Sofia Coppola, Natalie Portman film Dior ad

Christian Dior’s approach to advertising is like Mr. Burns’s approach to baseball: Pack the game with celebrity ringers, and you can’t really lose. Whereas Burns got Darryl Strawberry, Dior this time has gotten Natalie Portman to flounce around a French apartment, bathing with her sunglasses on while Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin’s “Je T’aime Moi Non Plus” plays in the background. Sofia Coppola directed the spot, joining the likes of David Lynch and John Cameron Mitchell in so doing, and Darren Aronofsky has an Yves Saint Laurent perfume ad on the way. They really need to get Spike Lee or Yûdai Yamaguchi to direct one of these things, because the current trend in perfume ads has officially crossed over from glamorous to alienating and dull.