James Cameron is always on the brink of revolution. Really, the dude needs to take a breather. At this year’s CinemaCon, the tech-centric director couldn’t shut up about 3D, faster frame rates and improved camera systems while everyone around him was salivating for a detail or two on his plans for the Avatar sequels. Forget that — there are shutter speeds to be discussed! We’re all about Peter Jackson hyping The Hobbit shooting 48 fps on RED digital 3D and legendary effects guru Douglas Trumbull heading back to directing with a tech-first approach, but at some point, isn’t the equipment standing in the way of great storytelling? We’ll give the benefit of the doubt to these three men, but whether any of their advancements are really “the future of movies,” won’t be known for a few years. Unfortunately, just because you’re brilliant and you say something is awesome…doesn’t mean it’s awesome. Here’s a look back at some of the other “game-changing” inventions that were supposed to change the way we watch movies, but never really picked up steam.

We all know that Nazis loved making lampshades out of people, but they apparently also really dug 3D filmmaking as well. If that isn’t the real nail in the coffin for its popularity, Walter Murch certainly doesn’t stand a chance in killing it. According to The Guardian, an Australian filmmaker Philippe Mora has discovered two short movies made by Nazi Germany in 1936 that were shot in 3D. One of them was Avatar. How spooky is that? Actually, one is about bratwurst on the fire and the other was called Six Girls Roll Into Weekend, so what it’s about is anyone’s guess. Fortunately, these movies are bound to be featured in Mora’s documentary How the Third Reich Was Recorded. The piece suggests that the Germans were ahead of the game when it came to 3D, but the first confirmed 3D film is still all American (and dates back to 1922). Sure, the Golden Era wasn’t until the 1950s, but finding two German flicks doesn’t scream Golden Era either (especially since they might have had their minds on something other than eye-popping movies). Regardless of whether it’s universally groundbreaking or not though, it’s still a fascinating discovery, and it sounds like a compelling documentary.

This week, on a very special episode or Reject Radio, Landon Palmer attempts to explain why his fascination with nun orgies hasn’t gotten his Masters degree taken away from him.