New Wednesday Watch-alongs

Watch the Classics

Jan 15, 2025

I’m delighted to announce a new benefit for paid subscribers: monthly Wednesday watch-alongs!

Once a month I’ll choose a classic film to watch on a Wednesday and I’ll invite paid subscribers to watch along with me. Beforehand I’ll share some background context about the film and then – if you can – I’d love it if you wanted to watch the film at the same time as me and we’ll be able to discuss it in real-time through Substack Chat. I’m looking forward to it! Below is a list of the first films we’ll be watching in the first half of this year.

In another slight change to how Read the Classics works, as of next week, all posts older than two months will be accessible to paid subscribers only. Read-along, round-up and recommendation emails will all still be sent out for free, but the deeper archive will require a paid subscription. (Though if you find you’d like to access older posts and you can’t afford a paid subscription, please do get in touch.)

Here is a list of our first six watch-alongs!

Safe (1995), directed by Todd Haynes

Carol White, a Los Angeles housewife, begins having serious allergic reactions to everyday chemicals, transforming the safety of her existence into a terror of everyday life. When she is diagnosed with an immunity disorder and sets off to New Mexico for treatment, Carol’s journey turns inward.

Starring: Julianne Moore, Peter Friedman
Running time: 1hr 59 minutes
Language: English
Where can I watch? JustWatch (UK) JustWatch (US)

Watch-along: Wednesday 22 January 2025, 8pm GMT

Brazil (1985), directed by Terry Gilliam

Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro), he meets the woman from his daydream (Kim Greist), and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.

Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro
Running time: 2 hrs 22 minutes
Language: English
Where can I watch? JustWatch (UK) JustWatch (US)

Watch-along: Wednesday 19 February 2025, 8pm UK time

Mirror (1975), directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

Using a nonlinear structure interlaced with dreams and flashbacks, director Andrei Tarkovsky creates a stream-of-consciousness meditation on war, memory and time that draws heavily on events from his own life. Tarkovsky’s film alter ego is Alexei (Ignat Daniltsev), a dying man in his 40s whose commonplace interactions with his wife (Margarita Terekhova) and children summon up a host of memories, ranging from his parents’ divorce to his time on the battlefields of World War II.

Starring: Margarita Terekhova, Ignat Daniltsev
Running time: 1 hr 46 minutes
Language: Russian
Where can I watch? JustWatch (UK) JustWatch (US)

Watch-along: Wednesday 12 March 2025, 8pm UK time

Underground (1995), directed by Emir Kusturica

Black marketeers Marko (Miki Manojlović) and Blacky (Lazar Ristovski) manufacture and sell weapons to the Communist resistance in WWII Belgrade, living the good life along the way. Marko’s surreal duplicity propels him up the ranks of the Communist Party, and he eventually abandons Blacky and steals his girlfriend. After a lengthy stay in a below-ground shelter, the couple re-emerges during the Yugoslavian Civil War of the 1990s as Marko realizes that the situation is ripe for exploitation. Underground won the Palme d’Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.

Starring: Miki Manojlović, Lazar Ristovski, Mirjana Joković, Slavko Štimac
Running time: 2 hrs 50 minutes
Language: Serbian
Where can I watch? JustWatch (UK) JustWatch (US)

Watch-along: Wednesday 9 April 2025, 8pm UK time

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles (1975), directed by Chantal Akerman

Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig), the widowed mother of a teenage son, Sylvain (Jan Decorte), ekes out a drab, repetitive existence in her tiny Brussels apartment. Jeanne’s days are divided between humdrum domestic chores – shopping, cooking, housework – and her job as an occasional prostitute, which keeps her financially afloat. She seems perfectly resigned to her situation until a series of slight interruptions in her routine leads to unexpected and dramatic changes. In 2022, the Sight and Sound magazine critics’ poll named Jeanne Dielman the greatest film of all time.

Starring: Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte
Running time: 3 hrs 21 minutes
Language: French
Where can I watch? JustWatch (UK) JustWatch (US)

Watch-along: Wednesday 14 May 2025, 8pm UK time

The Gold Rush (1925), directed by Charlie Chaplin

In this classic silent comedy, the Little Tramp (Charles Chaplin) heads north to join in the Klondike gold rush. Trapped in a small cabin by a blizzard, the Tramp is forced to share close quarters with a successful prospector (Mack Swain) and a fugitive (Tom Murray). Eventually able to leave the cabin, he falls for a lovely barmaid (Georgia Hale), trying valiantly to win her affections. When the prospector needs help locating his claim, it appears the Tramp’s fortunes may change.

Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Georgia Hale
Running time: 1 hr 12 minutes
Language: Silent
Where can I watch? JustWatch (UK) JustWatch (US)

Watch-along: Wednesday 11 June 2025, 8pm UK time

From now on, Watch-along messages will be emailed to paid subscribers only.

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