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IMAX Outrage! Comic Says Small Screens Aren't IMAX Experience
By
John Del Signore
Published May 13, 2009
Modified May 13, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 13, 2009
Modified May 13, 2009
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In January, Internet guru and Videogum blogger Gabriel Delahaye penned a righteously amusing rant sparked by a recent IMAX expansion into multiplexes with smaller, 29' foot high screens, which the company has tried to pass off as an IMAX experience. (For reference, the Lincoln Square IMAX is 76' high.) We got in touch with the press rep for IMAX and reported on the bait-and-switch, and that was the end of it. Until this week, when TV's Aziz Ansari came along with his own blog rant, after paying an extra $5 for a Star Trek screening on one of those dainty "IFAUX" screens.
The world took notice and even IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond was forced to respond, telling MainStreet, "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." Over to you, Aziz: "WHAT A SURPRISE ANOTHER IMAX LIE. Who did those numbers? The same guy who measures your bullshit tiny IMAX screens???"
And now Ansari is showing he means business by challenging Gelfond to a televised debate. We'd make some wisecrack about nerds here, but the joke would be on us, because we agree; this rebranding of small screens as "IMAX" is, to paraphrase Kramer, "the biggest scam perpetrated on the American public since one-hour Martinizing."
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aziz ansari
blog
gabe Delahaye
imax
parks and recreation
screen size
star trek
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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