Aziz Ansari Blows Lid Off the Great IMAX Swindle

Aziz Ansari may seems like a mild-mannered, Scrabble-match-throwing ass-kisser on Parks and Recreation, but in real life, he's a passionate and outspoken activist. His cause: IMAX fraud.

I have to admit, the very same thing happened to me when I went to Burbank AMC 25 for the Watchmen opening, for what I thought was going to be an IMAX projection. The tickets were $5 more. But unlike Ansari, after I entered the theater and saw a screen that looks just slightly larger than a regular one, I just shrugged apathetically, sat through the strange and belabored film, and decided I'll never return. Aziz, however, was incensed, and confronted management for what he felt amounted to consumer fraud. They offered him a complimentary popcorn and soda, which only got him angrier. He's now taken to his blog and Twitter feed to get the word out.

He writes:

If you don't want the whole long story, I did some research online and found this article that explains it. Basically IMAX is whoring out their brand name and trying to trick people. These new "IMAX" theatres are really just nice digital screens with good sound, but they ARE NOT IMAX, in that they don't have the huge 72 ft gigantic screen which people would expect. However, they still charge $5 more for tickets as they would for the regular IMAX.

REGAL, AMC, AND IMAX - YOU ARE LIARS!

Boycott them. Fuck them for taking advantage of people and charging them $5 extra. If you're in LA, go to the Arclight from now on, and fuck the IMAX screens (fake and real).

So be warned: If you see the screening listed as IMAX Digital, you're not getting anything more than you would get at a regular state-of-the-art cineplex, but you'll be paying close to 50% more for the experience. And as anyone knows, watching Spock develop a Vulcan semi-chubby bidding Uhura farewell in the transporter chamber just doesn't have the same impact unless it's projected on a screen the size of the Hoover Dam.

· REBLOG THE FUCK OUT OF THIS. WARNING: AMC theaters are running FAKE IMAX's and charging $5 extra for a slightly bigger screen. Boycott IMAX, AMC, and Regal. Don't let them fool you. [azizisbored.tumblr.com]



Comments

  • maxfm says:

    God bless Aziz, as well as Ebert, for pointing out this IMAX horsecrap.
    Class action lawsuit, anyone? Anyone?

  • JohnnyyGo says:

    I've always known films shot on 35mm projected in the Imax auditorium aren't true Imax. True Imax is 70mm filmstock. The extra $5 was for a much larger picture with stadium seating in the Imax auditorium. Aziz didn't know this?
    That's what set Dark Knight apart from every other movie. It had 30 minutes actually shot on 70mm Imax cameras throughout the film (most of the sweeping city-wide shots of Chicago and Hong Kong). And it looked Bad Ass! Those shots filled the entire Imax screen and it would go back and forth to 35MM rather seamlessly. It was the first and still only feature film to actually have 70mm Imax imagery.

  • Here's what I wrote on the HSX boards back on March 27th about the same thing...
    "I went to the AMC in Century City to see Watchmen in IMAX. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
    Not with the movie, which I liked quite a bit, but with the theatre. AMC didn't build a real IMAX theatre, with a huge screen that towers over and envelops the viewer, and massively steep stadium seating. Nope. It felt exactly like every other screen at that location. When I go to the IMAX at Universal City or The Bridge... now THOSE are effin' IMAX theatres!
    I think the cashier who helped me knew how disappointing their IMAX screen was, because she didn't charge me the upgrade fee she was supposed to (I got a couple of AMC Silver Passes from My Coke Rewards, and it did say on the pass there would be an upgrade surcharge if I used it for an IMAX presentation).
    If this is the future of IMAX, they're not going to last very long. IMAX should make you think 'awesome!' when you walk into the auditorium, not 'what the f--k?!?!' "
    http://talk.hsx.com/films/post.htm?0327144404.filmjerkcom

  • HwoodHills says:

    You're all a-holes for addressing this issue.
    I spent HOURS stitching goddamn IMAX labels onto the outer waistband of my boxers and now you're gonna wreck that for me?
    You all suck.

  • JohnnyyGo says:

    After reading up more on this issue, I didn't realize IMAX is "branding" auditoriums in other theaters as IMAX on 28 x 58-foot screens. I only go to the IMAX at The Bridge with its massive 76 x 98-foot screen.
    No wonder people are pissed!

  • Randolph says:

    You can leave messages for Imax directly here:
    http://www.imax.com/corporate/investorRelations/informationRequest/

  • kyle t. says:

    Hey Johnnygo. That's not what we're talking about.

  • Inhaler says:

    Either way, it beats being blind.

  • Little Mintz Sunshine says:

    Wait...so if I pay an extra $5, complain, I get free stuff? Where is this "Burbank" you people speak of?