FALL PREVIEW: MOZART AND MORISSETTE, OPRAH AND TRAVOLTA, STEPHEN KING, ALICE WALKER--EVEN ELTON JOHN'S "AIDA.' HAPPY HARVEST.
THERE'S SOMETHING PRIMAL ABOUT IT. EVERY fall, book publishers, record companies, film studios and entertainment conglomerates start cranking out product like there's no tomorrow. It puts the deskbound critic back in touch with natural cycles--like the pastoral harvest time in Keats's "Autumn Ode," in which a personified Autumn and the sun conspire to "load and bless/ With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run." Our offices are stacked to the thatch-eves with bound galleys, advance CDs and press releases; this time of year, art proliferates as relentlessly as zucchinis. And no sooner does one crop die down than another starts coming on. As leaves begin to turn, you get the big books and more modest films (i.e., the ones that cost under $100 million). Along about November, the blockbuster movies have ripened. By Thanksgiving, you feel like the guy in Robert Frost's "After Apple-Picking"--"overtired/ Of the great harvest I myself desired."
What follows is neither an all-inclusive list nor a "best of" guide--we don't know what a lot of this new work's going to be like, either. It's simply our guesses as to what might interest people this fall--and, in a few cases, what might last for years to come. Here are shopping-mall movies and coterie films, probable best-selling novels and possible cult favorites, music by both multiplatinum pop stars and the merely deserving. Here's stuff we're looking forward to and stuff we're dreading (sorry, Marilyn), work people are going to be talking about and work they would be talking about if they'd ever heard of it. Things people will shell out for--if the market doesn't keep going south--and things they should. So have we covered ourselves enough? Should we quote more poetry? Or just get it on?
September
MOVIES
Rounders. Matt Damon, Edward Norton. Dir. John Dahl. Two poker hustlers on the make and on the run. Norton, who plays the sleazier one, should hit the jackpot.
Touch of Evil. Janet Leigh, Charlton Heston, Marlene Dietrich, Orson Welles. Dir. Orson Welles. The 1958 border-town-noir classic, restored and re-edited from Welles's newly found notes.
One True Thing. Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger, William Hurt. Dir. Carl Franklin. An ambitious young journalist puts her career on hold when her mother gets cancer. From Anna Quindlen's novel.
Permanent Midnight. Ben Stiller, Elizabeth Hurley. Dir. David Veloz. Scary, graphic true story of a sitcom writer with a heroin habit.
A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries. Barbara Hershey, Kris Kristofferson. Dir. James Ivory. The new Merchant-Ivory film, about an adolescent girl and her father living in Paris. Based on an autobiographical novel by James Jones's daughter.
Ronin. Robert De Niro, Jean Reno. Dir. John Frankenheimer. Ex-intelligence agents chase a briefcase around Europe. They don't know what's in it, but we bet it's something important.
Pecker. Edward Furlong, Christina Ricci. Dir. John Waters. Worker in a Baltimore sandwich shop becomes the toast of the New York art world, thanks to his photos of his oddball family. Despite the title, it's said to be fairly mild--for Waters.
BOOKS
Voyage of the Narwhal. Andrea Barrett. Her "Ship Fever" won the 1996 National Book Award. She's back with a historical novel about a 19th-century polar expedition.
Birds of America. Lorrie Moore. A new story collection from one of the smartest writers going.
Collected Fictions. Jorge Luis Borges. All the stories of the late enigmatic Argentine master, newly translated.
The Loop. Nicholas Evans. A.k.a. "The Wolf Whisperer." A wildlife biologist vs. a charismatic rancher.
Bag of Bones. Stephen King. Now that he's been in "Best American Short Stories," King's going for literary cachet. But he still offers the usual--a blocked writer up in Maine, spooks haunting the scene of a decades-old crime.
Welcome to the World, Baby Girl. Fannie Flagg. The first novel from this heartland favorite since the much-loved "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" in 1987.
Thurgood Marshall. Juan Williams. A revelatory biography of the first black Supreme Court justice.
