VNC remote doesn't work with Ubuntu?

I have the same issue. I don't know how to fix it, but I came up with a decent work-around. I added a launcher on the top panel to switch to the Metacity window manager.

1. Right click on the panel and click "Add to Panel..."
2. Choose "Custom Application Launcher" and click "Add"
3. Type whatever you want for the name. I called it "Metacity"
4. Type "metacity --replace" (without the quotes) for the command
5. Optionally fill in the comment box and choose an icon (I used vinagre.png since I run it from VNC)

When I log in remotely, the first thing I do is click the Metacity launcher, and the screen starts updating correctly.

I have fusion-icon installed, so I use it to switch back instead of making a launcher for Compiz. If you want to use a launcher to switch back to Compiz, follow the same steps for Metacity, but use the command "compiz --replace".