A Soul Cinema Tribute To Isaac Hayes 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Sept. 19 âÄì Sept. 25 Oak Street Cinema $8 or $5 with a student ID or Membership www.mnfilmarts.org Sure Isaac Hayes called Shaft “the black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks,” but maybe he was just poking fun at Shaft for not being a scientologist to the ladies, Hayes style. With an homage to the late and great Hayes, whom many know as Chef from âÄúSouth Park,âÄù Minnesota Film Arts reopened Oak Street CinemaâÄôs doors Sept. 11th. The theater will be playing a tribute to Isaac HayesâÄô life, music, and contribution to cinema from Sept. 19-25.. The three films, which each feature Hayes in a different capacity and role, will ideally show the musician/actorâÄôs legacy pre-Cruise/Travolta scientology-induced insanity, while simultaneously proving that Oak Street Cinema isnâÄôt as elitist as everyone thinks. Jonathan KaplanâÄôs âÄúTruck Turner,âÄù which will play nightly at 7 p.m., is Isaac HayesâÄô graduation from blaxploitation soundtrack composer to blaxploitation actor. He stars in the lead role as Truck Turner, a bounty hunter on the run from a posse of pimps and hustlers. HayesâÄôs character is perhaps best known for his hilarious line, âÄúIf anyone asks, tell them youâÄôve been hit by a Truck.âÄù The tribute will also show âÄúShaft,âÄù the Gordon Parks film that put Hayes on the map as a composer, as well as âÄúWattstax,âÄù a cultural artifact paying tribute to the Watts riots that ripped open Los Angeles in 1965. âÄúWattstaxâÄôsâÄù main focus is the Watts summer Festival in 1972, a concert at the Los Angeles Coliseum featuring performances by Isaac Hayes as well as several other musicians. Watching all three films in one day could garner you the respect and copious head nods of any Minneapolis cine-phile. People kill for those head nods, so get âÄòem while you can. The fall lineup for the Oak Street Cinema looks to be interesting âÄî and by interesting one means ridiculously French. The first three weeks of October will be dominated by retrospective looks at Jean Luc Godard and Alain Robbe-Grillet, two icons of French cinema from the last 60 years. On Sept. 27, the cinema will play the 12 finalists of the Manhattan Short Film Festival. The films are set to screen 295 times in 115 cities all in one week. The question now becomes âÄúWill Oak Street Cinema be able to wrangle in the student support it desperately needs to survive? Or will it once again fall on its face due to a dwindling audience for its genre of film?âÄù One would hope that the student body had in it enough class to be able to recognize Godard and Robbe-Grillet as the geniusâÄôs they are and therefore take seriously this opportunity to see some of the greats on the big screen. With a student discount large enough to make going to the Oak cheaper than Block E or any of the AMC theatres, letâÄôs hope the thousands of college students residing in the Twin Cities catch on. Given the Oak Street CinemaâÄôs sordid history of closings and reopenings, in spite of its close proximity to the universityâÄôs residence halls, it may be unwise to put too much faith in the students. LetâÄôs hope nothing is scheduled at the same time as âÄúGossip Girl.âÄù If this means that hundreds of students will pass up âÄúBreathlessâÄù at the Oak to watch âÄúThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2âÄù at Coffman Union, just so that they wonâÄôt have to read the subtitles, it may be sad, but thatâÄôs the way the cookie crumbles. Therefore this is a call to arms. DonâÄôt let art die; prove wrong the assumption that our taste in film is deplorable. Show cine-philes what youâÄôre made of.