Make art! Make art!

More than the Henry Bacon memorial column in the center of town, more than the MegaMall at the heart of a contentious land-grab debate, and more than any of the off-the-beaten-path restaurants that get high marks in the foodie press, this, to me, is the most important landmark in my neighborhood.

Not only do gentlemen in sport jackets check your bags at the ticket counter, but the women's bathroom is still a lounge, with divans in the seating area and tiny round lights around the mirrors. Never mind that the floors are sticky and the springs coming up through the seats, and that virtually every movie I've seen there has had its soundtrack punctuated by the snores of a down-on-his-luck patron, ducking in for a two-hour nap. Every show, at every time, is just three dollars. And a large popcorn? Two dollars and change.

They have four separate screens these days. It's a pretty safe bet Vin Diesel, Miley Cyrus, or some other action star or tween sensation is starring in three of the four. But every so often a movie pops up that's probably been on your list for a while. We caught Michael Clayton there last weekend, and now that the Oscars are over, a slew of those contenders are likely to appear minutes before they head to DVD (a good thing, because we missed most of them).

Probably the marquee highlight of the year was when the theater showed "Once" for all of a week. I'm not usually an Academy Award watcher, but we hunkered down last night for the three-hour show. I dare you to forget a teary Glen Hansard shouting, "Make art! Make art!" or Jon Stewart bringing back Markéta Irglová to finish her speech. Make art, indeed. Then bring it to the Logan Theater for the coins you'd find in your pocket.