Sizzle reels: nine movies to watch on fire | Video

As you’ve no doubt noticed, it’s hot outside. Hot history, really. By the end of the week it is likely that the UK will have seen its hottest June day since records began. The Met Office has issued a red warning, urging people not to stare at the sun. Which sounds like code for “stay inside and watch movies.”

But which movies? It just seems fitting to watch something that reflects this stormy season in a different way. Here are some ideas:

For those who cannot escape the heat

Do the Right Thing

Spike Lee’s third film uses the heat of Brooklyn as a recipe, gradually increasing the tensions of the residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant. At first, the characters use the weather as an opportunity to sit down and bond with each other and flirt, but the anger starts to fade as it becomes oppressive and everyone starts doing what they want. This week in a nutshell.

Body Temperature

If it’s more serious that you want, you need Body Heat. Lawrence Kasdan’s erotic noir is set in Florida’s tropical climate with so much water that it could peel off a century’s worth of pictures. The weather enters William Hurt’s mind, causing a fever that causes him to fall for Kathleen Turner’s seduction. A very intimate movie, until you remember what everyone’s private parts should look like.

Ice Cold in Alex

However, this might be my favorite heatwave movie. John Mills leads his second World War II Field Ambulance team through the North African desert, unable to find shelter in the sweltering heat. All roads begin to fall; exposed to constant dust, sweat and glare, people are injured and cars are damaged. It all seems impossible, until Mills reaches the press at the end of the line and orders the most refreshing beer in movie history.

For those who don’t want to think about heat

Fargo

Indeed, Fargo is a film about unspeakable violence that exposes a peaceful town to horror. But what you have to remember is that it is a film that shows the unspeakable violence that takes place in the snow. Remember the snow? Remember the need to wear a jumper? Remember when you didn’t have to freeze a water bottle and throw it between your legs to feel like a human? No, me neither.

The thing

The Thing is a horror film that uses its Antarctic location to destroy the fear and paranoia that comes from being caught and killed by an unknown creature in the middle of the cold desert. However, again, what would you give for a cold desert this week. Remember being able to breathe without feeling like your lungs were stuck together like an old pair of pants? Of course we’d all take certain death at the hands of a real monster during this week’s weather if it meant freezing again.

The Holdovers

Actually, we have to be careful here. Alexander Payne’s Christmas movie is a thing of beauty. In a New England winter, where snow is shoveled and air is visible in the air, two misfit outsiders slowly learn how to cope with all the odds. It’s a very inspiring video. However, the last thing anyone needs right now is extreme heat. There is a red, loud warning.

For those who want to see this to its logical conclusion

Pictures of Interstellar

Or maybe you’re one of those people who want their movies to be a teachable moment. In that case, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar – in which the world has been destroyed by climate change so that crops have failed and humanity has been wiped out – is a must-see for you.

Hell

Where Nolan used the emergency of the weather to explain the redemptive power of love, the 2011 German film Hell shows no hope. Here the crops have failed and the sky has been destroyed but, instead of traveling through the stars to find salvation, the survivors of Hell drive around in Volvos, fight water scavengers and start eating human flesh for a living. Basically what the UK will be like if it doesn’t start to freeze next week.

The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Indeed, this 1961 British disaster film has little to do with climate change as we know it. Rather, it refers to the number of nuclear reactors going so badly that the planet goes off course and eventually orbits the sun. Still, it’s great, plus you’ll look good and be able to tell your well-heeled friends that you’re going home to see a movie called The Day the Earth Caught Fire.