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.
