And it gets a big shout-out in both The Blues Brothers ("The Daley Center? Isn't that where they have the statue by Picasso?" as they zooooom past it) and The Fugitive ("He's in the plaza, walking past the Picasso!" as he heads for the St. Patrick's Day parade).

I seem to recall hearing that if you are building a big enough building in Chicago there's a regulation that states you have to include public art as part of the design.

We watched Let the Right One In last night. I'm not sure what I think of it yet...there were a lot of bits I really liked, but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to want to happen.

I also wasn't sure whether the director was trying to make it funny or not. There were several moments that I thought were comedy, either Coen-brothers-dark humor or born-loser humor (and the cat scene! OMG hysterical!).

The visual effects, especially on Eli, were really nicely done. Nicely imagined and nicely implemented.

I do have two questions: Was the intimation that Oskar's father was gay, or was it that his friend was raping Oskar? I think it's the latter, but I'm interested in what other people think.

And, what was the deal with Eli's pudendum scar? Why was that included? Is it somehow linked to her being a vampire?

Ultimately, I do think that the author's theme of "My God, wouldn't it be absolute hell to be 12 forever!" came through. As did my continuing belief that I never want to live in Sweden.

In the book Eli was a boy, hence the scarring. I don't think they did that full justice in the movie.

I ended up not liking it because the participants seemed deeply stupid. No idea how Eli got to be as old as all that, with that sort of quality help.

I ended up not liking it because the participants seemed deeply stupid.

Exactly. I kept thinking I was supposed to root against everybody, because they were varying degrees of stupid, pathetic, useless, inept, and outright destructive.

I decided after about 45 minutes that I was too bored to keep watching.

I also wasn't sure whether the director was trying to make it funny or not. There were several moments that I thought were comedy, either Coen-brothers-dark humor or born-loser humor (and the cat scene! OMG hysterical!).

Yeah! Our audience was laughing at things, but I wasn't sure they were intended to be funny.

Watched The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford last night. I really liked it, although it's very slowly paced. The setting an acting is real and gritty, but the dialogue is very poetic, and the cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful. It somehow coalesced for me into a powerful experience, althoughj I could certainly see that it's not for everyone. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck were both really impressive.

Hayden, you see it?

We rewatched that not too long ago, Scrappy. DH and I both really like it. It can drag a bit but Pitt and Afleck were both fascinating in it.

And I never get tired of Sam Rockwell.

I was ruined for that movie -- along with The Long Riders -- by watching a documentary about the real Jesse James.