Back in the day, when a comedian got angry about something, he would tell a crowd in a comedy club about it. Now, thanks to the internet, if you make one funny guy mad he can let the whole world know. That's what happened when comic Aziz Ansari went to last weekend's big movie and found it to be not nearly as big as he expected.
The star of NBC's "Parks and Recreation" and Judd Apatow's upcoming "Funny People," bought a ticket on Monday for "Star Trek: The IMAX Experience." Though it cost an extra $5 over a standard admission, he thought it would be worth it at the time. What Trekkie wouldn't want to see Kirk and Spock on a six-story screen? Instead, Aziz found himself in a theater with a screen only slightly larger than normal. He felt wronged and decided to channel his anger into a furious, obscenity-laced blog post that has spread like wildfire. He has even called for a boycott of the theater chains involved, writing, "REGAL, AMC, AND IMAX - YOU ARE LIARS!"
Apparently, IMAX rolled out a digital projection system last year that can be easily installed in a normal movieplex and doesn't require those huge film reels of a traditional IMAX projector. The downside is that the screens of these "Fake IMAX" theaters -- as Aziz calls them -- can be as much as a quarter of the size of standard IMAX screen. The size discrepancy between them is shown here:
But the real problem is that the IMAX Corporation along with its partners, theater chains AMC and Regal Cinemas, are refusing to distinguish between the two formats. Moviegoers will not know what kind of IMAX experience they will have until their tickets have been ripped. The theaters however, are charging the same price for "fake" digital IMAX as they do for "real" film-based IMAX.
IMAX co-CEO Richard Gelfond argued that such a distinction is unnecessary because, "People don't say 'The 3 isn't a real BMW because it's smaller.'" As the LF Examiner -- a journal devoted to "large format" film -- points out, this is an illogical analogy: car buyers would be plenty upset if they paid around $120,000 for 7-series Beemer and instead received 3-series worth only $30k.
Gelfond also voiced concerns that older film-based theaters might be seen as "second-class citizens" when compared with their newer, cooler digital siblings. That seems unlikely, however. Though resolution for the digital IMAX is good -- slightly better than normal digital projection -- it still is a far cry from the resolution found in a film-based IMAX theater.
Confusing matters, filmmakers are now shooting sequences in their movies using IMAX's proprietary large-format cameras, designed specifically for a "real" IMAX experience. The first production to do this was "The Dark Knight," filling the entire frame with crystal-sharp clarity. This summer's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" also has giant action scenes shot on IMAX film.
When asked about Aziz's internet screed, Gelfond was dismissive. He told MainStreet.com, "The overwhelming majority of comments on that guy's blog this morning, more than 90% of them, are vehemently disagreeing with him. And consumers are confirming this with their continued purchases of tickets."
In an apoplectic rebuttal on his blog, Aziz retorted: "WHAT A SURPRISE ANOTHER IMAX LIE. Who did those numbers? The same guy who measures your [expletive] tiny IMAX screens???" He then challenged Gelfond to a televised debate on the matter. As of writing this, Gelfond has yet to respond.
"Star Trek" will be on IMAX screens for another week, and then "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" takes over. To see all IMAX theaters in the U.S. -- both "real" and "fake" -- check out this list: http://www.lfexaminer.com/theaUSA.htm.
May 13, 2009
