33 Musts For 2004

We're already excited to watch Halle Berry get feline, get cultured at a reopened museum classic and ogle Brad Pitt's gams. (Skirt-wearing hunks -- now there's a positive sign for the New Year...)

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1 Halle Meows

Catwoma_n, due July 30, is one giant leap for Berry's already pretty huge career--and one mega-giant leap for female action heroes. But aside from its socio-gender ramifications, _Catwoman just sounds cool: There's no Batman, and Berry plays a new version of the classic frisky character, who's been brought back from the dead--and is plotting revenge against the evil cosmetics company that killed her. Bet the claws of Sharon Stone, as the wife of the company's sinister head honcho, were sharpened, as well. (Warner Bros.)

2 MoMA Mia!

Imagine! While New York's famed Museum of Modern Art's been shuttered for renovations, painting enthusiasts have had to traipse to Queens--Queens!--to get their culture on. The wait is almost over. Next winter, MoMA will christen its new Yoshio Taniguchi-designed Midtown digs--630,000 square feet, nearly twice as large as the former facility. The gallery building alone is six stories high. (53rd St. between Fifth and Avenue of the Americas, 212/708-9400)

3 So Long to Sex

When last we left Sex and the City, Carrie was lip-locking with Russian artist Aleksandr Petrovsky because, well, he bares a striking resemblance to timeless pulse-quickener Mikhail Baryshnikov. The HBO comedy returns in January to conclude its sixth--and final--season. Will Carrie score a happy ending with Mr. Big? Will Samantha outrage the morality police? Sure, the latter one's a given, but this clever series still has some tricks to turn.

4 Wailing in West Hollywood

Pearl is the new Asian-fusion restaurant/club that's taken over Moomba's West Hollywood digs. The martinis are recommended; the dance floor is mandatory on Friday and Saturday nights. And the karaoke experience is unlike any other. Forget canned tapes: Pearl's got a live band waiting to back you up on "My Way." (665 N. Robertson Blvd., 310/358-9191)

5 Bohemian Rhapsody

The toast of Broadway a couple years back, Baz Luhrmann's La Bohème finally makes it to L.A.'s Ahmanson Theatre, January 9-March 7. Luhrmann makes the Italian love story easy on beginners. Young, pretty leads. (No fat Mimis here.) Subtitles. (Okay...supertitles.) Breathtaking Moulin Rouge-style sets. Reportedly, he's even sped up the tempo so it goes by faster. What, this is opera?! (213/628-2772)

6 Brad Pitt's Feminine Side

Ancient history just got a lot more interesting. Jennifer Aniston's hot-looking other half does wear a skirt in Troy, the Trojan War epic opening May 14. But he's anything but girly. And in Oliver Stone's Alexander, set for November 5, Colin Farrell plays the titular conqueror, with Jared Leto as Alexander's top general and longtime lover. (Both films: Warner Bros.)

7 Devour Hollywood Dish

Hollywood Animal: A Memoir, by Joe Eszterhas--the take-no-prisoners screenwriter who penned Showgirls _and _Basic Instinct--is his autobiography, due in January, that promises to dish dirt on Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas and Michael Eisner. Given the page count (752) and the fact that Eszterhas now resides in the relative safety of suburban Cleveland, bet that he's got a lot to say about such figures. Also bet that he says it with just a few cuss words. (Albert A. Knopf)

8 Harry Gets Darker

The third installment in the kid-wizard franchise,_ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_, due June 4, is the one that caught Steven Spielberg's eye. "Much darker, more esoteric," he told a London paper back in 2001. That's good enough for us mere Muggles. More good news? With the film version of Azkaban, director Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama También) inherits the glossy series from Chris Columbus, and the always tasty Gary Oldman signs on as a renegade wizard. (Warner Bros.)

9 Back to Rio

Hey, Duran Duran's not just any over-the-hill band. They're the original MTV pretty boys. So when Simon LeBon and mates head back into the studio--with the success of their much-heralded North American reunion tour--attention must be paid. No release date or label yet for the all-new collection.

10 Who's the Ultimate Survivor?

Admit it: You've allowed yourself to think more than once that ol' Rudy Boesch got shafted in the first Survivor, and that if he ever got one more shot...Well, he may: The all-star version of Survivor, set to bow on Super Bowl Sunday, February 1, brings back players from seasons past. No firm word on where the game will be set or who'll play, but just imagine a tribal council with Rudy, Susan "Snakes and Rats" Hawk and Jerri "The Wicked Witch of the Outback" Manthey. (CBS)

11 Clubbing at a Gym?!

Get in shape in 2004. And maybe it will help if this time you stop in at L.A.'s newest, hottest sweat palaces. New York's trendy Equinox has finally landed on the Sunset Strip with Equinox West Hollywood (8590 Sunset Blvd., 310/289-1900), which looks like a '50s-era nightclub--if '50s-era nightclubs were outfitted with a spinning room and Pilates studio. Then say "hey" to top Sports Clubbers like Jennifer Garner and Eve in the juice line at the new $25-million, 40,000-square-foot Sports Club/LA complex in Beverly Hills (9601 Wilshire Blvd., 310/888-8100). It should even out-hip the original in West L.A.

12 Bennifer Strikes Again

Jersey Girl may star Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, but it's no Son of Gigli. Honest. It's a Kevin Smith movie, and Smith is the only guy, to date, to get a non-glib performance out of Affleck--way back for 1997's Chasing Amy. Besides, J. Lo's reportedly barely in it. Due March 19. (Miramax)

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