Lasso the Wind. Timothy Egan. A New York Times reporter--and a fine stylist--wrestles with myth and reality in the new West.
Lindbergh. A. Scott Berg. A new bio of a weird American icon. He flew the Atlantic solo. The nation suffered with him when his child was kidnapped. Then he was accused of cozying up to Hitler.
Cinderella and Company. Manuela Hoelterhoff. Many a night at the opera. Hoelterhoff went backstage with Cecilia Bartoli--whose colleagues may not thank her for letting such a sharp-eyed reporter within a mile of them.
MUSIC
George Gershwin. The centennial tribute at Carnegie Hall (which includes "Rhapsody in Blue" with Michael Tilson Thomas at the piano) will be broadcast on PBS.
A Streetcar Named Desire. The San Francisco Opera introduces Andre Previn's first opera, based on the Tennessee Williams play. Renee Fleming sings Blanche.
Mechanical Animals. Marilyn Manson. More mass-market alienation from the Alice Cooper of the '90s.
Musical Chairs. Hootie and the Blowfish. After the megaselling "Cracked Rear View" and the disappointing "Fairweather Johnson," rock's least alienated band hopes the third time's the charm.
Is This Desire? PJ Harvey. Her voice can go from a whisper to a croon to a scream in a heartbeat. Her fourth album has lovely melodies and a spooky mood--like lounge music from the end of the world.
Timeless Tales (For Changing Times). Joshua Redman. The deservedly trendy saxophonist plays old and less old standards, from Porter and Gershwin to Dylan. "Eleanor Rigby" in 5/4? You got it.
ART
Richard Serra. Nine huge steel pieces, weighing hundreds of tons, by--OK, arguably--the world's best living sculptor. At the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
October
MOVIES
Holy Man. Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, Kelly Preston. Dir. Stephen Herek. A TV home-shopping network turns to televangelism.
Antz. The first of this fall's two animated bug flicks. A worker ant loves a princess and leads a revolution. Voices: Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone.
The Mighty. Kieran Culkin, Elden Henson, Sharon Stone. Dir. Peter Chelsom. Two boys--an oaf, a disabled whiz kid--pack a lifetime of friendship into the dwindling days of childhood.
Beloved. Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton. Dir. Jonathan Demme. From Toni Morrison's novel of a woman haunted by the daughter she killed to save her from slavery. Word is, Oprah's amazing.
Happiness. Jane Adams, Dylan Baker. Dir. Todd Solondz. New Jersey sisters with massive sex and family problems. Hugely depressing, great buzz.
The Cruise. Dir. Bennett Miller. A documentary about a New York City tour-bus guide who's half cracked, half brilliant. For fans of "Crumb" and Woody Allen.
THEATER
Corpus Christi. Terrence McNally's play sparked controversy before anyone saw it. Reportedly it's about gay men enacting the story of Jesus.
Footloose. Another undistinguished movie made into an undistinguished Broadway musical? Maybe not: Walter Bobbie, the creative force behind "Chicago," is staging it.
Elaborate Lives. In the next big Disney musical, Elton John challenges Verdi in a new take on "Aida."
Swan Lake. Matthew Bourne's British production hits Broadway. Tchaikovsky in a modern setting--with male swans.
ART
Van Gogh's van Goghs. Washington's National Gallery borrows masterworks from Amsterdam's van Gogh museum. Park your sleeping bag on the sidewalk now and you'll get in.
MUSIC
The Marriage of Figaro. The Metropolitan Opera's new production of Mozart's transcendent farce has a dream cast: Cecilia Bartoli as Susanna, Bryn Terfel in the title role.
Judy. Judy Garland. Four CDs, previously unreleased stuff, a video, a 100-page book including an essay by Camille Paglia.
Wide Swing Tremolo. Sun Volt. The latest in cool alternative country-rock.
R. R. Kelly. State-of-the-art R&B balladizing.
Mutations. Beck. Not a sequel to the avant-pop "Odelay," but a rawer, more eccentric side trip.
Up. R.E.M. Its first since drummer Bill Berry's retirement. Here's hoping.
