Universal threw an old fashioned lavish Hollywood premiere party last for “The Girl on the Train” at Grand Central Station’s Vanderbilt Hall in New York.  It was the perfect location since Grand Central is presumably where Rachel, Emily Blunt’s character, would hang around after arriving from Ardsley and before returning there to stalk her ex husband (played by Justin Theroux). Since Rachel’s a raving alcoholic I doubt she sampled the terrific food we got which is available every day in the Food Hall! (She probably just hit the bars.)

Sadly, star Blunt — who does such a great job as Rachel– was under the weather, so she missed the big gala after a plucky walk on the red carpet with husband John Krasinski. This was a disappointment, as was the absence of Laura Prepon and boyfriend Ben Foster, who also went from red carpet to who knows where. Maybe the foursome thought a party in a train station didn’t sound appetizing but it was quite the opposite considering Grand Central’s soaring architecture.

To the rescue came Justin Theroux (yes, he’s married to Jennifer Aniston) who kind of steals the film from Blunt and her female co-stars Haley Bennett and Rebecca Ferguson (who resembles in this film more than ever Ingrid Bergman). The latter is presumably off getting ready for the new “Mission: Impossible” episode. Edgar Ramirez, so good in “Hands of Stone,” also made the most of the premiere. He’s the red herring in “Train,” and he pulls it off with aplomb.

But Bennett, currently winning the west in “The Magnificent Seven,” was there. She told me: “This is my first day off in two years.” She has five more days before she heads to L.A. for “meetings,” she said, where she will pass on a lot of scripts. (She has a good sense of humor, I like her.) Bennett brought her whole family from Ohio for “Girl on the Train.” They could have taken the train home from Grand Central, but they’re sticking around.

Listen: Justin Theroux has been starring in HBO’s “The Leftovers.” He’s not in “The Girl on the Train” to twiddle his thumbs. He’s the break out (if you know the novel, you know what I mean). He’s very good. We did not discuss Brangelina.

Tate Taylor directed “Girl on the Train.” He also directed “The Help.” He’s good with a big cast and a complicated story, as “Girl on the Train” has more going on than an episode of “Days of Our Lives.” But he keeps the tense taut, and Blunt is a delicious drinker. It’s not easy to play an unsympathetic protagonist. Eventually Rachel goes from “being a blur” to getting in focus  thanks to the keen actress.

But my advice, as with all movies, is: stay out of the suburbs. Bad things happen there! You’re safer in New York, where the crime rate is nil and you have a door man. And really, use Uber or buy a car. Paul Simon said Everyone loves the sound of a train in the distance. But wait til you have to find a seat.

Robert DeNiro will not stop making terrible movies no matter what anyone says. He’s now signed to star in “War with Grandpa,” his second movie with the word Grandpa in the title in a year. The first one was “Dirty Grandpa,” which had an 11 rating on RottenTomatoes. Eleven.

DeNiro is currently starring in “Hands of Stone,” which has struggled to earn $5 million at the box office. He goes a very good job in it, but the movie has not connected with audiences.

“War with Grandpa” is not directed by Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, or David O. Russell, or any other ‘name’ director. It’s by someone named Tim Hill, whose last feature credit is for a TV movie called “Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever” made in 2014. He is best known as the creator and writer of the “SpongeBob Square Pants” TV series.

As the unofficial president of the Robert DeNiro fan club, I am chagrined. For every decent film DeNiro makes, there are five like this one. There is “Analyze This,” but also “Analyze That.” There’s “Meet the Parents,” plus the two sequels. “Grudge Match”? “Heist”? “The Bag Man”? Hello? “The Big Wedding”? “The Family”? The list goes on and on.

Even when the movie is bad, DeNiro is good. And when the movie is a surprise and DeNiro is top notch– as in “Silver Linings” or “Joy”– it’s a pleasure to see him. But these terrible films now weigh down the Oscar winner’s really great films with Scorsese, Michael Mann  (“Heat”), Barry Levinson (sublime “Wag the Dog”), Nancy Meyers (the charming “The Intern”) and so on.

DeNiro should be spending this time of his career working with great writers and directors, making important films. “The War with Grandpa”? Please, no.

Here’s a surprise: Ben Stiller told Howard Stern this morning on his Sirius radio show that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago.

Stiller said it was “immediately aggressive” and had surgery to remove his prostate. He was 48 when this happened. “It came out of the blue for me. I had no idea.”

This would have been right in the midst of Stiller’s mother, Anna Meara, in her decline. She died on May 23, 2015. Stiller’s dad, Jerry Stiller, is more or less retired and living in the family’s New York apartment. He’s 88 years old.

Somehow during this time Stiller was able to act in and direct films like “Zoolander 2.” Good for him. Sending best wishes. Ben told Howard he hoped his openness would encourage more awareness of the disease.

Nate Parker had a great chance tonight to end the controversy around his past, and save his excellent movie “Birth of a Nation” from becoming a casualty. Parker could have used “60 Minutes” as form for apologizing to the family of the young woman he was acquitted of raping in 1999 as a student at Penn State.

Instead, Parker declined. “I don’t feel guilty,” he told Anderson Cooper. “I do think it’s tragic…but I also think…at some point I have to say it, I was falsely accused. I was vindicated. I was proven innocent.”

Parker and his co-writer, Jean Celestin, were accused of raping a young woman. Parker was acquitted. Celestin was found guilty but that was overturned on appeal. The woman committed suicide in 2012. “I was devastated,” he told Cooper, when he head the girl committed suicide. He said he heard about it in the news. “I feel terrible that this woman isn’t here. I feel terrible her family had to deal with that. But apology, no.”

The public is aware of the incident. “Birth of a Nation” posters have been defaced with the word ‘rapist.’ That’s not good, and it colors the entire experience of the movie. And that’s too bad, because this is a movie that must be seen, it’s too important to ignore. Without this scandal, “Nation” would be an easy Best Picture nominee. Before the scandal broke, the movie was considered the front runner to win. Now, not so much.

“Birth of a Nation” is coming this Friday, October 7th. How can audiences separate their feelings about Parker from the historical importance of the movie? And who is giving Parker advice? Whoever it is has not been able to give Parker something to say that appeases anyone. The “60 Minutes” interview could have turned this around, but it hasn’t. What a shame.The stakes are high financially– $17 million spent by Fox Searchlight plus promotion means “Birth” has to clear $50 million. And the stakes are high for Parker because this will follow him forever until he seems more contrite. I am disappointed no one has explained that to him.