OCB - It's playing down the street from me here in LA and I had a chance to check it out. It's a GREAT movie. If you like Tim Burton movies in a sorta Edward Scissorhands mode, it's perfect. It's really, really touching and a very human story while still feeling, uh, "Burton-esque". I loved it.
I agree that its completely irritating when they do limited releases, just so it counts for Oscar nominations as being within the year. It was even a pain knowing when it was opening here, since all the ads just said "Opening the Christmas Season" or something similarly vague.
J