneakerheads" like

Grandmaster Caz Curtis Brown (born April 18, 1960), better known by the stage name Grandmaster Caz or Casanova Fly, is an American rapper, songwriter, and DJ. He was a member of the hip hop group The Cold Crush Brothers from 1979 to the mid-1980s. He is best know ...

, Reverend Run, and

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

. It tells the story of the Nike Air Force Ones, which are called "Uptowns" in New York, and the beginning of Air Jordans. The documentary also tells the story of how hip-hop pioneers

DJ Run Joseph Ward Simmons (born November 14, 1964), better known by the stage name Run, Rev. Run or DJ Run, is an American rapper, producer, DJ and television personality. Simmons is one of the founding members of the influential hip hop group Run ...

, Jam Master Jay, and DMC had everyone wearing

Adidas Superstar The Superstar is a style of a low-top athletic shoe which has been manufactured by the German multinational company Adidas since 1969. The low-top shoe was originally released as a low-top version of the Pro Model basketball shoe. The design is n ...

s with their song " My Adidas".

Interviews

* Joseph Simmons * Darryl McDaniels *

Damon Dash Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. Dash is best known as co-founder of Roc-A-Fella along with Jay-Z and Kareem Burke. Early life Born in New York City, Dash swept the floors of a local barbe ...

* Doze *

* Bobbito Garcia * Adam Horovitz *

Koe Rodriguez Koe is a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Amanda Lee Koe (born 1988), Singaporean-born American writer * Benjamin Koe (1816–1842), English cricket player * Fred Koe (born 1947), Canadian politician * ...

* Futura 2000

Release

''Just For Kicks'' premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 23, 2005. Image Entertainment released it on DVD on June 6, 2006.

Reception

Dennis Harvey of '' Variety'' called it "aptly slick and stylish as a TV commercial". Giovanni Fazio of '' The Japan Times'' rated it 2/5 stars and wrote that the film is more of an unwitting documentary about mental illness than it is about sneakers. Gil Jawetz of DVD Talk rated it 2.5/5 stars and wrote that the filmmaker's enthusiasm for the subject is not enough to make it compelling.

Accolades

The film won "Best Documentary", and "Best Overall Film" at the USVI Film festival. It was part of the official selection at Tribeca Film Festival,

Sheffield Documentary Festival Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest), short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The Festival includes film sc ...

, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Bangkok International Film Festival,

Res Fest Res or RES may refer to: Sciences Computing * Russian and Eurasian Security Network *Spanish Supercomputing Network (''Red Española de Supercomputación'') Energy *RES - The School for Renewable Energy Science * US Renewable Electricity ...

, New York Latino Film Festival, San Francisco Black Film Festival, NYC Urban World Festival, Leipzig Documentary Festival, and US Virgin Islands Film Festivals.

References

External links

* * * 2005 films 2005 documentary films American documentary films 2000s hip hop films Hip hop fashion Sneaker culture Films about fashion 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{2000s-documentary-film-stub