for the birds was quite awesome, every pixar movie is great, but the best cg movie ive ever seen was a 5 minute short called 50% grey. I cant find it anywhere to view, ive only seen it twice. it was also nominated for a oscar a couple of years ago for best short film. as far as just special effects, lotr has my vote cuz that opening battle scene in fellowship knocked the wind out of me when i first saw it. and of course, helms deep! oh yeah---the massive engine, the plug-in thingy they used to make those huge battle scenes is now beta and open to the public for ppl who use maya. thought that was pretty cool.