Watching movies all day is not as easy as it looks

Claudia Puig may have one of the most coveted and envied jobs out there. As a movie critic for USA Today, her job is anything but average.

Puig was born in Los Angeles, CA and grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Van Nuys. She attended high school at the all girls’ prep school, Corvallis. From there she went to college at UCLA, where she started as an English major and promptly switched to communications. From there she headed to graduate school at USC, where she also studied communications.

Claudia started as a journalist in 1986 at the Los Angeles Times, where she worked for 11 years. In 1997, she made the move to USA Today where she was writing about movies, but did not start writing reviews until 2001. “I’m 90 percent a critic and the other 10 percent is features,” Claudia said.

Claudia’s daughter Danielle has grown up tagging along (being dragged) to countless screenings and movie premiers, and cant help but admit that at this point it all can seem a little blasé- there is a story in which Danielle had to be bribed with a new pair of shoes to go see “Meet Dave” a rather unfortunate Eddie Murphy movie with Claudia. To say the least, she understands first hand the painful drawbacks of having such a “dream” job.

“Sometimes she has to see three movies back to back in a day. Her jobs more demanding than you’d think,” Danielle says. “She doesn’t sit in an office; she is always doing something. She’s driving to her work, or watching a movie, or running home to write the story, or blackberrying the story in. She works for like 12 or 14 hrs a day.”

When talking to Claudia, it is clear that she is a mom. Even though she is telling me about her career, which practically turns her into a nocturnal mammal, she stops to mention her kids and talk about how proud she is of them. Now that Danielle is older, she is less mortified of her mother trying to introduce her to famous people. “I used to say ‘MOM, that’s sooo embarrassing!,’ but now I realize how to utilize her connections. Sure, I’ll be a little fame whore, I don’t care,” Danielle says. The respect that her daughters have for her in return is immense.

“I mean I think everyone kind of wants to have her career but I don’t know, she definitely does it better than most people could. Anyone who sees that many movies would get sick and tired,” says Danielle in admiration of her mother. “She still gets excited for movies and I don’t think a lot of her colleagues do. They’re really jaded and I think she’s still excited about film.”

Claudia is admired and respected by many, in addition to her daughters. Besides her everyday reviewing job, she also does a weekly radio show on NPR and a TV show, in which she gives reviews as well as the occasional q and a- she just had the privilege of interviewing Tim Burton. Puig is also a juror at film festivals all around the world. She does quite a bit of interviews with actors and directors, 24 people in 3 days at the recent Toronto Film Festival, especially before the Oscars; which she attends every year.

Claudia has also been following the Harry Potter movies since they began, and goes to London to interview and attend the premier of each film. She happens to be the only critic they invite now. “She’s so A-list,” Danielle remarks.

Claudia has had infinite experiences regarding the film world. She is an acclaimed writer, whose opinions are highly sought and read by millions, as well as an exceedingly bright and astute speaker. She has received much praise from actors, directors, and filmmakers alike.

“Matt Damon remembers me from right after he was first nominated. He’s a smart guy, remembers where he was when he spoke to me, how many stars I gave him for the second Bourne movie. He said to a colleague of mine once to say hi to Claudia,” Puig says.

“Matt Damon is obsessed with her. He always remembers the exact star count,” Danielle adds.

Aside from all of the positivity she receives, Claudia says that there is never a shortage of “Readers who get angry and disagree in very sharp, snarky tones,” Puig says. Only one time has she actually gotten a negative response from someone involved in the business or a particular movie. Somehow a letter made it to her home address from Steve Guttenberg, “Who is a z-list actor,” Claudia says; that ranted about how she dare go after his friend Mike Binder and how great he was, after she criticized his latest film.

It would be surprising if after nearly 15 years as a reviewer, Claudia did not have any hysterical moments to share. She is painfully funny, and tells embarrassing stories about the top Hollywood stars, as if they were here eccentric next-door-neighbor.

Whenever a celebrity leaves us a message she always keeps it on the answering machine. We had Pierce Brosnan, Shia LaBeouf, Danielle Radcliffe, etc. on there until we had to get a new phone cus she thought it was so cool,” Danielle reveals.

I was on an elevator heading for a screening [my daughter] Alison was with me. There was another person in the elevator, but I didn’t know who it was. I looked at my reflection in the doors and said ‘wow look at my hair”. This woman turns and says, “You left the house like that? It turned out it was Cloris Leachman,” Claudia says.