The Main Cinema — Attraction in Minneapolis

My wife and I wanted to become weekly regulars with the pandemic waning. However, as other reviewers have already stated, they've now made the decision to add "open captions" (subtitles) to ALL films, and showings.

While I completely understand the motivation to be further inclusive of everyone, including those with hearing disabilities, unfortunately for many the subtitles are distracting, and in turn detract from the film itself; this entirely ruins the movie-going experience.

There's also technical glitches - when the Loneliest Whale (7/20 showing) had subtitles in the film itself, the open captions doubled up, creating two sets - one over the oceanographers face as she was talking. How could that NOT be distracting?

My suggestion would be to have open captions available for select times/showings and allow the other screenings for films to be shown as they were intended by those who created them.

I'll keep checking back to s Iee if they reverse the decision, or at least find some sort of balance. Unfortunately until then I'm forced to be an AMC patron again.

Edit: Please people stop "liking" my review and write your own to let them know how you feel. For all I know they are convinced you're all my friends, and not potential patrons upset with...

UPDATE: The operations of this theater have been taken over by MSP Film Society, and they've said that they will be returning to offering non-captioned screenings, this time alongside open-captioned screenings.

Accordingly I have updated my rating from one star to five stars.

As others have stated, apparently the theater is now including closed captioning on all of their films.

While I am all about accessibility, I personally cannot mentally enjoy reading dialogue while hearing dialogue in the same language, thus this doesn’t work for me when I’m paying money to go see a film.

Further, there is literally zero word on their website or on their social media regarding this decision, only a small sign at the box office that you might see after our already made your plans and arrived at the theater to see the film.

I’ve attempted to contact the theater multiple times for clarification on this and I have not heard back. Ideally I’d love to see them include closed captioning on some one their screenings (50%?), and to communicate clearly on their website which screenings will have closed captioning.

As it is I will no longer be attending screenings at one of my most favorite theaters...

As the main theatre of the International MSP Film Festival, St. Anthony Main Theatre offers a great selection of films from a variety of genres, especially indies. You could see most pop culture movies here, however, the latest big movies are not always available.

The theatre building is quite outdated with some cultural history. It doesn't have reclining seats nor assigned seats. Seats are first come first served. The rooms are quite tilted for the purpose of accommodating audiences from behind, but I found it's somewhat uncomfortable.

It's one of the few movie theaters in downtown area, so it's quite popular in local community. It's very LGBT friendly, you could see many same sex couples coming here and enjoying the movies. Seniors are anothe big group of moviegoers here. The whole environment is very pleasant and welcoming. The price is quite affordable, plus they offer students discount as well.

There are some nice restaurants next to it. And it's right by the Mississippi River sidewalk. At night, you could see the beautiful night view of the downtown area across the river.

It's a very nice place to enjoy a movie night with your loved ones...