As of today, I’ve seen all nine of the Best Picture nominated films of 2012.  To celebrate, here’s a haiku for each.

	Amour Love, Haneke style: which means this movie really should have been called Haine.
	Argo Fake movie saves lives! Is it any wonder that this will win best pic?
	Beasts of the Southern Wild Katrina story with little girl narrator: funny, sweet, and sad.
	Django Unchained There’s a lot in here: blood, guts, jokes, and passion — but it’s just too damn long.
	Les Misérables Interminable bombast of zooming, singing. Crowe, keep your day job.
	Life of Pi Parker, fake tiger. Was I watching Avatar? It’s no Cast Away.
	Lincoln Daniel Day-Lewis is Honest Abe incarnate but all else is snooze.
	Silver Linings Playbook Cooper and Lawrence have kooky sparks aplenty and dance moves as well.
	Zero Dark Thirty By-the-numbers film well made and well acted…but where’s Abu Nazir?

Beasts of the Southern Wild has less than zero dark thirty chance of winning, but it was my favorite film of last year.  For a dramatic movie that depicts the downtrodden without any filters, it made me laugh more than most comedies.  This movie also gets additional kudos for managing to tell its story in 93 minutes.  Less is more!

Silver Linings Playbook is the best pic on deck — who knew that Bradley Cooper had this performance in him?  And De Niro’s bedside speech is perhaps the best work he’s done in the last decade.  The third act is goofy and rote, and I think just about everyone knew (spoiler three words ahead!) that the letter from the wife was a fake, but there was enough goodwill built up in the first two acts that made it forgivable.