KC Trunk Going Out of Business; Movie Making, Etc.
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2003 9:38 am
KC Trunk on Broadway between 9th and 10th streets (west side) appears to be closing. There is a sign that indicates a going out of business sale.
I hope that building is renovated into more loft apartments, and that a nice restaurant, coffee bar/bakery, bookstore, or grocery store opens on the ground floor.
While I'm on this topic, does anyone else agree that Broadway from 6th to 11th streets is way cool? I love the architecture of the area. The old garment district buildings are great and there is a wonder ambience about that area.
I just wish there were more restaurants, bars, and nightclubs on the street level on those blocks. We should all pay homage to the gods of architecture for allowing those buildings to remain. Thankfully, they weren't torn down in the urban renewal craze of the 1960s and 70s. That district is one of the neatest parts of Kansas City IMO. It makes me wish we had even more of those types of buildings downtown.
I read recently (I think in the KC Biz Journal) that some independent movie studio is opening here in the City, and they plan to film movies in the area. The garment district is a wonderful setting for period movies (from the turn of the century to the 1950s especially). Great neighborhood for a gangster flick. West 9th Street from Main to Wyandotte is as well. Parts of the West Bottoms and freighthouse district would provide great backdrops for movies as well (the old industrial buildings).
Other good locations are City Hall and the Jackson County Courthouse. We have a great police headquarters as well.
I also think there should be a movie made about the gangsters who ran Kansas City in the 1920s-40s, the illegal gambling, underworld killings, the Union Station Massacre, sin, prostitution, drug abuse, corruption, notorious kidnappings, jazz, vaudeville, burlesque, widely available liquor, etc. Hell, you had some characters running the city back then: political boss Tom Pendergast; city alderman and leader of the political faction called the "Goats," Jim Pendergast; leader of the political faction, the "Rabbits," Joe Shannon; City Manager McElroy; mob boss Johnny Lazia; county judge Harry Truman, and Rabbi Samuel Mayerberg (who led the drive to bring Pendergast's machine down); strippers Sally Rand and Gypsy Rose Lee.
The Robert Altman movie, Kansas City, was panned by critics. Perhaps Martin Scorcese should give it a shot. He's good at wide-ranging epic films that capture an era.
I think John Goodman (a Missouri native) would be perfect to portray Tom Pendergast. Or Joe Pesci.
For fun, let's brainstorm for some casting ideas for this movie.
Perhaps we can create a new kind of superhero--a toothless hick whose powers include the ability to spit in an adversary's eye; throw a villian over his head like a bale of hay; disable criminals with a cattle prod; create a smokescreen (to blind fleeing criminals in their vehicles) using his 1960s pickup truck that burns oil and spews blue exhaust; pull fiends to the ground like wrestling a steer; pretend to be a clueless rube to obtain information from local thugs and snitches; the ability to bring a 250 lb. brawny mobster down by reading him unconscious by throwing his false teeth; and paralyze underworld characters through the use of ear-splitting hog calling.
He could have a sidekick named "Stinky" who renders villians impotent by burning their eyes with his hideous body odor, and create diversions through his stealthy use of his sagging trousers and buttcrack. His weapon of choice is a sling blade or a hayfork.
These hayseeds would live in the country of course--in a rustic farmhouse. They would embark on their crimefighting only on Saturday nights when they come into town to partake of the endless entertainment options not available to them on the farm.
They are bachelors, and are taken care of by a loyal aunt (similar to Aunt Bee), who is well-versed in crime-fighting and villiany due to her years as writer of gritty pulp fiction crime novels.
I hope that building is renovated into more loft apartments, and that a nice restaurant, coffee bar/bakery, bookstore, or grocery store opens on the ground floor.
While I'm on this topic, does anyone else agree that Broadway from 6th to 11th streets is way cool? I love the architecture of the area. The old garment district buildings are great and there is a wonder ambience about that area.
I just wish there were more restaurants, bars, and nightclubs on the street level on those blocks. We should all pay homage to the gods of architecture for allowing those buildings to remain. Thankfully, they weren't torn down in the urban renewal craze of the 1960s and 70s. That district is one of the neatest parts of Kansas City IMO. It makes me wish we had even more of those types of buildings downtown.
I read recently (I think in the KC Biz Journal) that some independent movie studio is opening here in the City, and they plan to film movies in the area. The garment district is a wonderful setting for period movies (from the turn of the century to the 1950s especially). Great neighborhood for a gangster flick. West 9th Street from Main to Wyandotte is as well. Parts of the West Bottoms and freighthouse district would provide great backdrops for movies as well (the old industrial buildings).
Other good locations are City Hall and the Jackson County Courthouse. We have a great police headquarters as well.
I also think there should be a movie made about the gangsters who ran Kansas City in the 1920s-40s, the illegal gambling, underworld killings, the Union Station Massacre, sin, prostitution, drug abuse, corruption, notorious kidnappings, jazz, vaudeville, burlesque, widely available liquor, etc. Hell, you had some characters running the city back then: political boss Tom Pendergast; city alderman and leader of the political faction called the "Goats," Jim Pendergast; leader of the political faction, the "Rabbits," Joe Shannon; City Manager McElroy; mob boss Johnny Lazia; county judge Harry Truman, and Rabbi Samuel Mayerberg (who led the drive to bring Pendergast's machine down); strippers Sally Rand and Gypsy Rose Lee.
The Robert Altman movie, Kansas City, was panned by critics. Perhaps Martin Scorcese should give it a shot. He's good at wide-ranging epic films that capture an era.
I think John Goodman (a Missouri native) would be perfect to portray Tom Pendergast. Or Joe Pesci.
For fun, let's brainstorm for some casting ideas for this movie.
Perhaps we can create a new kind of superhero--a toothless hick whose powers include the ability to spit in an adversary's eye; throw a villian over his head like a bale of hay; disable criminals with a cattle prod; create a smokescreen (to blind fleeing criminals in their vehicles) using his 1960s pickup truck that burns oil and spews blue exhaust; pull fiends to the ground like wrestling a steer; pretend to be a clueless rube to obtain information from local thugs and snitches; the ability to bring a 250 lb. brawny mobster down by reading him unconscious by throwing his false teeth; and paralyze underworld characters through the use of ear-splitting hog calling.
He could have a sidekick named "Stinky" who renders villians impotent by burning their eyes with his hideous body odor, and create diversions through his stealthy use of his sagging trousers and buttcrack. His weapon of choice is a sling blade or a hayfork.
These hayseeds would live in the country of course--in a rustic farmhouse. They would embark on their crimefighting only on Saturday nights when they come into town to partake of the endless entertainment options not available to them on the farm.
They are bachelors, and are taken care of by a loyal aunt (similar to Aunt Bee), who is well-versed in crime-fighting and villiany due to her years as writer of gritty pulp fiction crime novels.