CINEMA: DISASTER PROOF

The obsessed scientist whose instincts for catastrophe are more finely tuned than any predictive instrument; his bureaucratic superiors whose waffling makes a bad situation worse; businessmen determined to stifle talk about threats to life, limb and, above all, property for fear of the impact on their interests; a woman, scared but spunky and available for romance when she is not dodging falling objects; and, if possible, an adorable dog to be lost in whatever chaos the movie is trafficking in, then found and daringly rescued to the cheers of an audience that has stoically watched hundreds of anonymous human extras perish.