Memory
A female publicist friend complained earlier today about my having referred to Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson and Danny Dumbort, producers of the upcoming Sylvester Stallone film The Expendables , as "the Bad News Jews of the 21st Century." It just came trippingly off the tongue, but I suppose it sounded a bit raw. So I wrote her back to explain and fill things in.
Back in the '80s, I said, the term "Bad News Jews" was a commonly used slur aimed at Cannon Films honchos Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who more or less pioneered the Israeli rug-merchant approach to making and producing movies. Everybody in the business used this term and joked about it, I explained, so don't get all huffy on me -- I'm just recycling.
Menahem and Yoram, whom I briefly worked for in the mid '80s and came to know from a distance, were thought of by some as the Godfathers of the Israeli Hollywood mafia. They came from the Dino de Laurentiis/Carlo Ponti big swagger school of producing. When I worked for them they were always talking deals, territories, packages, int'l grosses, etc. but the word around Cannon was that they never read any scripts and never seemed to really get the joy and wonder and music of movies the way the real filmmakers did (and still do). And they were more or less thought of as bloated commoners, plebes, vulgarians.
In any case they paved the way for and sired their successors, in a manner of speaking, as various oily financiers, slick wheeler-dealers and hot-shot Euro-styled producers like Philippe Martinez, Elie Samaha, Giancarlo Peretti, Jean-Marie Messier, Bob Yari and Avi Lerner came along and more or less picked up the same torch and ran with it.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 9, 2009 at 7:18 PM
comment #1
LexG
says ...
Boaz Davidson, of course, directed one of the best Cannons-- "Last American Virgin." (Did he also do the Israel-based origina, "Lemon Popsicle? I think he did...) So weird when I was his name on "big" movies now in a producing capacity-- it'd be like Rafal Zielinski doing big action movies.
Golan/Globus were awesome. That Cannon logo used to let us all know we were in for some Manila-shot, synthed-out, connect-the-dots filmmaking. Love the Bronson, Ninja, Norris, POW THE ESCAPE, Dudikoff stuff. Hard to imagine now, but most of those got somewhat wide theatrical releases.
Given the well-known Cannon approach Jeff outlines above, that only made it all the more baffling/awesome when they'd unexpectedly wheel out a BARFLY or 52 PICKUP or RUNAWAY TRAIN, with actual first-rate actors and filmmakers. How did those manage to get through?
Posted by LexG
at January 9, 2009 7:42 PM
comment #2
JJ
says ...
You're right Jeff. These guys pre-sell their movies for more than it costs to produce them using their over-paid stars to do it, and then they pocket the difference, so in the end they don't care much if the movie does any business since they already have their profit. The victims of this kind of filmmaking are the creative people whose names and careers are on the line. Just ask Al Pacino and Jon Avnet.
"Bad news" is right.
Posted by JJ
at January 9, 2009 7:48 PM
comment #3
HoopersX
says ...
Yeah, I read that when it was posted and wondered at the time how long it would before Jeff had to issue some kind of appology/explanation.
Posted by HoopersX
at January 9, 2009 7:58 PM
comment #4
arturobandini2
says ...
I remember the term well. I also remember them being called "Mo 'n Yo" in politer company. And LexG is right -- every now and then a little jewel popped out of their meat grinder. But most of their output was schmutz.
Posted by arturobandini2
at January 9, 2009 8:10 PM
comment #5
lawnorder
says ...
Not that his directorial efforts were any great shakes, but Menahem Golan directed many films himself, including: Delta Force and Over the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, and did any of you ever see THE APPLE? His Israeli flicks weren't bad - did anyone ever see LUPO or KAZABLAN? The LEMON POPSICLE series they financed was awesome - classic T&A that they just don't make anymore - with great soundtracks.
Posted by lawnorder
at January 9, 2009 8:35 PM
comment #6
nemo
says ...
"Bad News Jews" sounds like exactly the kind of phrase the Jews I know routinely throw around when they're in a joking mood. I can't imagine any of them being offended by the phrase, even coming from a non-Jew. They'd get a laugh out of it.
