This Fall Preview is brought to you by the letter "T"

I know it's September already but since summer has not "officially" ended(who decides these things,anyway?),I feel I'm right on time with my look at the upcoming autumn goodies. The focus
will be on books,movie and tv(music I only know so much about). Let's start with my Top Ten list of Must See Movies:

10)Aeon Flux:Always enjoyed the MTV cartoon series(that and The Maxx)and so far,the trailer
holds some promise. One of my co-workers has doubts about Charlize Theoron but anyone who
has seen her in Monster knows not to underestimate this Charlie girl.

9)Saw 2:The first Saw flick was much better than I thought it would be and Little Sister was thrilled to see that a sequel was heading our way. Most theaters won't put up the poster for it-
the number 2 is represented by severed fingers-but plenty of folks will be eager to hand over
their do-re-mi for this sucker.

8)Bee Season:it's based on Myla Goldberg's debut novel about a girl's profiency in spelling
bees helping to upend the tilting dynamics of her dysfunctional family and I only hope
that the film version does it justice.

7)Corpse Bride:Tim Burton back in Nightmare Before Christmas mode. I'm definately getting
a cool doll version at my local Suncoast.

6)Memoirs of a Geisha:Another literary adaptation and it looks beautiful. With Rob Marshall
at the helm and starring Zhang Ziyi,this should be the crown jewel of the film year.

5)In Her Shoes:despite the overmarketing of Cameron Diaz's ass,I still have hopes for this
sisterhood flick,particularly due to director Curtis Hanson who will not drown the plot in
soap opera pathos.

4)Serenity:I only saw the pilot episode on tv so even a Buffy fan like me can find plenty of
new thrills and laughs in the film length version. Plus,Nathan Fillion is not hard on the eyes:)

3)Chronicles of Narnia/Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe:This is the book most people,including
myself,are familar with and if it does well,we may have to catch up on the other six.

2)Pride and Prejudice:Keira Knightley takes on one of the most challenging roles in English Lit
and faces the wrath of certain Jane Austen fans. My money's on Keira to show them how it's
done.

1)Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:As those of us who have read the books and seen the films know,this is where the big boys play. Blood is truly spilt and this adaptation will set an
even newer and darker tone than Prisoner did.

Dark Horse candidates:History of Violence,V is for Vendetta,Just Like Heaven,King Kong,The Fog,Walk The Line

Books:I plan to review two amazing titles in this blog-Hunger's Brides(which will appear next week)and Tab Hunter Confidential(written by the man himself with a little assist there). Other
noteworthy titles are:

Mark Twain:A Life by Ron Powers-There have been plenty of books about Twain but this one
is very readable,smart and engaging. You feel as if the author is a great storyteller,passing on
the legend of MT without sugarcoating his flaws.

Goodnight,Nobody by Jennifer Weiner-Forget those Desparate Housewives(one of the most overrated shows ever,IMO),meet a real suburban mom who winds reviving her reporting skills after having the murder of her oh-so-perfect neighbor dropped into her lap.This may seem
similar to Susan Isaacs' Compromising Positions but trust me,Weiner puts her own unique
emotional spin on this story.

Popco by Scarlett Thomas-A brainy Brit Lit about a toy company designer, who's hobby is
decypting codes,being put on a comittee to create the ultimate teen girl product which,oddly
enough ties into a treasure map that her grandfather held the code key to. Little Sister said
it sounded very Nancy Drew to her when I explained the plot but it's much cleverer than
my descripton makes it out to be and very adult in content.

TV:I don't watch alot of it but there are two good shows I may not get to see because of their time slots-Everybody Hates Chris and My Name Is Earl. EHC is on opposite Smallville and this year,James Marsters plays Braniac so there's no way I'm missing that.

Got to see the pilot of MNIE on a CD-Rom(thanks,EW)-it looked really good,very Raising Arizona in style(one of my favorite movies)but it's on at the same time as The Amazing Race.
This time,it's the "family" edition and you know families have the best fights so I gotta see that.

Network programmers are total idiots-why put new comedies up against dramas/reality shows
with a large fanbase? Counter programming,sure but not every one has Tivo,people! Atleast F/X repeats their shows later in the week(which is good since I missed the next to last episode of Rescue Me)so that you get another shot at it.

Afraid I have to start the fall movie season by seeing"The Man" today(Little Sister wants to go)
which should be tolerable given that it has Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy. The only other
option is the Exorcism of Emily Rose,which given that it's PG-13,will be as scary as watching
Criss Angel,Mindfreak.