Love old or unusual movies but never know when they're on? Here are two I recommend you watch this week:
Volcano (1997): There were two major studio disaster flicks about volcanos in 1997. This is the good one.
The idea is terrific: Smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles (at the La Brea Tar Pits), a baby volcano makes an unwelcome debut.
Tommy Lee Jones carries the movie on his sturdy shoulders as the city's director of emergency management.
Anne Heche is excellent as the beautiful young seismologist (is there any other kind?).
Various streets in El Segundo, Calif., stood in for Wilshire Boulevard.
This movie is particularly fun if you have any familiarity with Los Angeles, for obvious reasons. -- 5:15 and 10:15 p.m., Monday, Fox Movie Channel
The Devil Wears Prada (2006): Twentieth Century Fox evidently paid Meryl Streep $5 million to star in this movie, and was she worth every cent!!
As the terrifyingly efficient and chilly Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of the fictitious Runway magazine, Streep knocks it out of the park. What is so great about her performance isn't just the villainous aspects of her character that she nails; it's that humanity she's able to bring out as well.
Anne Hathaway is a wonderful foil as a fresh-faced innocent who tries to work for her.
This movie is really better than it had any business being. -- 3 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. Thursday, HBO
Trivia Question 236: What was the name of the other volcano-themed film of 1997?
Answer to Trivia Question 234: The talented and underrated Veronica Cartwright appeared in both the 1978 and 2007 versions of Jack Finney's The Body Snatchers.
Bryan native Ray Ivey is a writer and movie fan in Hollywood, Calif. He would love to hear from you at rayivey@ca.rr.com. His blog is at www.rayivey.com/wordpress.
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