Anchorhead said:

It would seem to me that it can't be the art of film making that's at the root because there are things being done now that are so real that we don't always know when we're seeing CGI, truly incredible things. My guess is that it has something more to do with age. Maybe we're less likely to accept new trusted companions as we grow older. Maybe we can't be moved at the same level we were when we were young, at least not where films are concerned.

I still say CGI killed the modern day movie, and because they are so profitable, they just don't try to make as many 'good story/character driven' movies they had in the past.

Look at Transformers, that movie is raking in millions and millions, why wouldn't a studio capitalize on this and try to make something like this in the future? Why make a drama that the older crowd will go to once or may wait for it on DVD, when you can make some mindless CGI-action film that teenagers will see 3-4 times. I don't blame studios because they are doing the $mart thing as to their bottom line, but they also are lowering the bar for movies in general.

So what we get now are the 'dramas' at the end of the year, as all of them come out from Thanksgiving to Christmas, as they compete for an oscar and are geared towards adults. Usually, there are about 10-12 movies that fall into that category. From May 1st to the end of August are the summer CGI movies that appeal to kids/teenagers. Then from January to April and September to October are usually the thrillers, horrors, comedies that don't want to compete with the crowded summer movies, but still cater to teenagers/20 somethings.

I realized this about 5-6 years ago, when the only time I wanted to see a movie was around Christmas, and then I looked up great movies from the past, and saw Goodfellas came out in September 1990, and movie like Witness came out in February 1985. We aren't different cause a good movie is still a good movie, just times are different, IMO.