KC in TV and Movies

KC topics that don't fit anywhere else.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18142
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by FangKC »

There might be more footage in next week's episode. The twitter link showed them filming on top of City Hall.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18142
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by FangKC »

Image

Last night.
trailerkid
City Center Square
City Center Square
Posts: 11284
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2002 4:49 pm

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by trailerkid »

Rabble wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:26 pm “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge” was a Ward Parkway film, “Kansas City” an 18th and Vine film. Different worlds different movies.

I think Altman’s film was a tough valentine to his hometown. How can a city with such a rich black musical heritage still have as strict a dividing line as Troost?
Like the City, the film Kansas City is a masterpiece.

It tells the story of the underbelly colliding with the city's rising elite class. The ending is unforgettable.

We would be better off just embracing KC's sordid past than trying to pretend the region was built by evangelicals and sports team owners.

Kansas City is crooked politicians, gangsters, gambling, guns, wild women, jazz, and dancing. Kansas City is America's first and best Wild West City-- a heritage much more noteworthy than whatever local leaders are trying to sell us this week.
moderne
Oak Tower
Oak Tower
Posts: 5496
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2004 2:50 pm
Location: Mount Hope

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by moderne »

"Kansas City" is overwhelmingly recognized as Altman's worst movie. Only good thing in it was the music and the recurring use of the Moten Swing.
shinatoo
Ambassador
Posts: 7393
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 3:20 pm

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by shinatoo »

Yeah, that movie is hard to watch.
Rabble
Strip mall
Strip mall
Posts: 252
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2019 2:58 pm

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by Rabble »

trailerkid wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 2:50 am
Rabble wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:26 pm “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge” was a Ward Parkway film, “Kansas City” an 18th and Vine film. Different worlds different movies.

I think Altman’s film was a tough valentine to his hometown. How can a city with such a rich black musical heritage still have as strict a dividing line as Troost?
Like the City, the film Kansas City is a masterpiece.

It tells the story of the underbelly colliding with the city's rising elite class. The ending is unforgettable.

We would be better off just embracing KC's sordid past than trying to pretend the region was built by evangelicals and sports team owners.

Kansas City is crooked politicians, gangsters, gambling, guns, wild women, jazz, and dancing. Kansas City is America's first and best Wild West City-- a heritage much more noteworthy than whatever local leaders are trying to sell us this week.
The film also shows the result of the Redlining real estate practices, which forced the black population to remain in the decaying neighborhoods. The Seldom Seen character speaks for the KC Tenants of today.

And the bar "The Ship", is shown in all of it's original glory, when it was just north of City Hall.
trailerkid
City Center Square
City Center Square
Posts: 11284
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2002 4:49 pm

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by trailerkid »

moderne wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 10:34 am "Kansas City" is overwhelmingly recognized as Altman's worst movie. Only good thing in it was the music and the recurring use of the Moten Swing.
By whom? I'm happy you read others' opinions to tell you how to think.
moderne
Oak Tower
Oak Tower
Posts: 5496
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2004 2:50 pm
Location: Mount Hope

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by moderne »

Reading schmeeding. I was sitting in at a master directors's class in LA invited solely because of being a Kansas Citian in town at the time who knew sombody that knew somebody. This was b4 the movie was released. Went in the theater proud, and kept sinking deeper and deeper into the seat as the movie went on. It was brutal afterward from people mostly in the trade.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18142
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by FangKC »

It's never cited among Altman's top 10 films. Some lists don't cite it among his top 15. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 59 percent rating.
Rabble
Strip mall
Strip mall
Posts: 252
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2019 2:58 pm

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by Rabble »

FangKC wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 11:17 pm It's never cited among Altman's top 10 films. Some lists don't cite it among his top 15. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 59 percent rating.
Except for MASH, I've never liked or understood any Altman film after one viewing. When Kansas City came out, I saw it at a theater and was disappointed, but also confused. It was never shown on cable, so I never got a chance for a second viewing until two years ago when I bought a copy. Altman's overlapping dialogue is always challenging but I think the story is great, along with the music and KC locations. If you're interested in the ugly side of KC history, don't let Rotten Tomatoes keep you from searching out this film.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18142
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by FangKC »

While on the topic, everyone should see the documentary, "Last of the Blue Devils," and Clint Eastwood's "Bird."

