Titanic

TITANIC (1997) - Nov. 8, 2005 (Third Viewing)
I know, sometime after Titanic made about a zillion dollars and was embraced by teenage girls worldwide, it suddenly became that you weren't allowed to like it. Well, you know, there's a reason that this movie made a zillion dollars: it's really good. Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are really good as the ill-fated lovers, as are all of the other performers. Billy Zane essentially steals every scene he's in as Kate Winslet's smarmy fiancee. The movie is well over three hours but doesn't really feel it. And then there's the whole sinking sequence, which is as exciting to watch as anything James Cameron has done. There is the spectacle of the giant ship slowly sinking, and yet it never eclipses or makes us forget about the characters. The special effects hold up really well; there are only a few shots here and there where it is obvious that computers were used. And I don't think there's any other movie - not even It's a Wonderful Life - that chokes me up the way this one does. ****