Tip of the hat

We interrupt our regularly scheduled end-of-the-year meltdown run down to bring you this message. 
Bit of explanation. In addition to my duties as a movie reviewer and columnist, I still handle courier duty for the flagship paper of this publication. The “in / out” boxes for us couriers are located in a bookcase in the back of the building, meaning that even though it’s right next to the break area and bathroom it’s easy for one of us to miss something if we’re in a hurry or we’re paying attention to something else (like the climate control, which is also in that area). This is how I managed to miss the fact that one of the customers on my route had sent me a Christmas card: I kept overlooking it by accident, and in the usual hustle of the holidays I somehow wasn’t alerted to its presence. 
So to the customer who sent me the card, thank you. It took me a while to find it, which is why this is coming out so late. But yes, I appreciate it. 
…Especially since the enclosed tip will be put right back into this column and the movie reviews. 
Long-time readers of papers that run my movie review might recall that I periodically run “retro” reviews, reviews of older movies, specials, and direct – to – video - releases. This started as an improvised thing back in late 2013 when “Frozen” did so well that the corporate ownership of the local theater decided at the last minute to hold what should have been the new release of the weekend after so “Frozen” could continue screening unopposed. I hastily put together three reviews over the course of a single weekend and allowed one of my editors to decide which one he preferred. 
A few months later, while mulling over the rather massive assortment of DVDs I had handy, I decided to go ahead and make it a regular thing: every time I watched the full, uncut version of something (thus excluding most TV broadcasts), I’d do a review. I’d then stockpile these reviews against a time when I’d need them again, something that has indeed happened (I used how many in 2017?). This way, whatever comes – no new releases, my inability to make it out, et cetra – things would go on uninterrupted. 
As one can imagine, in the nearly four years since, I’ve assembled a fair number of these “retro” reviews. So many, in fact, that I could nearly run them for an entire year. Hence why earlier this year I was asking if people were interested in a second review column, one entirely made *of* these reviews of older works. 
I make it a point of pride to – whenever possible – acquire my films through legitimate means (Yes, I know I reviewed the ‘94 “Fantastic Four”…). New physical copies and new purchases through legitimate sites like iTunes put money in the hands of the creative talents and rights owners, while used legit physical copies reimburse someone who already did. (Advertisers, meanwhile, pay the bills on those cable channels that run uncut content.) Acquiring legit does get expensive after a while, and your generous gift is helping to off-set that. As I speak, I’ve got a sports film downloading on iTunes, and an Elizabeth Taylor number is in the queue after that. Might get some others later; things download slowly on my end, so I have to be careful what I do at a time. 
So yeah – thanks again for your patronage. It’s really going to help out this year.