Nolan is a huge win because anyone can make money with Batman, space or war movies but a profitable movie about dreams is hard; it certified him as bigger than comic books and showed studios a risk on him pays back, as Dunkirk did this year as the second biggest success story, even though much of the film is pure poppycock to this host. — Sean Fennessey
Another voice sums up the argument as Nolan being the Spielberg of our time, and the master-of-invention title he started getting is noted.
Tom Hardy is the pick for another host: he is extremely dashing, it is the last time we are allowed to see how handsome he is, his line readings are perfect, he is the center of every scene, his play with JGL is charming, and his Mombasa scene is a great character intro. — Andrew Gruttadaro
Nolan is also the pick for a second host, for the reasons already given, with the added observation that this is a Leonardo DiCaprio movie people think of as a Christopher Nolan movie, because the debate over its logic is what has sustained its place in the culture. — Mallory Rubin
Zooming out, one voice says the audience won, since an ambitious non-IP summer blockbuster about dreams that made a lot of money may never happen again; the reply is that it is also a fairly conventional movie, a heist, a noir, a love story and a tragedy with gunfights and a villain, keenly integrating classic storytelling into an absurd premise.
Asked to name Nolan's other good movie, one host says Dunkirk and another The Dark Knight, a flawed film that sweeps you up; The Prestige and Memento are called very good but not the height of his talent; Dunkirk is praised as a 2017 war movie about the good guys being afraid, with bravery coming from citizens rather than soldiers.
The listed candidates are Tom Hardy as Eames, Lucas Haas, a member of the Pussy Posse assumed to have been cast as Nash as a favor to Leo, and the work of M.C. Escher.
Lucas Haas being in this is called incredible, a flex of incredible proportions by Leonardo DiCaprio: he said yes and kept hanging out with Leo long enough to be in a Christopher Nolan movie for five seconds and collect a check, with the hosts guessing his two scenes took about a week to shoot and that he gets to tell people in bars he played the architect.
Asked for candidates, the response borrows dorm-room philosophy from the list but declines to answer the prompt, redirecting to whether anyone remembers when they first saw the film; this host was certain it was in a Syracuse dorm with college friends, yet the film came out two years after graduation while she was working in New York, a bizarre discovery made while rewatching with her husband Adam. — Mallory Rubin
That false memory is said to be the problem with the movie: it is the literal version of the hits-blunt-once meme, so base level that described plainly, a dream inside a dream, a hallway fight, then snow, it sounds silly, like the first time you partake and think you understand everything.
Hans Zimmer is floated with the caveat that he may not fit the bill, since his influential theme dominates the movie to the point of hurting one listener's ears; he is called more than a role player, maybe bigger than Dion Waiters.
The film's only pop song is Edith Piaf's 'Non, je ne regrette rien', a strange choice given Marion Cotillard played Piaf in La Vie en Rose, over whose closing credits the song plays; this host's pick is Hardy as the heat check.
Hardy was just coming up when cast and thought Nolan hired him for Bronson, the Nicholas Winningrath (as transcribed) film where he plays a British criminal, only to learn on set it was for RocknRolla, a bad Guy Ritchie movie; the hosts ask why he is not one of the biggest stars in the world, a Mel Gibson in 1989, and note that after this he went to a one-for-them, five-for-me formula and now does zero for them, appearing in the Dutch East India Company show Taboo.
Asked whether Kate Winslet won the movie, the host who could not take their eyes off her says she definitely wins it, she and the iceberg, which is called the big boss of the movie.
Another says you have to go with Leo: not peak Leo, which is Romeo and Juliet, but close; he is charming, and the role made him so famous he can do whatever he wants.
The third host is torn after both cases, wanting to say Winslet to support a breakout but swayed by Leo's charm; reminded that her breakout was Sense and Sensibility, the host is absolved to like Leo; someone then says that ultimately, for them, it is the chemistry, since the romance is all they care about.
Calling it a toss-up between Kate and Leo, the wrap-up turns to 'Doesn't James Horner win?', answered 'You're right, James Horner. And Celine Dion', whom the hosts have barely discussed.
Kate Winslet's makeup clinging through the water; Leo's hair never out of place; Rose jumping off a lifeboat for a man she met three days ago; the heart of the ocean never falling out of the coat
The hosts combine picking nits with probably unanswerable questions, saying the two go hand in hand.
