St. Anthony Main Theatre is the Northeast choice for film festivals and artsy movie screenings. The historical site has a loyal local following and a great vantage point of the river. It’s also been recently renovated.

Movies:

While they do play blockbusters, the great part about the St. Anthony Main Movie Theatre is that they show a lot of the “limited screenings” and they’re the home of the MSP Film Society and the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival.

You can get a list of the MSP Film Society Films and Events HERE.

Food:

The have a small selection of candy, as well as popcorn and pop. I’m a movie nachos type of girl so the limited selection is a little depressing, but their popcorn more than makes up for it. It’s melt-in-your-mouth buttery and there’s a convenient salt-your-own station.

They also have Discount Tuesdays where you can watch any movie that day for $5 and $2 Medium Popcorn and Soda.

Environment:

The carpets have all been ripped up, so right now it’s just concrete floors. The huge improvement is the seats. They used to be ripped fabric with the stuffing falling out and now they are red leather (or should I say “leather”).

They also recline back which is, definitely, a welcome feature. Special thanks to my roommate, Carrie, and her boyfriend, Steven, for modeling.

Service:

The staff are friendly, but we were, literally, the only people there, so it was kind of eery with all the lights pretty much off and they didn’t turn the screen on until the minute the movie was supposed to start. Also, when we left there was no one at the front so it was kind of like walking yourself out of someone else’s open house.

Of course you can argue that this adds to it’s historic charm.

BONUS: there was a film festival the night we went, which meant we got to take this totally natural and not staged at all photo.

Parking:

Unless you can score a spot after 6pm on 2nd Street all the parking near the theatre is pay parking, which kind of sucks. It’s $1 per/hour on Main Street and the parking lot on 2nd Street ranges from $3-$5 depending on the time.

Overall, the movies are cheaper than most other places, the selection is a nice mix of new releases and art films, and the new seats are very comfortable. Four Stars.

St. Anthony Main Theatre
115 SE Main Street
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Monday – Thursday: 4PM – 10PM
Friday – Sunday: 1PM – 10PM