Catching Up, and Coming Up

First of all, my continued gratitude for those who are reading here.... And especially for your thoughtful comments.  I had fallen behind on my replies, but I believe I have more or less caught up today.

I want to make special mention of a few loyal readers, whose own web-logs have given me a lot of pleasure and information, and whose comments are highly anticipated and appreciated.  I look forward to visiting you regularly:

Walter at The Silver Screening Room has just done a retrospective on the Academy Awards for the movie year 1974.  This is a significant year for my cinematic appreciation and Oscar-love.  Walter beat me to my own retrospective, four years in advance!  It's a great series, and he watched a lot of films to prepare it.  We should challenge each other to cover another year, together....

Andrew at Encore's World of Film and TV continues his eclectic analyses of movies old and new with a countdown to his birthday.  He has selected many interesting and varied movie topics, from the films of Scorsese to his aversion to the horror genre, from comedy to Oscars to Eastwood.  Wonder what the Birthday Post will offer us?

Ben at Runs Like a Gay provides valuable news about films in production to whet our appetites for future releases.  I also enjoy his personal running diaries, his stories of his life on stage, and his celebrity birthday recognitions, which showcase some of my favorites who might otherwise be forgotten. Special thanks to you for responding to my more obscure pieces...

Luke at Journalistic Skepticism is back from his recent move and his adjustment to the world of professional journalism.  He is determined to second-guess the Motion Picture Academy, adjusting his predictions like a Vegas odds maker.  I especially love his views on his favorite films, and his frequent contests in which readers are asked to identify a film from 4 still shots.  They're not easy, but SO fun to guess correctly!!

COMING UP:
--My long delayed essay on Temple Grandin, and "Temple Grandin", the award-winning HBO film biography of this remarkable woman.
--The first in my series on Film Criticism today
--YES!  "The Tree of Life"