The End of an Era: John Ewing Retires
On Sunday night, the Cleveland Cinematheque will show the western Shane, and with that John Ewing will retire as director almost 39 years to the day after the Cinematheque showed its first film on July 1, 1985. John co-founded the Cinematheque and has been the only director in its history.
Among Cinematheque regulars, Shane has famously been John Ewing's favorite movie for years. In one of the Sight and Sound polls 2012?, he actually made Shane one of his top ten picks, saying (and I'm paraphrasing) "Does it make sense not to list the film that you fell in love with as a kid?" As soon as his retirement was announced, it was clear that this was going to be one of the last movies John showed.
I actually saw Shane back in high school English when we watched the movie off VHS after having read the novel. I don't have particularly fond memories of either book or movie, and haven't gone to any of the few times John has shown it before, but I'll be there this time. I suspect that the passage of time (and seeing it on the big screen) will change my mind. I regret that I can't make it to the other two showings on the final day, The Magnificent Ambersons and Late Spring.
When the Cinematheque moved to its new location in 2015, I counted up all the films I had seen there since I started going back in 1999 through the last showing in the old place on July 30, 2015. At that time it was 234 total movies, or about 1 per months since I first went and saw Dark City with my friend Viv back in March of 1999.
In honor of John's retirement, here is an updated count, starting from the first movie in the new location on August 1, 2016.
2015 - 5
2016 - 10
2017 - 19
2018 - 8
2019 - 9
2020 - 2, due to pandemic.
2021 - 0, due to pandemic and baby.
2022 - 0, due to pandemic and baby.
2023 - 4
2024 - 3, counting Shane Sunday night since I already have a ticket.
From my first attendance in March 1999 to the world changing in March 2020, I saw 285 films at the Cinematheque, or about 1.13 films per month. If I run my numbers out to June 2024, it drops down to a still pretty impressive 0.94 films per month.
That means that 23% of the movies I've seen in the theater since 1999 were at the Cinematheque. You could also say that since the start of the pandemic, I've only seen 10 movies in the theater, and 7 of them were at the Cinematheque.
Entertainingly, I was at both the reported worst attended day in Cinematheque history and the first sellout in their history. For the worst attended, I was at a showing of a Korean action film called The Good, The Bad, The Weird. For the sellout, I saw Shadow of the Vampire with Willem Dafoe in person. Since that was at the old location and the new location is much smaller, it'll probably remain the best attended (or at least one of the best attended) shows in Cinematheque history.
I tell people that Werner Herzog is one of my favorite directors because he tells stories about people with obsessions. John got me into Werner Herzog and exposed me to hundreds of other movies from all over the world from virtually every year that movies have existed. More broadly, his obsession with film made Cleveland a more interesting place and opened my eyes to a wider world of movies. Thank you.
Among Cinematheque regulars, Shane has famously been John Ewing's favorite movie for years. In one of the Sight and Sound polls 2012?, he actually made Shane one of his top ten picks, saying (and I'm paraphrasing) "Does it make sense not to list the film that you fell in love with as a kid?" As soon as his retirement was announced, it was clear that this was going to be one of the last movies John showed.
I actually saw Shane back in high school English when we watched the movie off VHS after having read the novel. I don't have particularly fond memories of either book or movie, and haven't gone to any of the few times John has shown it before, but I'll be there this time. I suspect that the passage of time (and seeing it on the big screen) will change my mind. I regret that I can't make it to the other two showings on the final day, The Magnificent Ambersons and Late Spring.
When the Cinematheque moved to its new location in 2015, I counted up all the films I had seen there since I started going back in 1999 through the last showing in the old place on July 30, 2015. At that time it was 234 total movies, or about 1 per months since I first went and saw Dark City with my friend Viv back in March of 1999.
In honor of John's retirement, here is an updated count, starting from the first movie in the new location on August 1, 2016.
2015 - 5
2016 - 10
2017 - 19
2018 - 8
2019 - 9
2020 - 2, due to pandemic.
2021 - 0, due to pandemic and baby.
2022 - 0, due to pandemic and baby.
2023 - 4
2024 - 3, counting Shane Sunday night since I already have a ticket.
From my first attendance in March 1999 to the world changing in March 2020, I saw 285 films at the Cinematheque, or about 1.13 films per month. If I run my numbers out to June 2024, it drops down to a still pretty impressive 0.94 films per month.
That means that 23% of the movies I've seen in the theater since 1999 were at the Cinematheque. You could also say that since the start of the pandemic, I've only seen 10 movies in the theater, and 7 of them were at the Cinematheque.
Entertainingly, I was at both the reported worst attended day in Cinematheque history and the first sellout in their history. For the worst attended, I was at a showing of a Korean action film called The Good, The Bad, The Weird. For the sellout, I saw Shadow of the Vampire with Willem Dafoe in person. Since that was at the old location and the new location is much smaller, it'll probably remain the best attended (or at least one of the best attended) shows in Cinematheque history.
I tell people that Werner Herzog is one of my favorite directors because he tells stories about people with obsessions. John got me into Werner Herzog and exposed me to hundreds of other movies from all over the world from virtually every year that movies have existed. More broadly, his obsession with film made Cleveland a more interesting place and opened my eyes to a wider world of movies. Thank you.