Rex Reed

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Rex Reed (born October 2, 1938 in Fort Worth , Texas ) is an American film critic , television presenter and occasional actor .

life and career

Career as a critic

Rex Reed, the son of an oil worker, graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in journalism in 1960 . He then wrote for magazines such as Vogue , GQ , Women's Wear Daily and newspapers such as The New York Times , New York Daily News and the New York Post . Today, Reed mainly writes for The New York Observer , which now only appears on the Internet and for which he has worked almost continuously since the first issue in 1987. In addition to films, he also reviews music albums and Broadway productions . At the 1971 Berlinale , Reed served as a member of the international jury for the USA.

Reed's writing style is often attributed to New Journalism , for example Reed's highly acclaimed portrait of the aging film icon Ava Gardner was included in Tom Wolfe's anthology book The New Journalism in 1973. His portraits of famous personalities were "narrative interviews" and were characterized above all by a dramaturgical plot. To date, Reed has published a total of eight books, of which Do You Sleep in the Nude? became a bestseller.

Writing style and controversy

Reed always attracted attention with sometimes very direct and sharp-tongued reviews. His criticism of Til Schweiger's Head Full of Honey , which he attested to be "as funny as a root canal treatment without anesthesia", was widely quoted in Germany . Reed sees the quality of the American entertainment industry in decline and speaks of a "truckload of mediocrity, which is now a culture". In the 2018 Oscars season, for example, he was one of the few votes that criticized favorites like The Shape of Water or Get Out . In a portrait for The New York Times in 2018, Alex Williams noted that as a young man, Reed had a predilection for the “old golden Hollywood” of the studio system , which is far removed from his current young fellow critics and is therefore often a source of ignition. Reed, for his part, accused some young film critics in this interview of never having seen a black and white film and of lacking knowledge of film history.

A couple of Reed's meetings in the recent past have been criticized as politically incorrect , racist, or discriminatory . He accused the comedian Melissa McCarthy of making comedy mainly with her weight, and in his review of Voll Riptt 2013 referred to her as "the size of a tractor" and as a " hippo " - Reed was then sharply criticized, and Seth MacFarlane also attacked his controversy Moderation of the 2013 Academy Awards . Reed's review of the South Korean film Oldboy , in which he made fun of South Korean cuisine, was found involuntarily hilarious by The Village Voice magazine .

Appearances in film and television

In the late 1960s and 1970s, Reed appeared many times as a guest on Johnny Carson , Johnny Carson and Mike Douglas talk shows , where he eloquently and often critically reviewed films. Thanks to this media presence, he became one of the most famous film critics in the USA during this time. In the late 1970s, he was a judge on the popular US game show The Gong Show . From 1986 to 1990 Reed was the critic for the PBS telecast At the Movies , in which he discussed films after the original critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel were switched to a competing channels.

In 1970 Reed starred in the star-studded Gore Vidal film adaptation of Myra Breckinridge - Man or Woman? the young transsexual Myron , played by Raquel Welch after his sex change in Myra . Reed distanced himself from the film while it was being made, which was legendarily torn up by almost all of his fellow critics and is often considered one of the worst films ever made. Nevertheless, Reed made further excursions into the acting business: In 1978 he played himself as a friend of Lois Lane in a cameo in the film Superman. He also played himself in Triple Trouble (1984) and Upside Down in America (1985) self.

Private life

Reed, who is single, lives in a two-bedroom apartment in the Dakota building in New York that he bought in 1969 for $ 30,000. He befriended movie stars like Natalie Wood , Liza Minnelli , Laurence Olivier , Jean Simmons and Angela Lansbury .

Bibliography (selection)

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Joy of Rex Reed: A Year in Tough Love From Our Favorite Movie Critic. In: Observer. December 28, 2018, accessed January 2, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Rex Reed. Accessed January 2, 2019 .
  3. ^ Joan-Kristin Bleicher, Bernhard Pörksen: Grenzgänger: Forms of New Journalism . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-322-80493-8 ( google.de [accessed on January 2, 2019]).
  4. ↑ Rex Reed. Accessed January 2, 2019 .
  5. ↑ US critic on Til Schweiger's new film: "As funny as a root canal treatment without N - Forum SPIEGEL ONLINE. Retrieved on January 2, 2019 .
  6. ↑ WORLD: Failure: "As funny as root canal treatment" - Til Schweiger's US remake canceled . In: THE WORLD . December 12, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed January 2, 2019]).
  7. ↑ The Joy of Rex Reed: A Year in Tough Love From Our Favorite Movie Critic. In: Observer. December 28, 2018, accessed January 2, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Alex Williams: Rex Reed Bangs a Gong on the Mediocrity of Modern Life . In: The New York Times . January 10, 2018, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed January 2, 2019]).
  9. ↑ Rex Reed Defends Melissa McCarthy Remarks: 'Don't Make Me the Villain'. Accessed January 2, 2019 .
  10. ^ Rex Reed Got a Shout-Out in Last Night's Oscar Telecast [Video]. In: Observer. February 25, 2013, accessed January 2, 2019 .
  11. ^ Rex Is Comedy. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .
  12. ↑ For the Love of Myra: Myra Breckinridge | The House Next Door. Accessed January 2, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Excerpt from the scene on YouTube: REX REED MEETS SUPERMAN. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Alex Williams: Rex Reed Bangs a Gong on the Mediocrity of Modern Life . In: The New York Times . January 10, 2018, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed January 2, 2019]).
personal data
SURNAME Reed, Rex
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film critic
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Fort Worth , Texas