School Daze

For those of us who have spent most of our lives in school, either as a student or teacher, every fall is a fresh start. The people in charge of the arts in New York also seem to be on the perpetual school calendar, because New York in the fall is a burst of cultural fresh air. The 85 degree weather is throwing me off a little, but there are so many new museum shows, new plays and new movies that I want to see, that not even wearing shorts and sandals at the end of September can dampen my enthusiasm.

Here is just a partial list of the things I plan on seeing (and reviewing) this fall: Abstract Expressionist New York, at MoMa (Oct.3-April 25), The Whitney's show Modern Life:Edward Hopper and His Time (Oct.28-April10); unlike in art, this fall the theater is all about the old masters: great plays by Shakespeare, Lillian Hellman, Noel Coward, George Bernard Shaw and even a play based on Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises are either already in theaters or opening in New York in the next month. The Hemingway play is the only one that, for now, is a short train ride away in Philadelphia.

My movie list is long, and it includes Woody Allen's You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, two movies about Facebook, Catfish and The Social Network, romantic comedies HeartBreaker with Vanessa Paradis (Johnny Depp's real-life paramour ) and Love and Other Drugs, a movie about viagra, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.

I'm also going to have to see The King's Speech, with my favorite Brit, Colin Firth, who is due for an Oscar and according to film festival buzz might get one for his portrayal of a stuttering King George VI, the current Queen Elizabeth's father. Then, if I'm feeling really cynical, I might squeeze in I'm Still Here the faux documentary about Joaquin Phoenix, and Picture Me where super-skinny, super-rich models complain about how overworked and underfed they are.

How am I going to do all this in the next few months? That's a good question given that fall also means back to work for me. The papers have already started piling up. The students are already e-mailing for conferences. But it's fall and I can dream.