Liars and Saints

The Academy Awards! Reliably among the most boring TV spectacles in any annual schedule. Awarding work that sometimes isn't distinguished, awarding work that sometimes isn't even very good. And yet: the gowns! The occasional triumph of a deserving movie, such as "Spotlight"! Trivia! As John Waters has said, "If you aren't obsessed, you are NOTHING." Join me in this trivial obsession! -A woman once won an Oscar for playing a man. She was Caucasian, and she was playing an Asian man. This wouldn't fly today. People loved the movie; the actress is still alive; and she seems, still, to take pride in her performance. -Timothy Hutton won for "Ordinary People"--youngest ever, in that category--and then he did *not* disappear. He didn't! You could see him as the head coach in season two of that relentlessly gloomy soap opera, "American Crime," not to be confused with "American Crime Story." He was facing off against sli...

Bored at work? Frustrated with people who aren't returning your calls? It's time to contemplate the greatness of Michelle Pfeiffer. -Ms. Pfeiffer has been called a character actress in a movie star's body. In other words, she is stunningly beautiful but also she is an idiosyncratic and surprising performer. My husband wondered if Ms. Pfeiffer's dazzling beauty has actually kept her from being taken as seriously as we might wish; I doubt this. Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, and Natalie Portman are all glamorous and lovely people who also have Academy Awards. -I do think that Ms. Pfeiffer made some questionable choices at the peak of her career. She was wanted--ardently--for "Thelma and Louise." She said no. People wanted her for "Silence of the Lambs"--but the material was, in her view, "too dark." Just imagine what could have been! -During her hiatus from acting, Ms. Pfeiffer painted. Yes! She made paintings. She couldn't stop her...