So far, Public Enemies (released today) is getting mixed (or bad) reviews, but that won’t stop the film from snagging plenty of box office bucks. It will be interesting to see how much money flows back into Wisconsin in the wake of all the filming that took place here. At any rate, some people are already saying the film’s a success and using that assumption to criticize Governor Doyle, who slashed the Film Wisconsin incentives program (among many other things) whilst vetoing stuff in the state budget on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Pioneer Press Online TwinCities.com is leaping aboard the Johnny Depp/Dillinger bandwagon and screaming, “Dillinger liked St. Paul, everyone! Hey, everyone! Dillinger liked us, too!” We quote:

• While the rest of the world is getting a historically suspect version of John Dillinger's life in the new movie "Public Enemies," locals can hang at the notorious outlaw's real hangouts.
• In the 1930s, St. Paul was a hotbed of gangster activity, and mobsters were like rock stars.
• "Quite often, you would be at the Boulevards of Paris restaurant in St. Paul and you'd see Baby Face Nelson eating his spaghetti, or you'd be in White Bear Lake and see Freddie Barker eating dinner with Ma," said Paul Maccabee, author of "John Dillinger Slept Here." "It was like seeing O.J. Simpson today — not a good celebrity, but a notorious celebrity. And you'd go home and tell your friends about it."

They even put together their own little Dillinger tour of the city (kinda like we did). Come on, Minnesota, you’ve already got plenty of cool stuff over there. Do you really gotta try to snag our Dillinger?

P.S. That "Al Capone's Hideout" attraction up by Hayward just closed. Great timing.