if you like shitty movies, don't miss "my blueberry nights"

One of the worst movies I've seen in a while. Not a single line of convincing dialogue in the whole thing. Starring Norah Jones (a blank slate), Jude Law (doing his overcaffeinated fop thing), Rachel Weiz (good), David Straitharn (very good), and Natalie Portman (nails-on-chalkboard bad as a sassy, hardscrabble gambling addict).

I've only seen 2046 so I'm no authority on Wong Kar-Wai. As I understand it, his appeal is largely based in his use of a vivid color palette to create a sort of noirish alternate universe for his wounded romantics. I can dig that. But, although there are some beautiful shots, I couldn't have cared less about the characters in my blueberry nights. The whole thing is completely airless, like an actor's workshop or something. Like Rachel Weiz flew in for the day and was told, "now, you've just learned your husband killed himself, you've wanted to be free of him for so long, but now you realize what you had...go!" And she had one of the better performances. Natalie Portman said some stuff that had me looking at my shoes embarrassed. In a darkened theater! When asked by Norah Jones' waitress how she wants her eggs, she says with down-but-not-out, seen-it-all twang, "I don't know darlin', how bout tied up and nailed to the floor?" What in the world does that mean?

btw, fans of the wire should check out "lush life," by richard price, an occasional writer for the dearly departed: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/books/review/Kirn-t.html?_r=2&ref=books&oref=slogin&oref=slogin. A real page-turning crime novel with some of the best dialogue I've ever read.