Titanic (1997) movie poster

It’s been twenty-five years and I can still smell the fresh paint of the movie theater.

Just kidding.  But if you get the joke, you already know that the movie I’m most thankful for is James Cameron’s Oscar-winning blockbuster Titanic.

What I miss most from today’s cinema is old-fashioned, big budget romantic melodrama. 

And my favorite melodrama plot goes something like this:  beautiful woman chooses a penniless dreamer over a black-hearted aristocrat who will provide her with a secure but stiflingly boring life.

Without intentionally meaning to, I’ve populated this month’s list with several such films—Moulin Rouge!, Far and Away, and Shakespeare In Love.  And a few more just missed the cut.

What can I say? In a world of cynics, I’m a sentimental fool.

But without a doubt, the best of these is Titanic.

I don’t need to tell you the plot of  Titanic, do I?  I mean, I already did—beautiful woman, penniless dreamer, etc.  Braid that love story through the well-known historical sinking of the Titanic and you have my absolute favorite movie—and that includes everything from the golden age of Hollywood as well.

Titanic is the standard by which I judge all other films.

I don’t remember exactly how many times I saw Titanic in the theater back in 1997, but it was well into the double-digits.  I saw it in 2017 when it returned to the big screen for its 20th anniversary.

And if the rumors are true that they’re bringing it back to the big screen next summer for its 25th anniversary, well, I’ll be there too.

We were all so enamored with the plight of Jack and Rose that my friends and family and I would make quizzes for one another to determine who knew the movie best.  By this time it was out on VHS, and we’d all watched it dozens of times, so we all kept getting all the questions correct.

The questions escalated in difficulty until we were asking each other insane things like “how many goldfish were in Old Rose’s fishbowl?”

And if you’re thinking “what fishbowl?” then you, my friend, are not a Titanic superfan.


Author’s Note:  If anyone cracks a joke in the comments about Rose not letting Jack onto the piece of driftwood at the end of the film, I’ll permanently ban you from my site.

Don’t test me. Examples of the kind of thing I’d better not see:

Jack and Rose - Titanic - Meme

Jack and Rose - Titanic - Meme

Jack and Rose - Titanic - Meme


Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic (1997)

This is the final entry of my Movies I’m Grateful For series, running daily through the month of November. 

The Full List: Splash | New Moon | The Lucky One | Thelma and Louise | Katy Perry:  Part of Me | Crazy Rich Asians | Under the Tuscan Sun | Terminator 2 | Moulin Rouge!How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days | Practical Magic | Schindler’s List | Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol | Stardust | The Man in the Moon | The Others | Little Women | Cruella | Sliding Doors | Far and Away | The Magdalene Sisters | The Heat | The Last Five Years | Shakespeare In Love | Erin Brockovich | The Bear | Braveheart | Interview with the Vampire | Legends of the Fall |