Some like it hot, but we don't. During these mucky days when the temperature feels like "Fahrenheit 451" - or merely "92 in the Shade" - why not rent a cool movie?
Some of these qualify by their titles. Others will put snow on your screen. Here are our picks; pass the Popsicles, please. If your VCR room is air-conditioned, so much the better.
ANTARCTICA (1984) - True story of a 1958 Japan-to-Antarctica expedition. Traveling scientists are forced to abandon their sled dogs and return home; the film tracks the dogs' survival in the white wilderness. The dogs don't exactly chew the scenery.
AVALANCHE (1978) - Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow, Robert Forster and Jeanette Nolan mess around before the inevitable catastrophe, but they bury this picture long before that.
THE BIG CHILL (1983) - A bunch of yuppies, including a terminally perfect Kevin Kline and earth-mother Glenn Close, confront mortality. The antidote: Motown music.
CALL OF THE WILD (1972) - Tear-jerker based on the Jack London novel. Mean old Charlton Heston forces a house pet to pull a snow sled in Alaska as he searches for gold.
CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER (1979) - John Heard plays a man in Salt Lake City smitten with a married woman (Mary Beth Hurt). She wants both guys.
CHRISTMAS IN JULY (1940) - We're politely passing on all Santa movies, so take this home instead. Dick Powell thinks he's won a jingle contest and the fame and fortune that go with it. Only he hasn't. Ellen Drew shares his dreams and disappointments.
COLD RIVER (1981) - Set in the autumn of 1932, an experienced trail guide dies of a heart attack while camping with his 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old stepson. The kids outlast a blizzard, starvation and an encounter with a wild mountain man. Good family movie.
COOL HAND LUKE (1967) - Paul Newman, George Kennedy. Not one single snowflake, but Newman is one cool chain gang prisoner.
IN COLD BLOOD (1967) - Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe. Documentary-like re-creation of the murder of a Kansas farm family, based on the Truman Capote novel.
DR. ZHIVAGO (1965) - Omar Sharif looks great with ice in his moustache, but shame on Julie Christie and Geraldine Chaplin for sharing him. Surely there's at least one other handsome, horseback-riding doctor-poet out there on the tundra. Get a life, ladies.
DOWNHILL RACER (1969) - Snow-hunk Robert Redford is an Olympic skier; his coach, Gene Hackman, tries to whip him into shape for competition.
GORKY PARK (1983) - The only thing colder than the weather in this murder mystery is Lee Marvin's heart of ice. William Hurt plays a Soviet cop; Brian Dennehy his American counterpart as they track down a killer.
HOLIDAY INN (1942) - Lots of people think this movie is called "White Christmas" because the best scene features that song. Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds star in this classic wartime musical.
ICEMAN (1984) - Timothy Hutton and Lindsay Crouse are scientists who discover a prehistoric man preserved in ice for 40,000 years - and alive.
NEVER CRY WOLF (1983) - A lone biologist braves the elements while living among the white wolves of the Yukon. Kids will never forget the scene in which he eats a mouse sandwich.
NIKKI, WILD DOG OF THE NORTH (1961) - Disney film shot in northern Canada about a dog separated from his owner.
ROSE MARIE (1936) - Nelson Eddy, Jeannette McDonald, and scores of red-coated Mounties with the snow-capped Canadian Rockies as their backdrop. Everybody sings.
SANTA CLAUS "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" (1964) - I know, I know. We promised no Santa Claus movies. But this one's too dreadful to pass up, and it's not your usual Little-Timmy-gets-his-wish cliche. Santa gets kidnapped by aliens, and little Pia Zadora's in it - what more needs to be said?
SNOWBALL EXPRESS (1972) - G-rated comedy starring Disney alum Dean Jones as the heir to a run-down hotel. He tries to turn it into a ski resort, and it's all downhill from there.
SNOWBEAST (1977) - Abominable snowman makes life miserable on the slopes for Bo Svenson and Yvette Mimieux. If you can't find this one, consider yourself lucky.
THE SNOW CREATURE (1954) - Bargain-basement abominable snowman movie with a twist: Bigfoot gets captured and brought to L.A. Of course, he escapes and wreaks havoc. What, you thought he'd just take in a Dodgers game?VIDEO QUESTION
Q: If my TV is hooked up to cable, will I be able to make better videotapes than on regular TV?
A: Not necessarily. There are too many variables to give a definitive answer, but in general a clear, strong broadcast signal that's free from snow or ghosts will produce a better video recording than a cable signal. - Andy Wickstrom (Knight-Ridder)