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Herald-Examiner readers won’t be seeing David Chute’s film critiques anymore.

The six-year association officially wrapped Friday (with a hot review of “The Fly”) as a result of critic Chute’s decision to do a cover story (on the new generation of comic-strip artists) for the L.A. Weekly. It cost him a week suspension. (The Her-Ex forbids free-lance sales to other newspapers in the home market.) After returning to the paper last week, Chute handed over his resignation.

Chute didn’t want to go into detail: “Overall, I’ll just say that it’s not anybody’s fault. It’s just the kind of unfortunate situation that develops when strategies change at a newspaper. Some people just don’t fit in anymore.”

There are conflicting reports of just how “set” the free-lance policy was, but Acting Editor John Lindsay said that he sent a memo to staffers and bulletin boards “weeks before.”

“And I think I used the word taboo in regards to other L.A. newspapers,” he said, adding, “I don’t mind telling you I’m sorry to see him go.”

And Chute is moving on. Starting Monday, he’ll be behind the cameras as assistant to director Tina Hirsch on the Roger Corman-produced “Munchies.”

“I’m looking forward to the change,” Chute said. “Reviewing movies, lately, has been pretty grim. There’ve been so many bad ones to choose from. It’s a good time to take a hiatus,”