that's really friggin cool except there's no way to keep them from coming out sideways and hitting people and cars and crap.

I take a metal trash can and line the bottom with crumpled up paper. Then I dump a bunch of bottle rockets and firecrackers on top, mixed with more paper. Cover the top with 2x8s or 2x10s or whatever they are, leaving a small opening in the center. Light a piece of paper and drop it down.

Lots of noise. It's awesome. There's always a few stragglers that'll go off randomly.

Oh, and they don't come out and hit people n stuff.