Last of the Blue Devils

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079443/?ref_=ttpl_ov

https://vimeo.com/655877158

Bird

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094747/

Both can be rented from the Kansas City Public Library. "Last of the Blue Devils" is free on Vimeo. "Bird" is also available at online streaming sites.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18142
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by FangKC »

Heidi Gardner from Saturday Night Live was on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Wednesday night talking about Kansas City's In-A-Tub.

https://in-a-tub.com/?page_id=65
chingon
Bryant Building
Bryant Building
Posts: 3522
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2005 6:47 pm
Location: South Plaza

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by chingon »

trailerkid wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 2:08 pm
moderne wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 10:34 am "Kansas City" is overwhelmingly recognized as Altman's worst movie. Only good thing in it was the music and the recurring use of the Moten Swing.
By whom? I'm happy you read others' opinions to tell you how to think.
I don't know if I have ever read any serious Altman film criticism, just some scattering of contemporary revies, but I also think Kansas City is one of his worst movies (but not THE worst, thanks to Pret-a-Porter, OC and Stiggs, and Prairie Home Companion).
trailerkid
City Center Square
City Center Square
Posts: 11284
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2002 4:49 pm

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by trailerkid »

It's the most Kansas City comment ever to pile on and rip the film Kansas City to sheds.
moderne wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 3:11 pm It was brutal afterward from people mostly in the trade.
I hope you realize how pathetically pretentious this sounds. So you were basically in the audience with Harvey Weinstein?

I got the impression that Robert Altman could not care less to generally appease people "in the trade" and was more interested bringing stories to life that provoke the audience. The fact he never won an Oscar says all you need to know about "the trade."

I'm not a lighting expert or run craft services, but 'Kansas City' poses a lot of interesting questions. How are the elite classes of KC tangled up with its underbelly? Morally, is there a difference between the elite and the underbelly? And how do people within the context of this time and within these social groups experience love and relationships? The film is a puzzle.

I'm also curious how Altman thought about Kansas City in comparison to the play Chicago, set in a similar time period and which had a Broadway revival the same year (1996) that Kansas City came out.
chingon wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 9:16 am
trailerkid wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 2:08 pm
moderne wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 10:34 am "Kansas City" is overwhelmingly recognized as Altman's worst movie. Only good thing in it was the music and the recurring use of the Moten Swing.
By whom? I'm happy you read others' opinions to tell you how to think.
I don't know if I have ever read any serious Altman film criticism, just some scattering of contemporary revies, but I also think Kansas City is one of his worst movies (but not THE worst, thanks to Pret-a-Porter, OC and Stiggs, and Prairie Home Companion).
Please rank. Where is Popeye? I'd rather focus on the good stuff.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18142
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by FangKC »

There is a better movie to be made about Kansas City than the Altman film. Yes, there was to some extent some of the elite class tangled up in the underbelly of the City.

Clothing manufacturer Nell Donnelly was kidnapped. Donnelly's husband reached out to James Reed, a former Jackson County attorney, KC mayor, and US senator. Reed put the word out through someone to mobster Johnny Lazia to try and find out who the kidnappers were. Donnelly had had an affair with Reed while married, and a son was produced who had been raised with her husband's surname--Donnelly. After the kidnapping, she divorced her husband and married James Reed.

James Reed and Johnny Lazia both had connections to political boss Tom Pendergast.

I recall one of the public library re-enactments, Meet the Past, where the library director Crosby Kemper III interviewed various characters from KC history and in one of them he commented on his own family's dealings with Pendergast.

https://pendergastkc.org/article/events ... l-donnelly

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/mob-s ... nelly-reed

It would probably better be an extended series than a movie told over decades.

One could do episodes on famous KC kidnappings alone: Nell Donnelly, Bobby Greenlease, Michael Katz and City Manager Henry McElroy's daughter, Mary.
chingon
Bryant Building
Bryant Building
Posts: 3522
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2005 6:47 pm
Location: South Plaza

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by chingon »

trailerkid wrote: Tue Mar 28, 2023 6:12 pm Please rank. Where is Popeye? I'd rather focus on the good stuff.
Popeye is right after 3 Women, which is to say, very, very high.
moderne
Oak Tower
Oak Tower
Posts: 5496
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2004 2:50 pm
Location: Mount Hope

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by moderne »

For those interested in another gangster/jazz, upstairs/ downstairs KC movie, there is the fictitious Pete Kelly's Blues with Jack Webb from 1955. It does have Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. Not filmed here, but uses some real addresses. Found it interesting in that it had row house street settings that could have still been around in 1927.
Kansas City Confidential, a crime caper, opens with the classic jazz era KC skyline rising above Union Station.
missingkc
Alameda Tower
Alameda Tower
Posts: 1297
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2002 7:16 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by missingkc »

User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18142
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by FangKC »

They need to be blasting that song on Saturday Nights when the street drag racers are out spinning in circles on Grand.
User avatar
Jblanco
Strip mall
Strip mall
Posts: 132
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 1:37 pm

Re: KC in TV and Movies

Post by Jblanco »

missingkc wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 8:13 pm Well, this is new to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHDQuNgwBMM
A blasphemous fusion of wild west and gospel folklore. It reminded me of Alec Baldwin.
Post Reply