For a mere civilian like me, CGI is great at manipulating backgrounds, as the Hamptons party scene in "The Wolf of Wall Street," but it still does movement unconvincingly. Like product placement, it takes me out of the movie. And yet I loved the fakery of the bird-stealing-a-baby video and other video hoaxes.
On the other hand, puppet Yoda was not exactly an Oscar-winning practical effect.
On the other other hand, Ray Harryhausen. The fakeness of his technique makes it look somehow more believable.
