Top 10 Movie Gimmicks

The gimmick: When Monsters vs. Aliens hits theaters on March 27, it will be the surest sign yet that 3-D movies are in the midst of one of their periodic revivals. The animated film will join recent releases like My Bloody Valentine 3-D, Jonas Brothers: 3-D Concert Experience, and Coraline in busting off the silver screen (with the aid of a goofy set of glasses, of course.)

This isn't the first time pundits have heralded 3-D technology as the future of cinema. As early as 1922, a New York theater was showing a rudimentary series of 3-D films dubbed Movies of the Future. The format gained widespread acceptance in the 1950s with schlocky films such as Vincent Price's House of Wax. Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder (above) was possibly the pinnacle of the movement, and while the format gradually died down, there have been spurts of (unfortunate) interest ever since — Jaws 3-D, anyone?

The result: Box office returns from the recent 3-D slate have been mixed, but this latest revival may have legs. By the end of the year, more than a dozen films will be released in 3-D. Maybe the future is finally here to stay.