The Golden Fang building is definitely CGI.
Forgot about that. I also really like that shot... Phoenix staring, holding his hat, camera moving up, etc.
It's been a while since I read
Inherent Vice but I'm pretty sure the novel had a few other scenes that would have demanded CGI but Anderson went another way with it.
Basically every single thing out there has at least some VFX work in it, even if its only to paint out a boom pole or signage
I never thought about it this way. I do know about Fincher doing a lot of covert CGI stuff, but I just never really made the jump to assume it's happening in every single movie to some extent, arthouse or otherwise.
Nothing inherently wrong with it. Like, just to be clear, I wasn't trying to say he's betraying his own sensibilities simply by utilizing digital effects or whatever. My thought is really just... as a first impression, when thinking about PTA and digital effects, it's just kind of an odd pairing in my mind.
Even the idea of him sitting there and supervising the CGI for the Golden Fang building is a slightly peculiar visual, lol.
And yeah, I doubt he'll ever make a "CGI extravaganza thing." With regards to that, I do think it is a matter of his sensibilities. I think he's said more than once now that he thinks the actor is "the best special effect" (or however that comment was worded). And, to his credit, I think he's also very interested in the texture and age of actual buildings and objects. I'm assuming that sort of thing won't ever take a backseat to CGI (even if he one day decides to do a sci-fi film and is somehow granted a sizeable budget).