Kate Winslet's styling raises questions: very red lips and pasty makeup that cling to her through all the water, dark eyeliner exaggerating the paleness, and the hats, starting with her entrance from a carriage the hosts call a buggy.
She looks great in the first half and realistically soggy after two and a half hours of running through a sinking ship, except the makeup stays; one host prefers the second-half look, with the long red hair, the soaked dress and the big overcoat with the necklace that never falls out.
Leo, by contrast, barely has a hair out of place, even frozen; the only explanation offered is wanting the handsome man to look as handsome as possible, while Winslet was not yet famous enough for the same treatment, even though hers is the real emotional journey.
Rose jumping off a lifeboat for a man she met three days ago is questioned, with a joke that their earlier encounter went well; others read it as a callback to her wanting to jump off the ship, and as her choosing Jack at all times, just as her spit at Billy Zane echoes Jack teaching her to spit.
Earlier, a host noted the heart of the ocean never falls out of the jacket at any point in all that water, a bigger problem than whether Jack fit on the board.
Cameron has not gotten past Titanic personally and is still digging around in it rather than the Terminator world, making it his psychological apex; it is his apex in cultural significance if not filmmaking technique, and five Avatars will not outdo it.
A fatal flaw of Avatar is that handsome Sam Worthington's face barely appears, whereas Leonardo DiCaprio's face means so much to Titanic; another host wants evidence that Worthington can act first.
Telling Cora she is still his number one girl; calling Rose an indoor girl; his concentration face with his hair falling over his forehead while drawing her; 'Rose, what are you doing?' when she jumps back onto the ship; joking while handcuffed to a pipe as she swings the axe
The list is proposed on the spot, with the Cora line, already called a top five dreamy Leo moment, as number one.
Number two is the line calling Rose an indoor girl; another entry is his concentration face, hair falling over his forehead while drawing her, a one-time-only DiCaprio event.
Number four is Jack's 'Rose, what are you doing? You're so stupid' when she jumps back onto the boat, along with the classic 'You jump, I jump'; most picks come from before the sinking.
Number five is Jack staying funny while drowning, handcuffed to a metal pipe as Rose wields an axe for the first time, joking that he hopes she hits the right place; the test swing into the dresser is recalled, and the scene stresses a host out because Leo is so pretty.
The pick is 'I'm king of the world': it has to be. — Amanda Dobbins
The bow scene is defended as tiny Leonardo DiCaprio standing at the front of a ship yelling one of the most iconic film lines: cheesy and a little funny, but the essence of the movie, sweet and pure; a host notes slacking the others when the broadcast was about to reach it.
Being very sentimental, the favorite is the saddest scene, when the string quartet starts. — K. Austin Collins
The quartet scene is called cathartic, the music beautiful and one of the most underrated parts of the film, and James Horner's score phenomenal before it gave way to one of the biggest hit songs ever.
The dinner Jack gets to attend is another pick: Cal and Rose's mother try to embarrass him but he is unflappable, turns down the caviar, and, like Pretty Woman, cannot work the silverware until Kathy Bates's character tells him to go from the outside in; the clip of the exchange is played.
Kathy Bates is very good in the film, yet her commitment clashes with some of the worst dialogue, as the lone liberated, new-money woman, Downtown Molly Brown.
The dinner leads into a second favorite, Rose meeting Jack in steerage for the party with Irish dancers, dancing on her toes and chugging beer, like finally kicking off shoes after hours in formal wear, plus Leo telling the little girl she is still his number one girl, Cora.
Leo and Kate's chemistry: there is no movie without them hitting it off, the romance is involving, and a late-night viewing of the ending was genuinely moving even when Rose's jump from the lifeboat seems stupid.
The music is also put forward as what has aged the best, and another host agrees: phenomenal, rousing, emotional, and good for working in the office.
Asked whether anyone who has spent extended time with Cameron has spoken well of him, the hosts can name only his current wife, met on this film and cast as old Rose's granddaughter, and the studio executives he made rich; Catherine Bigelow (as transcribed) is remembered for beating Avatar with Hurt Locker.
