Adam Y.
Yelp
A friend in Atlanta mentioned a documentary playing in their city under limited release. I figured it was going only to the largest areas, and then would be streaming on some platform. But a quick check showed that the film was coming to St. Pete at the Green Light Cinema. I had heard of it, and love small independent movie houses, but have never been there. A quick call to a friend, and ordered two reserved seats online. Very reasonable and easy.
The concession line was long, and we were going to eat dinner after so I skipped but I could see that the popcorn looked really good. Next time for sure.
I had picked two seats in the back, and they were fine. That is until someone sat in front of us. Those people were talking and clearly they weren't in their selected/assigned seats. I'm tall, but this person was already blocking part of the screen, which was a big disappointment. You'd think the seats would be pitched more, but that isn't the case. As far as other reviews talking about reclining seats, maybe that was a thing of the past, because if they reclined, I didn't notice it, and didn't see anyone else reclining either.
So after the trailers, we saw the back row was almost empty and moved back there, but the person's head (now 2 rows up from me) still blocked a smaller portion of the screen. If and when we go back, I'm thinking of bringing a seat cushion so I don't miss anything. This film was a documentary and every time they interviewed someone new, their name would splash on the screen. I must have moved my head 20 times during the film to read the name. I've not experienced this in any other theater, and as said earlier am above average height.
The sound in the theater is excellent. Very clear and almost at times too loud, but for the type of film (rock themed documentary) it was fine.
So pro-tip #1-seat cushion or try to select a seat with no one blocking your view.
Pro-tip #2-We arrived 20 minutes early. Friend made a mistake and overlooked on street metered parking and instead went into a 717 lot. I was surprised to see a $15 rate, instead of an hourly option which is a complete rip-off. So anyone reading this should definitely look to park elsewhere unless they like overpaying. Other people seeing our plight told us we could park for $2-3 max, but by then it was too late.
The Green Light is a nice theater. I found the bathrooms very clean and the staff nice. It's about 80 seats, so never going to be a huge crowd.