Don't own either of these, and love noir, so I should definitely pick them up. Haven't seen either for many years either, so they should feel pretty fresh to me.

Packaging shots:

You'll never made it to Mordor. You won't even make it to the elevator.

DVDBeaver's review of Double Indemnity is up.

Looks dark to me. Although, this is a case where I'd actually have to see it in motion to really compare it to the import release. Screenshots don't tell the whole story.

Just picked up Touch of Evil. Which version should I watch if I've never seen the film before? Reconstruction?

It depends on your intentions going forward. From a completely academic perspective, watching them in chronological order (preview, theatrical, then reconstruction) would be best just because it gives you a sense of the film's history and how it changed over the years.

That said, in my opinion the reconstruction is best version. I would hate for you to watch the preview or theatrical version, decide the film is no good and never watch the reconstruction. At this point I really only ever watch the other versions for the commentaries.

^ thanks.