It's Time.
I have a rule that I only buy DVDs when they're $7 or cheaper - I can Netflix whatever I want, and all DVDs end up in the bargain bin at some point, so whatever it is, it's always worth waiting on.I bought a $5 Titanic DVD a coupla weeks ago and watched it tonight. Can we finally agree that Titanic is no longer the most overrated movie of all time and may now be one of its most underrated?
It's no longer considered proletarian to admire Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, frankly, it probably just means that you now watch a lot of indie movies. Winslet's been nominated for 5 Academy Awards, for chrissakes, DiCaprio's been nominated for three. And James Cameron hasn't made an ass of himself for a full decade now. He even showed enough humor to mockingly play himself on "Entourage" as the director of an Aquaman movie (and if James Cameron actually made an Aquaman movie, I would totally see it, and so would you). And it was the last time we ever saw Billy Zane? Remember Billy Zane? I miss that guy.
There just aren't that many really epic movies crafted with such loving care anymore, even Peter Jackson and Ridley Scott can be hit or miss these days. But Cameron weaves a love story around through a disaster film chock full of excellent turns by dozens of character actors, giving a sense of both the scope and the heartbreak of the sinking. Remember the musicians playing as the boat sank? The officer accidentally shooting a passenger, then committing suicide? The gentlemen asking for brandy as they waited in the parlor room for the end to come? The captain standing alone at the tiller as the water shattered the windows? Remember Billy Zane using a kid as leverage to find his way onto a lifeboat? Man, you wanted to smack him so hard (by the way, count the amount of times someone is suckerpunched in Titanic sometime. It's well over a dozen).
If Titanic came out for the first time tomorrow, you would be remiss if you didn't go out and see it. It's an event movie, and we don't have enough.
Though you would still be wise to leave before Celine Dion started singing over the end credits.
Labels: titanic, underrated
posted by Ben Wyman @ 1:30 AM
7 Comments:
I've still never seen Titanic.
But it knocked Star Wars out of the top spot! That in itself makes it worthy of my hatred.
Yeah, can you even imagine Celine Dion singing over the credits of Star Wars?
Big deal, Jonathan. At the time, sure, it was painful to see it drop, but mostly it got us ready for the box office storm that was coming later. When Titanic passed Star Wars, all three Star Wars movies were in the ten. Now Empire Strikes Back is 33rd, with the following movies ahead of it: Pirates Of The Carribbean 3, Spider-Man 3, Indiana Jones 4 (by far the highest-grossing Indy movie as well as being by far the worst), Transformers, and Shrek 3. Empire barely - I mean, just barely - beats out Meet The Fockers and How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
Long story short, box office is just not something worth caring about anymore.
Is that based on the number of tickets sold or the money made on tickets? Do they account for modern ticket extortion?
BTW, did you hear Depp has signed up for Pirates take 4 and is going to be paid $56 million up front? I'm going to run for President. My campaign: take a year long "movie fast" and we'll pay off our national debt in one fell swoop!
I don't buy it. Contract numbers are always wildly inflated. Still, if they are going ahead with a Pirates 4 (and it looks like they are), they know that their first priority is to lock up Depp. The last movie, while being quite dull, grossed a billion worldwide. Paying Depp $56 million is a bargain.
The screenwriters for Pirates say they know nothing of a Pirates 4. http://www.beyondhollywood.com/pirates-writer-calls-bullshit-on-pirates-4-rumors/
Boo.
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