Some of you may have noticed that there have been quite a few forays into the third dimension at your local theater. I mean, as represented on the screen.

Of course, the theaters themselves are three-dimensional. If they were two-dimensional, for one thing, the Coke would always be flat.

So, with Avatar, How to Train Your Dragon, Alice in Wonderland, and other films engaging audiences in heretofore unknown visual molestations, the die is cast, and Hollywood is embracing this new wave of sensory immersion.

Avatar especially, having been created as a technical demonstration of what James Cameron's new 3-D cameras are capable of just as much as anything else, shines as an example what 3-D can do. It doesn't necessarily have as many moments when things jump out at you as it does a constant feel of being there. You watch that movie in 3-D, and you feel like you're on Pandora … or maybe like you've taken a little bit too much acid.

In coming months, and probably years, you'll see a lot of 3-D options at the ticket office. As long as the flicks make the money (adding the 3-D element is an opportunity to up ticket prices, as well), they will keep on coming. Buy stock in RealD now; sell it in about a year.

Classic updates in 3-D will include the original Star Wars trilogy, which has been in the process of being updated pretty much since the last "special edition" was released. But it's not just space where mankind will be feeling the force of the third dimension. We'll get a chance right here on earth — specifically, Gotham City.

That's right: The Caped Crusader himself will be comin' at ya! At least that's what the rumors say. Look for the next Batman movie, directed by Christopher Nolan, to be filmed for IMAX, for 3-D, for IMAX 3-D, and probably for Smellovision while you're at it.

By the way, why is it only action and horror movies get the 3-D treatment? What if I want to feel like I'm in the hospital room with J-Lo when she's having a baby in The Back-up Plan? Or what if I want to go back and stand between Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw when he says, "Love means never having to say you're sorry"? I'm just wondering.

Haven't we been here before?

Prequels will soon be the flavor of the land. While talks abound of a Robert Downey Jr. recapturing imaginations as the "Great and Powerful Oz," other stories are getting stories before their stories.

Sure, this is nothing new. It was around even before George Lucas slapped the label "Episode IV" onto the first Star Wars movie, leading us to wonder what happened before all this crazy Rebellion vs. the Empire business that brought us to where we are now.

No, the idea of revisiting characters before their big story plays out is nothing new. Ever since, somewhere, some studio exec came up with the idea (or heard someone say it and then took the credit himself), we've had stories to tell the story of the story for several storied years.

The question is, what's wrong with having that mysterious guy around, the one who we don't know where he came from? Isn't the mystery why we like some of these figures?

For some of them, like Batman, their origin is the defining moment; it's what made them what they are. For others, like Darth Vader, Wolverine, James Bond, and the Wizard of Oz, I'm okay not knowing — especially if the story is going to turn out to be disappointing.

It's like Sun Tzu said: "Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting. This is not logical, but it is often true." Or was that Spock?

I don't know about you, but when I already know the score at the end of the game, going back to watch the entire first quarter doesn't really hold the same amount of interest for me.

We know where the Wizard winds up. Do we really need to watch two hours of him wheeling and dealing his way from being a circus charlatan to being the Emerald jackass he becomes? Let it go, Hollywood. Let it go.

One last question: Did we really need Dumb and Dumberer?

The Old Dog days of summer

Remember when I was telling you about a movie with Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis in it? You thought I was kidding, didn't you? Didn't you!?!

Well, The Expendables is a fact, and it's opening in August. You might have even seen a preview last month when Kick-Ass showed, but I'm sure you'll see much more leading up to its August 13 release.

I know, it sounds like a joke:

Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Mickey Rourke walk into a bar.

The bartender says, "What!? No Jean-Claude Van Damme?"

Ha ha.

Once I get done watching Iron Man 2, Prince of Persia, The A-Team, Inception, and Salt (and get dragged unwillingly to Sex and the City 2) and spend far too much energy avoiding the latest Twilight movie, I can't wait to see The Expendables!

By the way, did anyone else notice something odd about Iron Man and Iron Man 2? I'm just saying that there is a lot of commercial tie-in with the band AC/DC for a character with the name of a Black Sabbath song. I'm just saying.