theprequelsrule said:

The medium is the message. If you don't think that CGI have a negative effect on how filmmakers approach the creation of a film you have your head up your ass. Does anyone here think that the great epic blockbusters of the pre-CGI era are not superior in nearly every way to the modern garbage we are fed? Yes, I am including overrated mediocrities like LOTR and Avatar as "modern garbage"

A tool is never just a tool. If you don't recognize that you end up like Mr. Lucas.

I don't think CGI has a 'negative effect' in the slightest. Crap is crap. It's always been made. I don't think there's much more of it now than there ever has been. I think we've been "fed" as much garbage since the advent of cinema.

Perhaps from the vantage of your glorious high-horse you can better define what you mean by "great epics" and "modern garbage." Or is this just another fine example of '...kids today... crap... off my lawn... grrrr.... Jar Jar... grrrrr....'

The 1963 classic Jason and the Argonauts is a series of special effects sequences strung together with the slimmest of plots and no ending. Are you counting it as a classic epic? Many do. Perhaps if they hadn't been so obsessed with stop-motion they would have given the story an ending. Or are you comparing Lawrence of Arabia to Attack of the Clones?