'Composite' filter command in function

How do I do to get back to (roughly) the same line in
the file as I was on after executing a filter command
on the whole file? The function below *works*, but I
have a nagging feeling that I used to know how to do it
in a simpler (and hopefully less rough!) way with
builtins.

Is there any way to count paragraphs (instances of
/\n\s*\n ) before the current line and get back to the
right paragraph based on that?

Is there a way to call a function with a range and have
the function act on the whole range once rather than
line by line, so that I don't have to give the range
as arguments to the function?

function! FilterAndGoBack(filter,...)
let atline = line(".")
let first = 1
let last = "$"
if a:0 > 0
let first = a:1
endif
if a:0 > 1
let last = a:2
endif
exe ":".first.",".last."!".a:filter
exe ":normal ".atline."G"
endfunction

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