Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema IX (Lady on a Train / Tangier / Take One False Step) (Blu-ray) by Ian Jane The Movie:Kino Lorber Studio Classics presents three more unique film noir entries from the Universal Studios vault in the ninth boxed set of their Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema collections. Here's what's inside…Lady On A Trainirected by Charles David and released by Universal Pictures in 1945, Lady On A Train stars the beautiful Deanna Durbin as a young woman named Nikki Collins who travels by train from San Francisco to New York City for the Christmas holidays, along the way, witnesses a murder as she looks up from her book (a murder mystery novel, of course!) and gazes out the window of her train compartment. The killing took place in a building across the street from Manhattan's Grand Central Station, and she saw it happen just as the train was pulling in.After disembarking from the train, she goes straight to the n...Read the entire review »

The Score (2001) (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) by William Harrison THE MOVIE:Please note that the following movie review was originally written in 2010 for the film's Blu-ray release. My comments still represent my take on the film but I have adjusted the replay value upward a half star.If Marlon Brando had known the day he would die, he might have found the perfect film to embody his incredible career and serve as his final gift to the silver screen. This was not the case, and Brando appeared on film for the final time nearly a decade ago (now two decades ago) in The Score, director Frank Oz's slow-burn heist flick about the last job of a career thief. The film is not the eulogy Brando deserved, but it is commendable for its unique, if not altogether successful, take on the genre.Professional thief and nightclub owner Nick Wells (Robert De Niro) is ready to settle down with his girlfriend (Angela Bassett) ...Read the entire review »