One of the most memorable theatrical experiences I've ever had was the second time I saw Titanic. As the film dissolves from Gloria Stuart in her cabin to the submerged ship, then a whiteout signals the transition to Titanic heaven, the projector shut. Cue two hundred teary-eyed middle-aged women and teenage girls about to lose their minds. When the manager explained that it would take time to fix the problem and offered free passes to see a future screening, I thought there would be a riot.

There's no denying that Titanic is extremely silly in places, but I maintain that it works despite, or maybe even because, it has the sincerity of a lovestruck 14-year-old. Put aside everything Billy Zane…

Last night I suddenly felt the urge to revisit The Titanic.

I must say, I've never been able to understand the downright hate that some people seem to feel towards this film. Especially from the male audience, of course. A few years back on a somewhat testosterone dominated Norwegian film forum my appreciation for this film even launched a T-shirt campaign against it, the slogan being - Real Men Haven't Watched Titanic. I don't love this film exactly, but I really like it and admire it. It certainly deserves some respect.

In it's core the film is a love story, not a particularly innovative one, but I still find it a good one. Kate Winslet is the rich, spoiled Rose…

I think James Cameron is probably the best commercial director working today (am I going to get lynched?). He can craft a story that appeals to the widest audience possible. That is the reason I think there's some James Cameron hate out there, especially for this movie. They recognize it's a commercial movie for the masses and they don't like it. Truthfully I could see how someone could watch this with that mindset and not like this film.

I argue though that while it certainly is commercial, it's painstakingly well done and an incredible achievement. You can't really fault Cameron's directing here and he gets great performances out of his actors. I think his one fault though is that his…

One of the most memorable theatrical experiences I've ever had was the second time I saw Titanic. As the film dissolves from Gloria Stuart in her cabin to the submerged ship, then a whiteout signals the transition to Titanic heaven, the projector shut. Cue two hundred teary-eyed middle-aged women and teenage girls about to lose their minds. When the manager explained that it would take time to fix the problem and offered free passes to see a future screening, I thought there would be a riot.

There's no denying that Titanic is extremely silly in places, but I maintain that it works despite, or maybe even because, it has the sincerity of a lovestruck 14-year-old. Put aside everything Billy Zane…

Mega-budget filmmakers such as Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich could really learn a lesson from James Cameron, a lesson on how to take careful time to introduce a world crafted in meticulous detail, to imbue it with a sense of dread and tragedy, and to pace it out so we are introduced to characters whom you actually care about, before tearing that world down in the final act. It is to Cameron's credit that despite knowing exactly how this story ends, he manages to sweep you up in the story. True, character nuance has never really been Cameron's strong point: Billy Zane's villain character here is aggressively cartoonish. But he is painting on a pretty broad canvas here, and it…