The Oscar Challenge, or How it's time to work on my reviewing skills

So Oscar nominations came and went and now we have a longer than usual six-weeks to go until the big night. How to entertain ourselves until then? Well, we could try and play pundit and try to imagine the various ways new rules in Live Action Short, Animated Short and Documentary could play out; toy with various Oscar stats and figure out whether Riva can beat Jennifer and Jessica, whether Argo has what it takes to make Oscar history... but that's best left to pros like Nat, Joe or Guy. Instead, I want to flex my film reviewer muscles (which have atrophied a bit) and thus I created for myself the Oscar Challenge of 2013. I have seen most of the nominated films -- a feat I rarely achieve by nomination mornings -- and so from here until the big night, I will be reviewing the 14 films nominated for the Big Eight above-the-line categories, in order from least number of total nominations to most. And yes, you should be surprised that only 14 films hogged over 44 slots with both Supporting Acting slots and the Adapted race being taken up by Best Pic nominees. To think Perks of Being a Wallflower, Kidman, McConaughey, Dowd, Bardem, or Looper could have easily helped spread the wealth around. 

In any case, here are the films: 

The Impossible (C+)

1 nom

Best Actress

The Sessions  (B+)

1 nom

Best Supporting Actress

Moonrise Kingdom (A)
1 nom
Best Original Screenplay 

Flight (C)

2 noms

Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay

The Master (A-)

3 noms

Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actor

Beasts of the Southern Wild (B+)

4 noms

Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Picture

Django Unchained  (C+)

5 noms

Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Supporting Actor, Best Picture

Zero Dark Thirty (A+)

5 noms

Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Actress, Best Picture

Amour (A)

5 noms

Best Actress, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director Best Picture

Argo (A-)

7 noms

Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Supporting Actor, Best Picture

Silver Linings Playbook (B)

8 noms

Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Picture

Les Miserables (C-)

8 noms

Best Original Song, Best Sound Mixing, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Make-Up and Hairstyling, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Picture

Life of Pi (B/B+)

11 noms

Best Original Song, Best Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Director, Best Picture

Lincoln (A-)

12 noms

Best Score, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Picture