E-mail This Article To A Friend:

summer moviesSummer MoviesThe joy of blockbusters.2NA=1154&NC=1208&DI=4098&PS=88120&PI=7315summerfalsefalsespacernotembeddedsummer moviesSlate's Summer Movies Issue IIIIt's a sequel, but we promise it's good.noSlate's Summer Movies Issue IIISlate's Summer Movies issue.noThe sun is shining, the beaches are teeming, the Pop-Ice is in the freezer, and Sacha Baron Cohen's lawyers have been pulling all-nighters. It's time, in other words, for another edition of Slate's Summer Movies issue. This year, we explore the history of blowing up national landmarks on film, compile the zaniest escapes from mortal peril in the original G.I. Joe cartoon, offer tips on how not to adopt a demon child, ask stunt men what their favorite movies are, and complain about the indignities of watching movies outdoors. And the best part of it all? You don't even have to turn off your cell phone to enjoy the show. (In fact, you can read the issue on your cell phone at Slate's new mobile site.) So fire up a tub of popcorn, salt it to your liking, and start surfing.truenotochyperlinkno20097671743AMMondayJulJuly77/6/2009 11:17:43 AM63382461463000000020097770400AMTuesdayJulJuly77/7/2009 11:04:00 AM633825470400000000summer moviesMinor ThreatJonah WeinerfalseWhy are we so fascinated with horror movies about homicidal children?noMinor ThreatWhy are we so fascinated with horror movies about homicidal children?noMurderous little children—we never have to wait long for a new one to tricycle into the multiplex, butcher's knife in hand. The latest pint-size sociopath arrives in this summer's Orphan, in which Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga adopt Esther, a little girl whose dainty smile and perfect posture soon give way to malicious car-brake-meddling and playground homicide. Orphan belongs to a cinematic tradition as long as its villains are wee. In 1956, The Bad Seed's Rhoda Penmark turned her tap shoes into deadly weapons, and ever since, the appeal of the evil-kiddie movie has proven inexhaustible. The biggest reason for this is the most obvious: What's creepier than a 4-foot-tall killer in Spongebob pajamas? But the genre's resilience runs deeper, expertly mining deep-seated fears and anxieties: In evil-kiddie movies, we get wild explorations—sometimes unsettling, sometimes hokey, often both—of what it means to raise a child and build a family.truenotochyperlinkno20097670626PMMondayJulJuly197/6/2009 11:06:26 PM63382503986000000020097770307AMTuesdayJulJuly77/7/2009 11:03:07 AM633825469870000000summer moviesWhy Don't Movies Ever Blow Up the Bay Bridge?Keith PhippsfalseA history of destroying national landmarks on film.noWhy Don't Movies Ever Blow Up the Bay Bridge?A history of blowing up national landmarks in the movies.noClick here for a video slide show on the history of destroying landmarks in movies.truenotochyperlinkno20097675114PMMondayJulJuly197/6/2009 11:51:14 PM63382506674000000020097770154AMTuesdayJulJuly77/7/2009 11:01:54 AM633825469140000000summer movies"That Was Way Too Close!"Adrian ChenfalseWonderfully absurd escapes from mortal danger in the original G.I. Joe cartoon.no"That Was Way Too Close!"Wonderfully absurd escapes from mortal danger in the original G.I. Joe cartoon.noThe first war between G.I. Joe and Cobra (1985-86), as documented in the G.I. Joe animated series, was the most violent conflict in history never to result in a single casualty. Through a combination of terrible aim, superhuman jumping ability, and impossibly reliable parachutes, every combatant escaped even the most dire of situations without so much as the angle of his beret askew. The G.I Joe series is an ode to the improbable escape, and the thrill of the violence comes not from the possibility of death but from the zany ways the Joes and Cobras avoid it. (Will the live-action G.I. Joe film due later this summer stick to the cartoon's bloodless ways? Not likely.) Herewith, a collection of the most ridiculous escapes in G.I. Joe history.truenotochyperlinkno20097770042AMTuesdayJulJuly77/7/2009 11:00:42 AM63382546842000000020097770042AMTuesdayJulJuly77/7/2009 11:00:42 AM633825468420000000summer moviesLet's Go See a Movie in the Park!Juliet Lapidos1/123122/2202502/lapidosj.gif4242http://img.slate.com/mediafalse20097742645PMTuesdayJulJuly167/7/2009 8:26:45 PM63382580805017314520097742645PMTuesdayJulJuly167/7/2009 8:26:45 PM63382580805017314520097742645PMTuesdayJulJuly167/7/2009 8:26:45 PM633825808050173145false2008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM6335984619600000002008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM633598461960000000falseI've got a better idea: Let's not.noLet's Go See a Movie in the Park!The unbearable summer ritual of watching movies outdoors.noAt a cocktail party recently, a fellow guest asked me whether I'd ever seen Double Indemnity. "Yes, of course," I said, dismissively and untruthfully. I did once sit in front of a screen playing Billy Wilder's famous noir, about a femme fatale who schemes to kill her husband, for the full 107 minutes. But the screen was located outdoors, at Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan. And I was located on a damp patch of grass, peeved at a friend who'd eaten more than her fair share of the hummus. Meanwhile, an acute pain throbbed in my lower back. So I can't say I really followed the storyline, or that I developed an opinion—even a small talk-ready one—about what I had watched.truenotochyperlinkno20097670427AMMondayJulJuly77/6/2009 11:04:27 AM63382460667000000020097670427AMMondayJulJuly77/6/2009 11:04:27 AM633824606670000000200561433204AMTuesdayJunJune36/14/2005 7:32:04 AM632543167240000000200561433204AMTuesdayJunJune36/14/2005 7:32:04 AM632543167240000000falsetruetruetruetruetruetrue20056125508PMWednesdayJunJune146/1/2005 6:55:08 PM63253234508000000020056125508PMWednesdayJunJune146/1/2005 6:55:08 PM632532345080000000