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.
ยท 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]