Lincoln Theatre and the movie, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

Lincoln Theatre, Washington DC. Nelson Architects managed the most recent renovation effort in 2003.

Given the resurgence (see "Donatelli Development sells the Ellington — harbinger of change on U" from the Post) of the U Street corridor, it's sad that the Lincoln Theatre is not a success.

That it isn't a success shouldn't be surprising. See the past blog entry, "Cultural resources planning in DC: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

The building is beautiful, the marquee a landmark object within the streetscape. Seemingly, such a facility should be wildly successful, although size and sense of the market is apparently an issue (see "Historic theaters, buildings in D.C. are resurrected as entertainment spots" from the Washington Post).

Given that the city doesn't have a real arts and culture plan and a good track record for such, the fact that the Lincoln Theatre is now under city management ("Lincoln Theatre gets new management: the city" from the Post) isn't necessarily a sign that better days are to come for the theater.

Still, the fact that Mayor Gray inked an agreement with Landmark Theaters to allow the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" to premiere at the Lincoln and show there for a month is a good sign. If anything, I consider that the most significant achievement of Mayor Gray's first year.

The movie will be showing until about January 20th.

If you were planning on seeing the movie anyway, why not see it at the Lincoln?

Sure the sound isn't the greatest, but the theater is beautiful, it's across the street from the U Street exit on the Green Line subway, and afterwards you can go out to dinner or do something else fun within a couple blocks of the theater.