Quote - And yes- you CAN tell the difference between real-time (nowadays called "practical" effects) and CG effects, as the CG stuff usually doesn't usually conform to the laws of physics and thermodynamics that guys like me have to keep in mind with doing stuff, even with the numerous physics plug-ins available for MAYA or any of the other software packages they use.  

I did my BA Hons in creative modelmaking 10 years or so ago and found that even then more and more people wanted cgi rather than practical models. Even with architectural work, many clients prefer to see cgi rendered "beauty shots" and virtual environments than physical models.
CGI in films can be good or bad, even if the actual effects are good. (Possibly down to the director or studio).
If a film is science fiction for example the laws of phyics could be broken, bent, whatever.
In other movies, the best cgi special effects are the ones that you do not know are cgi.
Unfortunately as directors, studios, whoever want over the top explosions and effects that look good in trailers, they completely loose the sense of reality, and action films for example become more science fiction. Just because you can use a cgi stunt double to fall 50 feet then get up without a scratch on him, doesn't mean that you should.
Before it sounds like I'm dissing cgi in action movies etc altogether, I'm not. When used for certain things for example fire and water (near impossible to get scaled properly with small scale models) and digital set extensions etc they can be far superior to practical models.

Daz Studio 4.8 and 4.9beta, Blender 2.78, Sketchup, Poser Pro 2014 Game Dev SR5 on Windows 8 Pro x64. Poser Display Units are inches