Now, I’m no Luddite – I love keeping up with the latest electronics and the advancement of technology – but I have to say that this time I think the industry is missing something significant here. With the advent of technologies that allow for crisper explosions and tighter computer graphic (CG) effects, I can’t help but feel that in the process of high definition, movies have increasingly missed the value of art.

The year 2008 marked the highest point of HD integration, both in cinemas and in homes – adoption increased exponentially from the last year. In this columnist’s opinion, 2008 also marked the lowest point in terms of depth and texture of movies overall. “The Dark Knight,” while a great action film, really missed the mark in terms of character development and exploration, deciding rather to focus on high-tension action scenes and special effects. I wish I could say that the movie was the exception, but across the highest grossing movies, flash abounded but substance declined, from CG effects in movies such as Kung Fu Panda and nuking the fridge in Indiana Jones. Even the Golden Globe for comedy was Sweeney Todd. Come on, Hollywood. A musical? Really?

Now, I’m not out to haphazardly review movies in sound-byte format. Rather, I think there’s something to be said about the effects of high definition resolution, and consequently increased visual effects, on the quality and depth in movies. It seems that the farther we go in terms of effects, the more we lose out on movies that force us to think, that delve into the personas of the characters on screen, that reveal plots that are fully thought out and not haphazardly slapped together to make movies.

I realize that Hollywood caters to the lowest common denominator and that I shouldn’t get my hopes up too much, but they have delivered before, and in no short order. For now, anyway, I’ll go back to re-watching movies of the past, and I sincerely hope that 2009 will prove me wrong.