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Movie Natters: January 11, 2006 Archive

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Dream Car

Posted at 6:04 PM on January 11, 2006 by Euan Kerr

A brief mention on the radio that the Aston Martin DB 5 used by James Bond in "Goldfinger" and "Thunderball" is up for auction gave me pause this morning.

I have never been a motorhead, but that car is still the epitome of cool for me. It has machine guns in the front grille, and a spout for spraying oil out the back to send pursuing baddies skidding off the road. There is a bullet-proof screen for the back window, and tire-slashers hidden in the wheels. And best of all is the ejector seat which can neatly dispose of any villain who somehow got inside the Aston with you.

I can only have been about four years old when my Dad presented me with a die-cast model of the car. It was meant for my birthday, but I'd been sick, and he decided to let me have it early to cheer me up. I honestly cannot remember many times in my life when I was more excited. The guns clicked out, the screen popped up, and the ejector seat could send the little pistol-wielding plastic guy half way across the room if you set it up right. Life just could not get any better.

So now we can buy the real thing. The auctioneers expect to get between $1.5 and $2.2 million for the car, which was one of three special 007 models built. I won't be bidding, but I'm now wondering where my own Aston Martin ended up.

Dark days ahead at the Oak Street?

Posted at 6:30 PM on January 11, 2006 by Euan Kerr

There are a lot of phone calls and e-mails flying today about the future of the Oak Street Cinema in Minneapolis. There are no movies booked there after Saturday, and staff say they have been unable to get any answers about what is happening from Minnesota Film Arts board members. MFA runs both the Oak Street and the Bell Auditorium on the U of M campus.

After scheduling a news conference for Friday afternoon, the staff has now decided to call an extraordinary meeting of MFA members before Saturday's 7.20 screening of "Citizen Kane" instead. The staffer I talked with said he hopes board representatives will show up to talk about the future at that time.

MFA apparently took some serious financial hits under the leadership of Executive Director Jamie Hook. He left suddenly last year after admitting he had forgotten to send in an important grant application which would have provided a substantial portion of the MFA budget.

The MFA emerged a few years back after the merger of the non-profit Oak Street Cinema with the U Film Society. It runs the Oak Street as a repertory theater and the Bell Auditorium as a documentary film venue. The MFA runs the St Paul International Film Festival.

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