By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Weekend Editor

The Weekend section is often used to give the citizens of the county some suggestions of what to do for entertainment and recreation.

This week's suggestion is: Stay cool, rent movies. The heat has been unbearable and moving around too much just makes it worse. When you head to your video store, check out these wintery-themed films.

For the kids, consider any of “The Mighty Ducks” trilogy. The films deal with a ragtag group of kids who play hockey. Along the way their hockey skills and their social skills improve. The films are rated PG but are fairly tame and acceptable for children over 6. Also for kids, check out “Alaska.” The film focuses on a brother and sister who traverse the Alaskan wilderness searching for their father. There is plenty of adventure to go along with the beautiful scenery. “Alaska” is rated PG.

My recommendations for older kids begin with the film “Better Off Dead.” The movie stars John Cusack as a young man whose girlfriend has dumped him. He considers suicide but soon meets a foreign exchange student that helps him believe in himself again. It is a funny movie and the climax revolves around a skiing competition, which is what you want to see when it feels like it is 110 degrees outside. “Better Off Dead” is rated PG.

My other recommendation for the older crowd of younguns is “Gremlins.” The film takes place in a small town during Christmas. A young man receives an exotic animal as a pet and when it gets wet, mayhem ensues. There is plenty of snow and Christmasy good cheer to keep your spirits cool. “Gremlins” is rated PG-13 and may be a little too intense for some viewers.

For adults, my wintery-themed film selections are “Smilla's Sense of Snow” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight.” Smilla is about a half Inuit woman who attempts to solve the mystery surrounding the death of a boy in her apartment building. The film is set in Greenland and Iceland and is chock full of plot twists. Julia Ormond and Gabriel Byrne both star in the film, which is rated R. There is not much questionable material but it would probably bore younger viewers.

“The Long Kiss Goodnight” is pure action, penned by the king of the action film, Shane Black (Lethal Weapon). The film focuses on a housewife, played by Geena Davis, in Upstate New York around Christmas. She has had amnesia and when she starts to remember her former life, she remembers she was a covert CIA operative. She teams up with Samuel Jackson to prevent a terroristic attack and rescue her daughter. The action is first-class, the script is snappy and there is lots of snow and ice. The film is rated R and with good reason.

There are plenty of films in your video store that have winter settings. These are just some of my favorites. These films are all available at your local video store and can even be purchased, either new or previously viewed.

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