“Titanic” (1997, James Cameron) at 3:30 p.m. on HBO. Cameron’s “Titanic” is a film that sweeps us away into a world of spectacle, beauty and excitement, a realm of fantasy unimaginable without the movies. Does it matter that this picture cost $200 million plus to make? Grand in its follies, dazzling in its achievements, it’s a wild mixture of delirious love story, exhilarating adventure, scathing satire and nerve-rending horror and excitement. You could say that Cameron’s film — a fictitious love story of a rich society girl and a poor Wisconsin painter) Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio), set in the midst of the Titanic’s tragic voyage — is overblown, a travesty of the truth. And, of course, you’d be right. But so what? Cameron gives us a wild romance and supreme cliffhanging melodrama, laced with thrills, shocks and ecstasy. “Titanic” is a fantastic experience: one that steeps you in grandeur and terror as you watch it.
A “Ghostbusters” (Ivan Reitman, 1984) at 6:30 p.m. on Comedy Central. Three whimsical chaps (bustin’ makes them feel so good …) in pursuit of beasties and ghosties and things that go bump in the night — with Sigourney Weaver as added attraction. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis brave spooks and slime in one of the funniest of the big-budget ’80s super-comedies.