I bet your publicist friend who complained is not Jewish. This sounds like the kind of thing a non-Jew might fret about Jews finding offensive.
Posted by nemo
at January 9, 2009 8:35 PM
comment #7
rr3333
says ...
Runaway Train was great.
Superman 4 - The Quest for Peace - Not so much.
Everytime I saw the Cannon logo, I shuddered.
Posted by rr3333
at January 9, 2009 8:38 PM
comment #8
actionman
says ...
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
Over the Top.
Cobra.
Cyborg.
American Ninja.
Masters of the Universe.
All complete garbage. And all staples of my movie-watching childhood. Oy.
Posted by actionman
at January 9, 2009 8:49 PM
comment #9
nemo
says ...
Those guys produced Runaway Train? You're right, that was great.
When I saw the phrase "Bad News Jews" I thought this post was going to be about Defiance or Inglourious Basterds.
Posted by nemo
at January 9, 2009 8:56 PM
comment #10
hollyman
says ...
Nemo: I take it your not Jewish. Am I correct?
Posted by hollyman
at January 9, 2009 9:26 PM
comment #11
nemo
says ...
That is correct. I lived on the East Coast for a long time, and most of my friends were Jewish. I'm still in touch with most of them, though I live in the Midwest now. Some of my relatives by marriage are Jewish. That phrase is completely within their everyday style of humor. A lot of them would consider it a funny badass badge of honor.
But then there is always the touchy subject of humor that is OK within a group being not so OK when used by an outsider. This particular instance does not strike me as being anything as problematic as a white hipster like Quentin Tarantino getting too generous with his use of the N-word.
Posted by nemo
at January 9, 2009 10:08 PM
comment #12
aaron
says ...
Cassavetes' LOVE STREAMS, Mailer's TOUGH GUYS DON'T DANCE, and Godard's KING LEAR also snuck through the cracks from Golan-Globus, proving it wasn't all about the Bronson and Ninja fare.
Posted by aaron
at January 9, 2009 10:22 PM
comment #13
moviemaniac2002
says ...
"Kazablan" was pure joyous insanity! Golan was
was like a drug-fueled Ed Wood Jr. directing his
own Isreali "West Side Story"...
Always had a soft spot for "King Soloman's
Mines" (Richard Chaimberlin and Sharon Stone!)
...which was the Golan-Globus "Be Kind Rewind" version of Indiana Jones.....come to think of it, almost all their movies were 'Sweded' versions
of big studio efforts....like community-theatre renditions of hit Broadway plays.
That's what I loved about the homevideo experience in the l980's....the stores were owned
and operated by fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants
local shopkeepers.....and the Golan-Globus
tapes complimented these stores perfectly...slipshod, slapdash, slap-happy and sort of fun to be around..
Of couse, it's a lost era...now with the video stores and their movies all corporately produced, owned and controlled.; Still plenty of garbage movies in the pipeline, but they're no fun to watch,...just digital sausage squeezed into tight
casings (chick-flik, horror, CGI tentpole) after being test-marketed to within an inch of their lives.
Posted by moviemaniac2002
at January 9, 2009 10:35 PM
comment #14
buckzollo
says ...
Wells you do display (word omitted) tedencies, like when you posted something about a gas chamber. I know you clarified that and now this, but I am just saying. Shalom (It's not like you don't do good work.)
Posted by buckzollo
at January 10, 2009 12:48 AM
comment #15
D.Z.
says ...
Superman IV was ok; it was that Dolph Lundgren Masters of the Universe movie which blew.
Posted by D.Z.
at January 10, 2009 12:53 AM
comment #16
The Winchester
says ...
Their best flick was Ninja 3: The Domination. greatest opening of any movie.
Posted by The Winchester
at January 10, 2009 12:59 AM
comment #17
LexG
says ...
Winchester, while Ninja 3 IS a work of genius and a formative fave, I actually think it brings up the rear in the inital Kosugi Ninja trilogy.
