Liars and Saints

*Renee Zellweger will win the Oscar for playing Judy Garland, and this is another case of a movie star playing a (different) movie star. (Think of Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer, ScarJo as Janet Leigh, Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly, Robert Downey, Jr. as Chaplin.) What IS rare is when a star-impersonates-older-star performance wins an Oscar. This happened for a supporting role in "Ed Wood"; it happened for "The Aviator." (Something in the same ballpark happened with "Ray," but Ray wasn't a movie star; Ray was a musician. Same for Witherspoon in "Walk the Line." And Spacek as Loretta Lynn.) *No one thinks that Ms. Zellweger really should get an Oscar this time around. The buzz is that the year's best performance came from Alfre Woodard, in "Clemency"; Ms. Woodard wasn't nominated. *Each year, the Times critics list their ideal nominees for the performance awards. It's striking that, in three of four cases, the...

Her Hits, Ranked (Weakest to Greatest) (4) "The Man That Got Away." I think this song would not fare well if it were released today, because it really isn't a self-empowerment anthem. But I love how desperate the heroine is. She just wants her man back! Who could fail to relate? I particularly like when the heroine attempts self-delusion: "Good riddance! Goodbye! Every trick of his you're on to... But fools will be fools. And WHERE'S HE GONE TO? I also love the repetition of "up." "With hope you burn up....tomorrow, he might turn up...THERE'S JUST NO LET-UP...!" Take THAT, Cardi B! (3) "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I'm no great fan of Oz. And heaven knows this song is over-used. Also, how serious is the speaker? Does Dorothy really think there's a land "above the chimney tops"? In other words, is she struggling with lunacy? In any case, I like the troubles "melting like lemon-drops." And ...