"I say, are you sure this is the way to Porlock? By the by, what's that howling? My my, look up at that full moo-!"

Last year, responding to a post pimping The Man From Porlock's 2nd anniversary, online pal Ryan Kelly asked whether the occasion might technically constitute a birthday instead? I replied that it probably was more accurately a birthday but that there were elements of a marriage as well. That's my tongue-in-cheek way of saying that maintaining a blog is a commitment -- or wait, what's the preferred term these days? Ah, yes: an investment -- but one that continues to be a blast in what is the longest, most serious, most enjoyable relationship I've ever had running. So, what the hell, I'm calling it an anniversary: my third.

One of my resolutions this year was to see and write about more international films, a long-standing blind spot of mine. Looking back through a year's worth of posts, I'm pleased to see reviews of A Christmas Tale, Il Divo, Irma Vep, Goodbye Solo, Sin Nombre, Red Cliff, 35 Shots of Rum, Loves of a Blonde, Army of Shadows, Broken Embraces, and Vincere among them. Nowhere near Ed Howard territory; but for this moviegoer, not bad. Another goal was to become better acquainted with film history, which led to a lengthy piece on Robert Altman: The Oral Biography, followed by a five-part series on Pictures at a Revolution. I was pleasantly surprised by the response toward both of these topics, as well as toward an "Altman Tournament of Champions" that I began purely as a goof only to keep going all the way to a Final Four. And I was delighted that much of the attention derived from either links or tweets by two of my favorite writers, Tom Shone and Roger Ebert. Thank you, both: I'm deeply honored.

In truth, though, I'm thrilled whenever anyone takes the time to post a comment, so this is where I thank all of you: Steven, Jason, Edward, FilmDr, Adam, Kevin, Hokahey, Fernando, Jake, Ed, Jeremy, Tom, Ronak, Greg, Ryan, Dan, Farran, Larry, Stephen, and Stephen, and anyone else I've neglected to mention. Or, if you've never commented but are a regular reader, you have my gratitude as well. Nobody has ever asked me, "How long do you plan to keep blogging?" but if anyone did my answer would be: "As long as it's still fun." Thanks, to all of you, for making it fun.