As some commentors in the article pointed out, there's good CGI and there's bad GCI, it's not universal nor is it something that's inherent to the medium and practical isn't always great or perfect either. A lot of what determines whether effects work, practical or CG, is any good depends on a lot of factors such as the time and money allocated to effects. the effects supervisor, and last but certainly not least is the director. The process for FX shot starts with a concept or an idea in the script, the director will flesh it to his/her effects supervisor who will then in turn work with the effects house(s) to create the shot, it will go through several iterations until the lead or supervisor is happy and thinks that it's what the director wants, it will then get shown to the effects supervisor who will give their feedback and once they accept it they'll pass it on the director who will give a final thumbs up or down on the sequence. So, ultimately, bad FX is the fault of the director although there are mitigating factors at times.
Anyone who thinks practical is always better should go back and watch some of the old Gamera movies where they don't even bother to try to hide that they're using tiny models. CGI has done some really wonderful things. It's also done some crappy stuff. But then, there was crappy stuff before.
The other things that some commentors pointed in the article pointed out that although people like to complain about CG being used a lot, there's actually a lot more CG and effects work that are in basic comedies and dramas where you wouldn't think that there was any CG in it. The fact that most people either don't know or don't notice the post work says, to me, that a lot of these complaints are baseless and much of it is just bandwagon jumping.
Two things.
1. I think the CGI people notice and is bad is a problem because it's CGI that's
meant to be noticed. It usually appears in some big action sequence or as part of a spectacle. When something like that fails, it fails in a big, noticeable way. Again, the Scorpion King CG from The Mummy II is a perfect example. This is THE big moment in the film, and the quality...just isn't there. By contrast, a sequence in a comedy where something just looks a little off for a second probably will go unnoticed because it isn't right in your face.
2. I think shifts in color timing have a lot to do with how people view films nowadays. What with the tendency towards orange or blue timing, rather than "normal" timing, I think people are already sort of primed to see artificiality because everything already looks artificial and like it's from a video game. When the entire world already looks like that, you may find your eye wandering to try to spot sequences that just don't ring true.
Actually, lately, I find that my personal bugbear about visuals in film is color timing itself, rather than CGI. I accept that CGI is here to stay and that the real trick is creating more effective lighting so you don't quite notice it, rather than highlighting it with shots like the A-Team tank drop shot. But more importantly, I think more natural color timing would help a lot. I can understand tinting a picture to create a kind of feel, but it seems like a lot of action films don't really "get" that and just do color timing a particular way because...uh...that's how you're supposed to do it.
For example, the old Twin Peaks show was shot very "red" to give the visual feel of a warm, welcoming environment. This visual "feel" stood as a counterpoint to all the crap lurking beneath the surface of the town, and it creates a wonderful dichotomy. Likewise, in the Matrix films, the Matrix itself is tinted green to create a feeling of unreality and lifelessness. That's a conscious choice. Nowadays, though, it seems that films are tinted this way or that way just...uh...because. It's so ubiquitous that it's almost become unnoticeable.