Wednesday, November 17, 2004
I Don't Understand IMAX
I've only ever seen two movies in an IMAX theater. I've been in one of those theaters three times, however. Every time, I've left slightly disappointed and/or underwhelmed.
The first time I entered an Imax theater was in either late 1995 or early 1996. I was going to school in New York, and was a pretty big fan of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast. That year Cartoon Network and a consortium of sponsers (including DGC Records) put together a Space Ghost planetarium tour. In New York they held it in an IMAX theater, for some reason, instead of in an actual planetarium. It was actually kind of lame. To get the free tickets you had to go wait in line for an hour or two at Tower Records a few weeks before the event. There they had grunts in Moltar and Zorak costumes flanking a vaguely hot lady in a tight Cartoon Network t-shirt who handed out the passes. The show itself consisted of two old episodes of the show, some bad music videos (including stuff from Boss Hog and Southern Culture on the Skids), a few new Space Ghost interstitials, and one new episode of the show that eventually aired on CN a few months later. They broadcast this in the middle of the ginormous screen, not even using one-quarter of the total space available. It really was disappointing. I also didn't win the grand prize in the raffle, which, if I remember correctly, was a private concert by SCOTS in Florida during a space shuttle launch, or something like that.
A year or two later I went to the IMAX at Fernbank and watched a film about jellyfish. It was nice. There were some gorgeous visuals, and I learned a fair amount about those amazing jellies. But a National Geographic special would have taught me even more, and without overloading my senses and inducing vertigo.
In January of 2000 my mother and I watched Fantasia 2000 on the IMAX screen at the Mall of Georgia. Parts of the movie were weak, but overall I enjoyed it tremendously. It was a bit overwhelming, though, and gave me a bit of a headache.
I bring this up for a reason. I have a co-worker named Tony; he's pretty cool. He's a temp who's always reading Foreign Affairs on his lunchbreak. We had a good discussion about Nixon, Vietnam, and the early '70's after he noticed me reading Daniel Ellsberg's book. He also really likes The Office and Netflix. But so I found out the other day that his dream (which he has been working toward for the last nine or so years) is to make an IMAX movie about air combat. He's apparently met with various financiers and investors and producers over the past decade, looking for funding, and trying to convince them that, despite having absolutely no film experience or education whatsoever, he could direct such a movie. He's met with military officials, and even though they like the concept the government won't contribute any money or equipment. Thus he's looked into the possibility of buying surplus aircraft from the former Soviet Union. He's completely serious about this, and even though I don't really like IMAX or military documentaries, I have to respect his abiding dedication to such an unusual and marginal goal.
I've only ever seen two movies in an IMAX theater. I've been in one of those theaters three times, however. Every time, I've left slightly disappointed and/or underwhelmed.
The first time I entered an Imax theater was in either late 1995 or early 1996. I was going to school in New York, and was a pretty big fan of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast. That year Cartoon Network and a consortium of sponsers (including DGC Records) put together a Space Ghost planetarium tour. In New York they held it in an IMAX theater, for some reason, instead of in an actual planetarium. It was actually kind of lame. To get the free tickets you had to go wait in line for an hour or two at Tower Records a few weeks before the event. There they had grunts in Moltar and Zorak costumes flanking a vaguely hot lady in a tight Cartoon Network t-shirt who handed out the passes. The show itself consisted of two old episodes of the show, some bad music videos (including stuff from Boss Hog and Southern Culture on the Skids), a few new Space Ghost interstitials, and one new episode of the show that eventually aired on CN a few months later. They broadcast this in the middle of the ginormous screen, not even using one-quarter of the total space available. It really was disappointing. I also didn't win the grand prize in the raffle, which, if I remember correctly, was a private concert by SCOTS in Florida during a space shuttle launch, or something like that.
A year or two later I went to the IMAX at Fernbank and watched a film about jellyfish. It was nice. There were some gorgeous visuals, and I learned a fair amount about those amazing jellies. But a National Geographic special would have taught me even more, and without overloading my senses and inducing vertigo.
In January of 2000 my mother and I watched Fantasia 2000 on the IMAX screen at the Mall of Georgia. Parts of the movie were weak, but overall I enjoyed it tremendously. It was a bit overwhelming, though, and gave me a bit of a headache.
I bring this up for a reason. I have a co-worker named Tony; he's pretty cool. He's a temp who's always reading Foreign Affairs on his lunchbreak. We had a good discussion about Nixon, Vietnam, and the early '70's after he noticed me reading Daniel Ellsberg's book. He also really likes The Office and Netflix. But so I found out the other day that his dream (which he has been working toward for the last nine or so years) is to make an IMAX movie about air combat. He's apparently met with various financiers and investors and producers over the past decade, looking for funding, and trying to convince them that, despite having absolutely no film experience or education whatsoever, he could direct such a movie. He's met with military officials, and even though they like the concept the government won't contribute any money or equipment. Thus he's looked into the possibility of buying surplus aircraft from the former Soviet Union. He's completely serious about this, and even though I don't really like IMAX or military documentaries, I have to respect his abiding dedication to such an unusual and marginal goal.
