Last month, Variety panned a thriller called Iron Cross. But the review has been disappeared from Variety's web site, which probably has something to do with the $400,000 Iron Cross' producers paid to Variety for an awards campaign. Iron Cross, which ended up being Roy Scheider's last film (he died during production), is a Holocaust revenge fantasy in which Scheider, a Holocaust survivor and NYPD cop, hunts down and kills the SS officer who killed his family. It's also, according to Variety freelancer Robert Koehler, who reviewed it for the Hollywood trade paper on January 20, "hackneyed," "preposterous," "mediocre," "choppy," and "uncertain."
Last month, Variety panned a thriller called Iron Cross. But the review has been disappeared from Variety's web site, which probably has something to do with the $400,000 Iron Cross' producers paid to Variety for an awards campaign.
Iron Cross, which ended up being Roy Scheider's last film (he died during production), is a Holocaust revenge fantasy in which Scheider, a Holocaust survivor and NYPD cop, hunts down and kills the SS officer who killed his family. It's also, according to Variety freelancer Robert Koehler, who reviewed it for the Hollywood trade paper on January 20, "hackneyed," "preposterous," "mediocre," "choppy," and "uncertain."
Joshua Newton, the director of Iron Cross, forced Variety to spike a critical review of his film from the web because he'd purchased a $400,000 Oscar campaign in the paper. But that wasn't enough--now he's considering suing. Newton, a British filmmaker whose Holocaust revenge drama turned out to be Roy Scheider's last movie, told Gawker that he and his investors are contemplating a lawsuit against Variety for selling them on a $400,000 Oscar campaign only to turn around publish a review calling the film "hackneyed," "preposterous," "mediocre," "choppy," and "uncertain." Variety pulled the review, by freelance critic Robert Koehler, in December. "We are currently reviewing our options," Newton told Gawker. "I can't comment on the legalities, but suffice it to say--how can I put this? There are issues. There are valid issues."
Newton, a British filmmaker whose Holocaust revenge drama turned out to be Roy Scheider's last movie, told Gawker that he and his investors are contemplating a lawsuit against Variety for selling them on a $400,000 Oscar campaign only to turn around publish a review calling the film "hackneyed," "preposterous," "mediocre," "choppy," and "uncertain." Variety pulled the review, by freelance critic Robert Koehler, in December.
"We are currently reviewing our options," Newton told Gawker. "I can't comment on the legalities, but suffice it to say--how can I put this? There are issues. There are valid issues."
Yup. That's how things work.
