CINEMA: DOWN, DOWN TO A WATERY GRAVE

In 85 years, the Titanic tragedy has spawned a dozen or so film and TV adaptations. A silent one-reeler, Saved from the Titanic, was released just one month after the event and starred an actress who had been onboard. There was a Teutonic Titanic, a Nazi-financed epic featuring an imaginary German hero. The 1958 British A Night to Remember is still revered for its balance of newsreel realism and humanist pluck. But diving into crowded waters is James Cameron's M.O. Except for The Terminator and The Abyss, all his films have been sequels or remakes, each grander and pricier than the...