Actor/comedian Aziz Ansari shelled out extra money to see Star Trek in the IMAX format this past weekend only to find himself seeing it on a screen far smaller than usually associated with IMAX. Angry and frustrated, he came to realize that he'd stumbled into some seriously deceptive advertising on the part of IMAX and the AMC and Regal chains. He blogs about it, angrily and with diagrams, at Aziz Is Bored, including a transcription of a fairly hilarious exchange between himself and a theater worker:
Aziz: Yes, I’d like my $5 back. I paid $5 extra for an IMAX screen and that’s not nearly as big as what I have known IMAX to be.
Guest Services: I can’t sir. Its IMAX quality picture and sound.
Aziz: But the screen isn’t big, that’s the whole reason I pay $5 more for IMAX.
Guest Services: Well sir, you watched the whole movie, you could have come out and we could have given you tickets to a different one.
Aziz: Why would I do that? I’d leave Star Trek, the movie I wanted to see and you’d give me a ticket for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past? Oh yeah that’s fair! No, you need to give me the $5 back, its the principle of it. Can I see a manager?
Funny. But the practice does seem totally messed up. Having just seen the film in IMAX this past weekend I can say it's worth the extra money, too, as long as you're paying for the real thing.