BOOKS
Blue Light. Walter Mosley. The popular mystery novelist zooms off into sci-fi mysticism. Will fans follow?
I Married a Communist. Philip Roth. Roth's been on a roll lately. If this doesn't turn out to be his best novel, at least it's his best title.
The Evolution of Jane. Cathleen Schine. A charming, funny, unpretentiously learned writer's novel about best friends.
By the Light of My Father's Smile. Alice Walker. Her new novel promises pain, uplift and sexual healing. Sound familiar?
Dutch. Edmund Morris. No writer has had as much access to Ronald Reagan as Morris; should fascinate Gippophiles and Gippophobes alike.
God of the Rodeo. Daniel Bergner. A journalist on the annual inmate rodeo at Louisiana's Angola prison.
Shakespeare. Harold Bloom. The critic who's become our postmodern Dr. Johnson takes on the Big Kahuna himself. Could be the most engaging play-by-play since Red Barber.
November
MOVIES
Meet Joe Black. Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins. Dir. Martin Brest. Death (Pitt) comes to claim a millionaire (Hopkins) but falls for his victim's devoted daughter (Claire Forlani).
The Siege. Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis. Dir. Ed Zwick. Muslims are already protesting this film about Arab terrorists in New York City.
A Bug's Life. This fall's other animated insect comedy, from "Toy Story" director John Lasseter. A misfit ant saves his colony from grasshoppers.
A Simple Plan. Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda. Dir. Sam Raimi. A thriller set in Minnesota--"Fargo" meets "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre."
Celebrity. Kenneth Branagh, Leonardo DiCaprio, Winona Ryder. Dir. Woody Allen. Another neurotic New York intellectual, and another Pro-Bowl cast.
The Rugrats Movie. TV's mischievous cartoon tots hit the big screen.
BOOKS
A Man in Full. Tom Wolfe. His first novel in a decade transplants "The Bonfire of the Vanities" idea--high society tangled up with grim slum life--to Atlanta.
The Love of a Good Woman. Alice Munro. New collection from a master of the short story.
The Poisonwood Bible. Barbara Kingsolver. An evangelical Baptist in Africa.
King of the World. David Remnick. The new editor of The New Yorker on the rise of Muhammad Ali.
Life the Movie. Neal Gabler. A film critic and historian argues that entertainment has overwhelmed reality.
I Will Bear Witness. Victor Klemperer. Evocative diaries of a Jew in Nazi Germany.
MUSIC
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Alanis Morissette. It's been three years since "Jagged Little Pill," now the best-selling album of the decade. The recent success of Morissette's song for "City of Angels" suggests her fans are ready.
Fan Mail. TLC. Latest from hip-hop's glam girls.
ART
Jackson Pollock. Museum of Modern Art. The once controversial abstract drip-painter gets the full MoMA treatment: a serious, scholarly retrospective--which is sure to make him controversial again.
December
MOVIES
You've Got Mail. Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan. Dir. Nora Ephron. Rival bookstore owners--his a giant chain, hers a tiny kids' shop--have an e-mail romance. A.k.a. "Sleepless in Cyberspace."
Stepmom. Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon. Dir. Chris Columbus. Teary comedy about a dying woman who teaches her ex-husband's new love to be a mom.
A Civil Action. John Travolta, Robert Duvall. Dir. Steven Zaillian. A selfish, flamboyant lawyer (Travolta) takes on a noble class-action suit.
Affliction. Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek. Dir. Paul Schrader. A small-town cop, an estranged daughter, a hunting accident. From Russell Banks's novel.
The Thin Red Line. Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, John Travolta. Dir. Terrence Malick. The reclusive Malick ("Days of Heaven") came out of hiding to film James Jones's World War II novel about Guadalcanal.
The Prince of Egypt. The animated story of Moses, with celebrity voices: Val Kilmer as Moses, Ralph Fiennes as Pharaoh.
Psycho. Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche. Dir. Gus Van Sant. They call it a "re-creation" of the Hitchcock classic, not a "remake." Heche wears a body stocking in the shower scene, Danny Elfman edits Bernard Herrmann's original score.