Revenge of the Ninja is TOTAL OWNAGE, especially the maddeningly repetitive drumbeat score that's been stuck in my head since '83, the Ninja Granny, Kaifano, BRADEN the villain running shit, and the prolonged rootop climax, the greatest sustained bit of Ninja Action ever filmed. Especially how BRADEN and KOSUGI keep wheeling out new weaponry that couldn't possibly have been concealed in their rather breezy black Ninja suits. Like, I swear they're pulling ball and chains, sickles, and LIFE-SIZED PAPIER MACHE MANNEQUINS of each other.
Posted by LexG
at January 10, 2009 2:21 AM
comment #18
Edward Havens
says ...
I'm betting films like Barfly and Runaway Train and Godard's totally fucked up version of King Lear got made simply because they were able to eek out a meager profit through pre-sales. Who gives a shit if it's art or trash, as long as it's profitable!
The one thing I honestly miss about Cannon Films is how they were able to fill 50+ pages of the then-colossus sized Weekly Variety AFM and Cannes issues with all the stuff they were trying to pre-sell. And then, for a couple years, they tried again with 21 Century, but it wasn't the same.
For all the crap they made, I miss their hutzpah. With Corman being so low-profile, the only elder statesman movie showman we have left is Lloyd Kaufman.
Posted by Edward Havens
at January 10, 2009 2:56 AM
comment #19
Howlingman
says ...
No-one who calls themselves 'actionman' could conceiveably put COBRA on his shit list and be serious. Come on; "when the law stops, he starts." Most awesome 80s cheese ever.
Posted by Howlingman
at January 10, 2009 7:17 AM
comment #20
GMShuffle
says ...
Over The Top wasn't bad...for a Cannon film...it was suprisingly efficent, just not very original.
The Apple is one of the great all-time bad films. This guy shows up at the end out of nowhere to spirit the good guys off in a convertible in one of the worst excuses of a special effect you have ever seen. Reminded me of those Church Of Later Day Saints commercials...Horvilous! (Horrible, but marvey.)
Strange but DOP David Garfinkle did good work in all these films...wonder why he stayed with those two guys as long as he did...
Posted by GMShuffle
at January 10, 2009 1:28 PM
comment #21
hunterd
says ...
ummmm...ROBOCOP anyone? UHF? Cannon wasn't all bad.
Posted by hunterd
at January 10, 2009 10:42 PM
comment #22
Edward Havens
says ...
Robocop and UHF were Orion, not Cannon.
Posted by Edward Havens
at January 11, 2009 6:09 AM
comment #23
dangovich
says ...
Yep, Cobra is great junk. So much to enjoy: Sly's performance (the matchstick he kept chewing on deserved an acting credit), the car, the soundtrack (which, if I'm not mistaken, was similar to those of other Cannon films) and the appearance of Poppy from Seinfeld as Sly's sidekick.
Posted by dangovich
at January 11, 2009 3:09 PM
comment #24
free online games
says ...
First-class article. I've added it therefore.
Posted by free online games
at March 18, 2010 11:37 AM
comment #25
Nike Free Shoes
says ...
Thank you for this website. Thats all I can say. You most definitely have made this blog into something thats eye opening and important. You clearly know so much about the subject, youve covered so many bases. Great stuff from this part of the internet. Again, thank you for this website.
http://www.nikesportshoes.net/nike-6.0
http://www.nikesportshoes.net/nike-basketball
Posted by Nike Free Shoes
at April 7, 2011 7:09 PM
comment #26
free pc games
says ...
really great share! thanks a lot
affiliate review
free pc games download
Posted by free pc games
at May 17, 2011 7:15 PM
comment #27
janee
says ...
Si vous etes interesses par le dossier, ou desirez en savoir plus, contactez-moi par mail, et je vous mettrai en contact.
Best regards,Jane, CEO of windows high availability
Posted by janee
at May 19, 2011 7:04 AM