9 Scorching Films to Help Survive the Hellish Heat Wave of 2011

7. Falling Down (1993)

Stick around in L.A. for the story of a recently divorced and laid-off defense contractor (Michael Douglas) who decides to walk away from it all (literally, as evinced in the opening below) on the hottest day of the year. The racially, politically tinged rampage that follows is misunderstood to this day -- which doesn't mean Joel Schumacher's drama is an especially good film, but you'll feel oddly refreshed by the end, and not just because Douglas winds up taking a climactic swim.

8. Summer of Sam (1999)

Might have been the greatest urban heat-wave movie of all time were it not for someone leaving its script out to rot aromatically in the broiling summer sun. Spike Lee again does his damnedest to transport viewers to a fraught New York City just barely under the influence of imagination: Between the Blackout of '77, the Son of Sam on the loose, junkies at every turn and the general municipal upheaval of the day, just add mercury and you've got a naturally occurring fever dream in a can. Or you can go chew into a lit radiator coil, get the same effect and save yourself the two hours. (Clip NSFW)

9. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)

Punk-turned-autodidact author/filmmaker Dito Montiel made his directing debut with this little bite of fire, featuring Shia LaBeouf (!), Channing Tatum (!!), Robert Downey Jr. (!!!) and an ensemble cast revisiting Montiel's youth in Astoria, Queens. The real smoldering is done on the streets, where packs of kids roam wild with bottles and bats, practically overdosing on raw nerve. Upstairs, meanwhile, Ma and Pa Montiel (Dianne Weist and Chazz Palminteri) roast in an apartment that puts the "temper" back in "temperature." But Montiel could be sweet as well! Sweat along to the weird improv chemistry between LaBeouf and Melonie Diaz as -- no kidding -- a young Rosario Dawson (!!!!).

[This is a revised version of a previously published Movieline story from July 2010.]

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