It’s official. Titanic is now the best movie ever made. James Cameron himself told me so. I guess if Cameron really is "King of the World," then Titanic is the best movie ever … until his next one.

(Memo to Jim -- Humility is a much better emotional peg for an Oscar acceptance speech.)

Yes, Titanic took home eleven Oscars. Yes, it’s one hell of a great film. Yes, I cried.

No, it’s not the greatest film of all time.

Come on. You know it’s true. But you’ve been afraid to say that Casablanca or Gone With the Wind or Citizen Kane is better.

Don’t be afraid. Yell out from the top of your lungs. "Yes, I enjoyed To Kill A Mockingbird more than Titanic!" Doesn’t that feel better?

It’s way, way too early to start judging Titanic’s place in history. Will it eventually contribute a "Here’s looking at you, kid," or a "Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn," or a "Rosebud" to our collective culture? Years from now, will people turn to each other and say, "Oh, I’ll never forget Jack’s last words to Rose … "Gurgle." How romantic!"

What makes a movie memorable? My vote is for the characters. We remember Rick and Ilsa, if not every detail of Casablanca’s complex political situation. We remember Scarlett O’Hara and the dashing Rhett Butler. Will Jack and Rose join that pantheon? It seems unlikely.

No, what we have with Titanic is sheer spectacle. It’s emotionally involving enough to make you care, enough to make you cry. But thirty years from now, will you remember even one line from the film?

This isn’t supposed to be a big knock against what I’ve admitted is a great film. It’s just a rumination on how films earn a place in our heart. And, to coin a phrase, I think my heart will go on without a Titanic-sized hole in it.

Yay, Jim Cameron. Yay, Leonardo DiCaprio. Yay, Kate Winslet. But my heart still belongs to classics that have stood the test of time. I look forward to seeing whether or not Titanic is still "see-worthy" in thirty years.