At the end of this month, with thirty years of film reviewing under his belt, NY Daily News critic Jack Mathews is retiring. But before he turns in his critic's badge (a writer never really says "retire") he shared stories of the looser days of entertainment journalism -- scuba diving with the stars, buying Frosted Flakes in the South of France, and more anecdotes that make us long for Hollywood's wilder, pre-digital years.

From his first start at the Detroit Free-Press to stints at the LA Times, Newsday, and USA Today, Mathews has covered the entertainment world and guided his readers towards great films (four recent stars to Oscar nominees Ratatouille and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days) and away from bad ones (last fall's Awake). A newspaper reporter-turned-columnist who began covering movies in the 1970s -- a time of exciting young filmmakers and the American New Wave -- Mathews has seemingly adopted his generation's attitude of freewheeling artistry and daring. Ask him for a story from his career and he'll tell of coyotes rescued from Charleton Heston's swimming pool, or getting a quickie SCUBA certification so he could swim with Tom Hanks on the set of Splash! in the Bahamas.

Mathews belongs to an older guard of film criticism, one that still remembers hobnobbing with legends like Barbara Stanwyck (see his story below of one super fan's Stanwyck obsession at a 1981 film critics' dinner). A lifelong newspaper man, Mathews has seen criticism morph from the days of Pauline Kael to the Internet age, and he fears for the future of the medium. Print criticism, he bemoans, is "on life support." His departure, announced after the recent lay-offs of colleagues like David Elliott of the San Diego Union-Tribune and Terry Lawson of the Detroit Free Press, comes at a time of the increasing disappearance of full-time critics at major print publications.

To be sure, when Mathews leaves his post later this month, the critical community will lose a voice of sparkling wit, a film writer with decades-spanning knowledge, and a newspaperman who rode the waves of the last thirty years in Hollywood. Life will soon come full circle for Mathews, who plans on retiring to Oregon to finish a novel about one of the Zodiac killer's presumed first victims, a case he had covered early in his career.

We spoke with Mathews about the old days of entertainment journalism -- when a writer could chat for hours with the A-list likes of Heston, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood -- and what his plans are for the future. Mathews will continue writing and reviewing for the NY Daily News through February, giving readers one last round of Oscar coverage for 2007, one of the best years for film in recent memory. He'll also continue to share his insights at his Movies in Focus blog (check out his career-retrospective breakdown of favorite films by genre), where you can reach him to chat, talk movies, or just say hello.



Name: Jack Mathews

Age: Sixtysomething

Hometown: Mahopac, New York

Years reviewing film: 30





Why and how did you become a critic?

Jack Mathews: I was working for the Detroit Free Press as an entertainment feature writer when they sent me to Los Angeles to open a Hollywood bureau. There, I wrote about film, television and music, until the paper's film critic left to become a programmer at the American Film Institute and they offered me his job.

Fill in the blank: "If I wasn't a professional film critic, I'd be a...":

JM: Newspaper editor.

What is your favorite film?

JM: My Darling Clementine (Western), Some Like it Hot (comedy), Raiders of the Lost Ark (action-adventure), Jaws (horror), Casablanca (romance), The Deer Hunter (war), Singin' in the Rain (musical), The Godfather I and II (drama). If I have to pick just one: Some Like it Hot.

Who is your favorite director?

JM: Billy Wilder.

What's the worst movie you've ever seen?

JM: Considering its level of pandering manipulation: The Color Purple.

Who do you think is a shoo-in come Oscar night?

JM: Daniel Day-Lewis.

What was the most interesting film of 2007?

JM: Eastern Promises.

You've been a movie critic for 30 years. Which have been the best and worst decades for film?

JM: Worst: the 1980s. Best: the one we're in.

How in touch with the movie going public are most critics?

JM: Most of us know what the public likes but we generally don't like what they like. So, if being in touch means sharing their tastes, we're definitely out of touch.