James Cameron's reputation has aged the worst: from the visionary of Aliens, True Lies, Titanic and Terminator to the wacky maker of a movie about blue people, with four sequels already written; one host would have liked another Avatar movie, and its realistic water drops are praised.
The boat is a fake-looking boat, though loved anyway: a film sold as a technical feat no longer holds up because the CGI sky and the ship are visible, and the sky might blend in better in a planetarium.
The last hour is a technical feat, but mostly an excuse to keep sending the leads back into the water to almost drown; one host likes the last hour precisely because it is so stupid, and another sees the feat as stretching the film longer than the actual sinking.
Some of the dialogue is laughable and wooden, Cameron never understood how two people interact, and even Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio cannot always sell it.
In dissent, one host found on rewatch that it had not aged that badly: the boat always looked a little fake, like a theme park ride, and such practical effects should age better than the CGI of Avatar.
Rose describing the Titanic as a slave ship at the start is offered as what has really aged the worst, though the speaker adds 'that was already bad', alongside a complaint that the script's mechanics and every beat are visible.
Robert De Niro was offered Captain Smith but declined over a gastrointestinal infection (unverified IMDb); Winslet improvised spitting at Billy Zane instead of stabbing him with a hairpin (unverified); the film was Cameron's pitch to get a studio to pay for dives to the wreck; Cameron was difficult on set and Winslet swore never to work with him again (unsourced IMDb); the 2h47 runtime matches how long the ship took to sink (unverified); the drawing scene was Winslet and DiCaprio's first scene together and Cameron did the drawing
An unverified IMDb item says Robert De Niro was offered Captain Smith but turned it down because of a gastrointestinal infection; the hosts find the specificity absurd and say there is no way De Niro would have taken the role.
The scene in which Kate Winslet spits at Billy Zane was reportedly improvised: he did not know he would be spat at, and she was supposed to stab him with a hairpin; the hosts hope it reflects on-set tension.
Billy Zane is called fantastic in the film and perhaps the best pure acting performance, with the most to work with, believable as a man with everyone in his pocket; the necklace, Le Coeur de la Mer, is recalled as the propulsive force of the plot.
The whole movie was a pitch to get a studio to pay for James Cameron to dive to the Titanic, and he ended up spending more time with the ship than anyone who rode its one voyage.
Research on how difficult James Cameron was during filming: Kate Winslet, studio executives and everyone on set describe him as demanding and cursing a lot, Winslet had a horrific experience, Leo seems to have hated it too but is more diplomatic, and an IMDb item the host could not source says Winslet swore never to work with him again.
Unverified half-assed trivia holds that the film's runtime, two hours and 47 minutes, matches how long the Titanic took to go down (the transcript has 'save'); the hosts find it tacky but very James Cameron, like the iceberg hitting exactly mid-film.
More trivia: the first scene Kate and Leo shot together was the nude drawing scene, James Cameron made the drawing, and the shot was reversed so the left-handed Cameron would look right-handed, setting the tone on day one of principal photography.
Kate Winslet had to do a screen test, watchable online, opposite Jeremy Sisto, Elton from Clueless, who auditioned but probably was not in contention; the major name in contention for Jack Dawson was Matthew McConaughey.
Stephen Dorff is the verified one: a New York Daily News piece headlined 'actor is thankful he didn't get Titanic role' has the Blade co-star saying he wanted a career like Johnny Depp, Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson and an Oscar, which Titanic would have made impossible, and that Leo will always be the guy on the boat.
One host disagrees that Leo is the guy on the boat, since he has been in so many hits and everyone has a favorite Leo, whereas Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are more locked into their 90s work; Sofia Coppola is said to have made Somewhere with Dorff because he never blew up, and Titanic will be in the first line of DiCaprio's obituary, and of Billy Zane's.
Billy Zane has not done much anyone has heard of since, though he has been in three times as many films as Kate Winslet.
Chris O'Donnell, named on Wikipedia for Jack, would have been a great and adorable Jack given his Batman movies and a season-two television arc, but could not have taken the film past a billion dollars; Leo is singular and the chemistry is enduring, though he seems strikingly innocent and little in it.
Rob Lowe was in the mix for Cal and is a great asshole, as in St. Elmo's Fire; pre-West Wing he might not have pulled viewers out of the film, though one host says he would have a little, and the leads mostly had blank or clean reputations at the time, which the hosts think mattered.
