Rex Reed
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Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American movie critic and was co-host of the syndicated television show At the Movies. He currently writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for the New York Observer.
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[edit] Life & work
Reed was born in Fort Worth, Texas to Jimmie M. Reed and Jewell Smith. His work is dismissed as superficial by some critics, while others consider him an important writer in the style of New Journalism.[1] He is the author of a number of books, including the novel Personal Effects, Do You Sleep in the Nude? (1968), People are Crazy Here (1970), and Rex Reed's Guide to Movies on TV and Video (1992).
He has also acted occasionally, as in the movie version of Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge. During its filming he was a frequent talk-show guest, often making fun of the production, leaving it unclear whether he was trying to help or hurt its box-office performance.[citation needed] Reed has also appeared in the films Inchon! and Superman. Reed was also a regular on the TV show The Gong Show in the late 70s. He got his biggest public visibility, however, when his syndicated column took on Frank Sinatra when he appeared at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1974.[citation needed] Reed decried Sinatra as arrogant, vocally washed-up and sloppily dressed, and suggested the middle-aged female fans shown on camera should have been "home making meat loaf." From then on, and lasting a few years, Sinatra blasted Reed, and in particular Reed's supposed homosexuality, in his many concert appearances. Unfazed, Reed countered that it only proved how out-of-date Sinatra was.
Reed is also good friends with gossip columnist Liz Smith.[2]
He lives at the famed Dakota apartment building in New York.[3]
[edit] Controversies
[edit] Arrest
In February 2000, Reed was arrested for shoplifting after leaving a Tower Records in Manhattan with CDs by Mel Tormé, Peggy Lee, and Carmen McRae in his jacket pockets. Reed, who had just purchased two other CDs, says he forgot about the other 3 CDs and his offer to pay for them was refused.[4] The charges were later dropped.
[edit] Oldboy review
In a 2005 review of the South Korean movie Oldboy, Reed wrote, "What else can you expect from a nation weaned on kimchi, a mixture of raw garlic and cabbage buried underground until it rots, dug up from the grave and then served in earthenware pots sold at the Seoul airport as souvenirs?" The review was mocked and criticized by the Village Voice and others.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ "Rex Reed". Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2006. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006
- ^ Tribune Media Services via Buffalo News, June 9, 2006
- ^ village voice > film > Chapter 27: Chapter 27 by ED GONZALEZ
- ^ "Rex Reed blames his arrest on fever of forgetfulness", USA Today, February 17, 2000
- ^ "Rex is Comedy",Village Voice, April 19, 2005
