Think of fall as spring—but for the brain. It’s the season of fresh ideas, new cultural excitement after a lazy (or in this case rainy) hiatus. And so it is this year. Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman are together for the first time since Pulp Fiction. Hugh Jackman (as Peter Allen) and Euan Morton (as Boy George) debut on Broadway. Martin Amis has written either the world’s best or its worst novel (there is hot debate). Merce Cunningham is collaborating with Radiohead, Jean-Georges Vongerichten is collaborating with Gray Kunz, and Isaac Mizrahi is collaborating with . . . Target (he also has a swank new made-to-measure line). So what if the city wasn’t exactly at its finest this summer? Happily, seasons change.

It was a long, wet (not to say dark) summer, but fall looks bright—even hot—for arts and entertainment. Our sneak preview.

MOVIES
Halle Berry goes mental, Uma goes martial, and Gwyneth channels Sylvia Plath

THEATER
Hugh Jackman does Oz, Taboo crosses the Atlantic, and Little Shop of Horrors returns

RESTAURANTS
Tom Valenti goes Italian, Robert Pearson takes barbecue uptown, and Gray Kunz and Jean-Georges blend their inventive talents

ART
The Met salutes El Greco, Rosenquist takes the Guggenheim, and the ICP holds its first triennial

MUSIC
The Rapture goes major, Courtney Love flies (scarily) solo, and Iggy reunites with the Stooges

CLASSICAL MUSIC & DANCE
Merce teams up with Radiohead, Lang Lang takes the stage, and Carnegie Hall goes underground

BOOKS
Jhumpa Lahiri goes long, Jonathan Lethem revisits Brooklyn, and Martin Amis takes on his critics

TV
Coupling is the new (sexier) Friends, Whoopi hits the Bowery, and Paris Hilton moves to Arkansas

SHOPPING
Isaac Mizrahi targets high and low, Facconable frenchifies Fifth Avenue

Related:

• Archive: “Cover Story”
• Table of Contents: September 8, 2003 issue of New York | Subscribe!