Janus Films

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Buttery Jeb · #1 Post by **Buttery Jeb** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:30 pm

Janus Films

No actual catalog up yet, but this has been a long time in coming regardless. One question though: which Gus Van Sant film does Janus represent? The only one I can think of is "Mala Noche," which hopefully explains why the Plexifilm release never got off the ground.

-BJ

Doug Cummings · #2 Post by **Doug Cummings** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:19 pm

Nice to see Fires on the Plain and three documentaries by Saul Turell there.

Cinesimilitude · #3 Post by **Cinesimilitude** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:50 pm

so are janus going to start releasing dvds of films by themselves for a more reasonable price?

Ted Todorov · #4 Post by **Ted Todorov** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:49 pm

The Janus 50 year retro at Lincoln Center

#5 Post by **Jeff** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:56 pm

SncDthMnky wrote:so are janus going to start releasing dvds of films by themselves for a more reasonable price?

No. Janus IS Criterion. They have the same President/CEO, much of the same staff, and are housed in the same offices. They answer the phone, "Thank you for calling Janus Films and the Criterion Collection." The Janus domain name has been registered for years, and has just pointed to the Criterion site. They are simply promoting their theatrical distribution unit during its anniversary.

Jun-Dai · #6 Post by **Jun-Dai** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:16 pm

So is there anything to the Saul Turell's documentaries? Or are they just in the set because of nepotism?

Cinesimilitude · #7 Post by **Cinesimilitude** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 12:27 am

Jeff wrote:
SncDthMnky wrote:so are janus going to start releasing dvds of films by themselves for a more reasonable price?
No. Janus IS Criterion. They have the same President/CEO, much of the same staff, and are housed in the same offices. They answer the phone, "Thank you for calling Janus Films and the Criterion Collection." The Janus domain name has been registered for years, and has just pointed to the Criterion site. They are simply promoting their theatrical distribution unit during its anniversary.

Ha. How did I not know that? thanks.

#8 Post by **Matt** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:42 pm

This should prove helpful:

Janus Films wrote:Coming Soon: Online catalog of Janus Films' library!

Barmy · #9 Post by **Barmy** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:04 pm

From September 30 through October 26, Lincoln Center and the New York Film Festival will present a tribute to Janus Films, featuring new or pristine 35mm prints of thirty-two of our most classic titles, many of which have not been seen in years and are unavailable on DVD.

Many of which have not been seen in years? Please.

#10 Post by **Matt** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:22 am

Barmy wrote:Many of which have not been seen in years? Please.

Oh? When's the last time you saw The Organizer or The Makioka Sisters?

backstreetsbackalright · Tue Sep 19, 2006 5:36 pm

Makioka Sisters was on VHS, for what its worth.

yoshimori · #12 Post by **yoshimori** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:22 pm

backstreetsbackalright wrote:Makioka Sisters was on VHS, for what its worth.

Makioka Sisters was a Criterion LD.

#13 Post by **Matt** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:44 pm

SncDthMnky wrote:Ok, major props to Hammock on this one. Hopefully you guys like this. Here is a pdf of the first of 3 Janus catalogues Hammock is scanning for us. This will go on the website in the next update, but I thought I'd give you guys first crack at it. enjoy.

Janus Films: The French Collection.

#14 Post by **Matt** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:52 pm

Holy shit, Criterion. Get the lead out! I've never wanted to see Duvivier's The Golem or Cocteau's The Eternal Return so much in my life.

Ted Todorov · #15 Post by **Ted Todorov** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:35 am

Paris Belongs to Us -- finally Rivette in the Criterion Collection!!! Come on, CC, what are you waiting for!

#16 Post by **Matt** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:46 am

They've got a closet full of marginally interesting independent films from the 1990s to get to first.

HerrSchreck · #17 Post by **HerrSchreck** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 5:08 am

Matt wrote:Holy shit, Criterion. Get the lead out! I've never wanted to see Duvivier's The Golem or Cocteau's The Eternal Return so much in my life.

The cinematography in LE GOLEM is just unbelievable.. a medieval version of John Alton, soaked with shadows and bizarre angles. While the film is mostly melodrama, the setups are pure gothic horror.

#18 Post by **Jeff** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:12 am

NPR Story

tryavna · #19 Post by **tryavna** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:04 pm

I find that spending too much time over at TCM's messageboards can give me a headache, but you can occasionally find intriguing or even important information buried in some of the threads over there. For instance, TCMProgrammer (an actual representative from the channel's programming department) responded to complaints about the channel's last-minute pull of Clouds Over Europe this morning with this comment:

"Clouds Over Europe" is now represented by Janus Films (it's a part of the Korda library, which had been controlled by MGM/UA until the end of 2006) - it's quite possible we will be able to license it from them at some point.

The Korda films were themselves part of the Rank library, so I'm curious if this means that Janus now controls all of the Rank library in R1 (which would include some of Hitchcock's early films and those David Lean titles that MGM never got around to releasing on DVD). I suppose the first result of this rights-exchange has been Sanders of the River, which was included in the Robeson boxset, but there are quite a number of other gems that Korda produced and which have never been given a proper DVD release: The Private Life of Henry VIII, The Drum, etc.

At any rate, I thought this info was worth sharing. Perhaps someone around here who has had luck getting responses from Criterion lately ought to inquire about their plans for these British films.

atcolomb · #20 Post by **atcolomb** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:33 pm

The one David Lean film i want to see on dvd is the BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER (1952) which the last itme i saw it i was a kid. And also a new print of Korda's THINGS TO COME (1936) would be nice too!

Tommaso · #21 Post by **Tommaso** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:40 pm

Does that mean we get to see some rare Powells? "Spy in Black", "The Lion has wings" and so on ?

Tribe · #22 Post by **Tribe** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:51 pm

Oh my...The Thief of Baghdad maybe? Is it even on DVD anywhere?

Tribe

Tommaso · #23 Post by **Tommaso** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:16 pm

There are several dvds of "The Thief of Bagdad" all around the globe, and all seem to come from the same restoration which has one of the best technicolor renderings I've ever seen. Stunning!! For the R1 version, look here.

foggy eyes · #24 Post by **foggy eyes** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:29 pm

Tribe, look no further than this thread for some breathtaking screencaps!

solaris72 · #25 Post by **solaris72** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:07 pm

Tribe wrote:Oh my...The Thief of Baghdad maybe? Is it even on DVD anywhere?

As mentioned, on a gorgeous R1 MGM DVD, but it is interesting to note that it just went out of print!

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