Lady In The Water

Lori and I saw "Lady In The Water" today and we both liked it very much. There have been many films this summer I wanted to see but this is the first I actually made it to since I've always enjoyed M. Night Shyamalan's films. Even "The Village" which really pissed me off with its "trick" ending.

"Lady" is an ancient fairy tale dumped into a current day apartment building. Paul Giamatti, doing another fantastic job, is the building superintendent trying to figure out the pieces to make the fairy tale come true and return the Narf he finds in his pool back home.

Along the way he, the other residents and the audience try to figure out who serves what role in the story. There are some enjoyable scenes and insight into the writing process courtesy of the resident film critic who spells out all the obvious roles. This isn't a straight horror film, as some of the ads make it seem, and it certainly isn't a kiddie intended fairy tale either - blurring that line is part of what made Disney drop this project when it was just a script. They were also very concerned with having a film critic character who might offend film critics.

While everyone around the globe seemed to agree the "The Sixth Sense" was amazing, Night's follow ups have split audiences and critics alike. I'm sure "Lady In The Water" will do the same. I really enjoy the slow, quiet brooding of his stories. "Unbreakable" is one of my favorite movies ever, but I've heard many complain that they thought it was completely boring. Lady won me over from the very opening when the myth of the water nymphs and man is first told. I really enjoyed it, there are some laughs, some scares and some chills. In short, it was fun and that is my only goal in seeing a movie.

Poor Homer

Our beloved dog Homer looks like someone punched him in the face. He's got a big shiner under his right eye. It just showed up today, can't tell if it's some sort of bite, allergic reaction or if he picked a fight with a coyote or fisher cat (saw one of those for first time in my life in my own back yard this week, freaky looking).

Was rereading Stephen King's "On Writing" this week in preparation for an online fiction writing class. The book is sort of a personal class in writing direct from Stevie. Anyway, it got me and Lori talking about our favorite Stephen King short stories and we both said the one where a guy is attacked in his apartment by a group of little green army men.

Low and behold, tonight on TNT as part of Nightmares and Dreamscapes miniseries - "Battleground", that very story brought to life. It was very cool and the only hour in television that I know of completely void of dialogue. But really, what is there to say when your at war with a bunch of green plastic army guys?

Oh, and things are getting exciting in "Illegal Aliens" land. The modern film masterpiece is still scheduled to be unleashed this fall and a teaser may soon be hitting the air waves. I've started a page recapping all my previous posts regarding "Illegal Aliens" production, I'll be adding more news as it is available.

NFL Harasses Fan

It's been awhile without any posting action. I got hit with a nasty computer virus earlier this month and couldn't do anything for a few days. Had to eventually bring my PC into the shop for professional help and even they commented how embedded and difficult to remove it was. Then I got busy with a few screenplays I'm working on... and blah blah blah, I didn't end up doing a damn on the web for awhile.

Time to fill you all in on the latest chapter of The National Football League picking fights with it's fans. Amongst the pile of mail waiting for me upon returning from Peru in May was a FedEx envelope from the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton. I don't do any business with that firm so figured it was just some junk mail come-on and it stayed at the bottom of the pile for some time. When I finally did open it, the contents gave me a great laugh. They were complaining about my "unauthorized use of NFL trademarks" across my website. It went on to say they wanted a confirmation that I would remove all advertising or all NFL trademarks by May 17, 2006. That was only a day away from when I was reading this letter, so needless to say, I didn't confirm a damn thing. The funniest thing was that they included "Exhibits A & B" - printouts of my website, just in case I wasn't familiar with myself I guess.

Then today I got another letter; stating that they first wrote to me in February (these guys aren't very skilled with a calendar) and that they didn't receive a response by May 17th as they had requested. Check out the bit of law they want to hang me for "...prohibits any person from using, without authorization, a registered trademark in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any good or services on or in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive."

So I ask you citizens of the world - have you been confused or deceived by visiting afgrant.com? Have the photos and tales of my experiences at New England Patriot football games and Super Bowls caused you to click on some google ad or banner in some twisted state of delirium? If so, I apologize.

I thought being an NFL season ticket holder might give me the right to share my experiences. Guess I've been having non-league-sanctioned thoughts again. The gang at Debevoise & Plimpton reminds me that this "remains a serious situation" and they urge me to contact an attorney.

So if you're a hot shot attorney looking to make a name for yourself by protecting an NFL fan from the NFL, get in touch with me at af@afgrant.com

Red Sox vs. Lost

The two hour season finale for "LOST" is tonight. Sweet! Can't wait. But we're gonna miss it. For the only thing I'd even consider missing it for - we've got tickets for the Red Sox vs Yankees tonight at Fenway. So I will have to shun all media, people, phone calls and email until I've gotten my chance to watch the finale around midnight tonight. The "American Idol" finale is tonight too, but I don't give a shit about that since my bald rocker Chris got the boot. I think the winner of that show loses in real life due to the recording contract they end up in. Contestants who just make it close to the end seem to end up with better careers.

"24" wrapped up a great season Monday night with possibly the best ending ever. Jack Bauer captured by the Chinese who were after him from the previous season, the very reason he had to fake his own death and disappear. Very cool. The next season's "worst day ever" could start just minutes after this season ends. Did you catch the "24" intro for "Family Guy" Sunday night? That was classic.

The soon to be blockbuster motion picture comedy, "Illegal Aliens", is wrapping up post-production and headed for a September release. I've been assured that Larry The Lizard's cameo has not ended up on the cutting room floor, but I forgot to inquire whether my fine thespian skills have been cast aside yet.

While I was off in Peru stories began surfacing about Anna Nicole Smith being pregnant. I just want to go on the record right now and let you all know that neither Larry nor I had anything to do with that.

Slowly Recovering

Hard to believe, but the sun actually came out late yesterday afternoon here in Massachusetts. We hadn't seen it since getting home from Peru and I'm told it had been raining since last Monday. The rain has stopped, but last night our water damage expanded rapidly. Nothing major, the only obvious loss is a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting, but the water is still seeping in. Seeing life along the Amazon, where the river can rise and fall up to 45 feet each year, was perfect timing before this New England flooding. Reminds me how fortunate we are to only have to deal with soggy carpeting.

I'm finally caught up with 24, Lost, Amazing Race, and Survivor. I've almost made it through my 1,000+ emails and still have a pile of unread mail. Can't believe how many people still use snail mail.

Larry The Lizard's Peruvian Adventure is now posted and more will be added on this site later this week. Somehow Larry always gets his pictures posted before I manage to. If you are just starved for entertainment, I've uploaded all 1,133 pictures to Shutterfly. Shared albums can't hold more than 250 pictures - so there are a few albums you can visit:
Amazon #1 (250 Pictures)
Amazon #2 (250 Pictures)
Amazon #3 (133 Pictures)
Machu Picchu (250 pictures)
Cusco (239 Pictures)