Isn’t it funny how Oscar races can evolve over the span of just a few weeks? Since awards season first began in late December, we’ve seen several key races completely change course, sometimes more than once.

2012 has been widely hailed as an exceptional year for film, but I’m at a loss as to where all these great films are supposed to be. (But then, if we’ve lowered our standards of “greatness” to the point that something like “Silver Linings Playbook” is being proclaimed as a masterwork ... .)

After an extended hiatus, it feels good to be back. I hope everyone had a festive and joyous holiday season, and may the new year bring good fortune and glad tidings to all.

We were in the weeds for most of the summer, and browsing the wide release schedule for the next couple months makes it clear that things are only going to get worse before they get any better. But this too shall pass, and before we know it we’ll all be basking in the sweet, comforting glow of the fall movie season, in the company of Steven Spielberg, P.T. Anderson, Ang Lee and James Bond. But rewards must be earned, and for the time being we’ve just gotta grind it out.

It seems that the light of summer has already begun to dim. The very worthwhile “The Avengers” continues to dominate the global box office, and will for some time, but the release schedule for the coming month or so is a tad worrisome.

Hope you all enjoyed my top 10 list last week, and gleaned some useful recommendations. This week I’ll take a very quick look at “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” which made my “most promising films I didn’t see” list but ended up being one of the most spirit-crushing disappointments of the year. I honestly don’t have much to say about such an empty film, so I suppose I might as well squeeze in my predictions for the Oscar nominations, set to be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at which point you will surely marvel at my peerless prognosticative abilities.

It’s been a very hectic holiday season for me, and I have not fulfilled my role as movie guru nearly as thoroughly as I should have. This has more or less been the case for the majority of the year, actually, and consequently I find that there are a bevy of promising 2011 releases that I simply never got around to seeing (in my defense, the closest most of them ever played was San Francisco).

Just one review this week, as I didn’t make it to “My Week with Marilyn,” playing in limited release. A look at that will come next week, along with reviews of the wide releases “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” and, time permitting, “The Sitter.” The studios’ insistence on conducting a take-no-prisoners December blitz with their prestige pictures has left things a tad crowded for the next few weeks, but I’ll do what I can…

How quickly things can change. Just a week ago, I was so desperate for a movie to review that I actually sat and watched “The Twilight Saga — Breaking Dawn: Part 1” for two hours. (I’ve broken bones, suffered through mono, gotten tattooed and had a wisdom tooth wrenched out of my head without Novocain, but honestly, all pale in comparison to the sheer unpleasantness of the “Twilight” experience.)

See, I told you things were looking up for the summer movie season. This weekend sees the debut of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” which is garnering some very favorable early reviews (I’ll have a look next week), and I hear that “Captain America: First Avenger” is an increasingly rare example of a superhero flick done right. (I was supposed to do a dual review this week to include it, but life intervened. Assume that you have my blessing to see it.)

The summer movie season, after a horrifyingly dull couple of months, may come to a decent close after all. The impeccably written and acted “Horrible Bosses” will be around for a few more weeks (catch it if you haven’t, or face my ire), and the final “Harry Potter” recently opened to great audience approval.

I’ll begin this week’s column on a couple rare personal notes: First, a thank-you to my readers for the influx of positive feedback lately — online and even in person. So much of what I do is seeped in negativity that it’s extraordinarily gratifying to know that my endless toiling in the gulag that is the modern multi-plex is appreciated. Special shout-outs go to Dana DeMoulin, Heather Louise, Stephen Wiebe and “Alex C.” for their humbling words. But bless you every one.

Sometimes — not often, but sometimes — I see a movie so completely worthless that I wish I could dispense with a full review and simply say something like, “‘Larry Crowne’ should be avoided on the grounds that it is stupid, and also Julia Roberts is a hag.’” It’s simple, succinct and tells you everything you need to know.

Pete Swan zips up his fabric suit and swings his long pony tail over his parachute. He walks toward the plane that will take him up 14,000 feet, where he will jump out and spread his wings. Quite literally.

Swan is a leader in a growing field of skydiving enthusiasts who are taking it up a notch by strapping on wingsuits.

When Swan and other adrenaline-junkies jumped out of a plane at Lodi Parachute Center on Thursday, the wingsuits slowed down their freefall and allowed them to float for 1 minute and 45 seconds.

Even Hollywood is beginning to notice the growing trend.

As I’m sure you’ve guessed, we won’t be getting a look at “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” this week or any other week, for that matter, as I’ve gotto  put my foot down somewhere. I’m still suffering some lingering ill effects from “Revenge of the Fallen,” and I simply can’t risk exposure to any more of Michael Bay’s lame BS.

No review of “The Green Lantern” this week. I read from a trusted source that the movie is equivalent to a self-serious episode of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” in which Meatwad’s ability to transform himself into a hot dog or an igloo enables him to save the galaxy. That description —combined with the fact that the movie has been universally panned — made my decision to focus on more relevant issues this week pretty easy. Check back next time for a look at “Cars 2” — reportedly the first sub-par Pixar film, but at least it’s gotta be better than “The Green Lantern.”

Steven Spielberg has been producing films for more than 30 years now, and it is becoming increasingly unclear what, exactly, the Spielberg production credit means at this point. In 1982, with “Poltergeist,” it meant that he essentially ghost-directed the film, by all credible accounts. Decades and hundreds of millions of dollars later, the man seems to be slapping his name on anything he can get his hands on, with little to no concern for the actual quality of the production. (“Eagle Eye,” anyone? I thought not.)

Vacation season is almost upon us, and few people have more reason to be excited than I do. After about a year of 100-hour work weeks split between several different jobs (including serving as a substitute teacher for Stockton Unified School District — ouch), I’m more than ready for the precious few days I get to spend with Heather living the high life at Disneyland.

It's spring, so it's time for Cop Show Quiz III. (I like using Roman numerals, sort of like the Super Bowl.)

I  spent much of 2010 bemoaning the sad state of Hollywood studio filmmaking. But looking over a roster of the year’s most worthwhile releases, it struck me that it might not have been such a bad year after all. If you’re simply looking at the number of good films released, then 2010 was certainly not one for the books — but if you focus on the quality of the very best releases, few as they may have been, things start to look a bit different.

Before we jump into a brief, free-flowing discussion of auteurism — and how it relates to my lack of a review this week — I wanted to take a moment to remind my legions of adoring fans to drop by Battle Royale and contribute to the debate. We’re still discussing our favorite movie scenes of all time, and as soon as we get our assigned weekly updates worked out, you can expect daily-ish posts on all manner of movie-related nonsense.

1) Opening Sequence ("Gangs of New York," Dir. Martin Scorsese)

Sure, it's easy to rattle off a list of your favorite movies -- but what about your favorite individual scenes? This can be tricky, because even your favorite films don't necessarily have a specific scene that stands out above all others. And I'm not talking about scenes you "like"; I'm talking about the scenes that make you want to throw on a DVD at 3 a.m. when you're tired and drunk and slovenly but can't bear the thought of going to bed before you catch just that one scene... for the 250th time.