All posts tagged: watching

Psychological Considerations Before Watching an Execution

Psychological Considerations Before Watching an Execution

Published by Jenni Sidey

The Pentagon announced plans to livestream the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. His execution is scheduled for December 3. As of today, President Trump has not announced a final decision on the proposed broadcast. Whatever we believe about capital punishment, this proposal raises a separate question: What happens when we invite the public to watch a human being die? The people killed at Fort Hood, the survivors, and their families deserve sustained attention and support. Their views about the broadcast differ and deserve a respectful hearing. Honoring them also requires considering the consequences of distributing graphic footage to a broad audience, many of whom will see it inadvertently, including children. What We Watch Can Stay With Us Watching is a powerful experience. We wince when someone falls, tense during a frightening scene, and smile when someone smiles at us. Even through our screens, emotions are transmitted. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes moral elevation: the uplifting feeling that can come from witnessing moral goodness, …

Everyone’s watching DC’s Lanterns, but HBO already gave us something much better

Everyone’s watching DC’s Lanterns, but HBO already gave us something much better

Published by Miika Tikkanen

James Gunn and Peter Safran are busy building out a new DC Cinematic Universe, and they have just completed an important project: the first season of Lanterns, an HBO show about the Green Lantern Corps, has wrapped up. Overall, it was a success, but HBO has already made a vastly superior show based on DC Comics. Lanterns burned bright Although not everyone saw the light In DC Comics, the Green Lantern Corps is an intergalactic police force made up of people from all over the universe; through the use of their power rings, they can will anything they can imagine into existence, and use it to fight evil. Although Lanterns occasionally engaged with this cosmic aspect of the story, it was mostly earthbound. We meet Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), the Green Lantern in charge of the section of outer space that includes Earth; and his trainee John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). Most of the action takes place in the small town of Rushville, NE, where there’s been mysterious extraterrestrial activity. Although there are some big action …

Have You Protested AI Recently? Anthropic May Be Watching You for Precrimes

Have You Protested AI Recently? Anthropic May Be Watching You for Precrimes

Published by Miika Tikkanen

On Wednesday, investigative reporter Daniel Boguslaw detailed how security officials at Anthropic, the creator of Claude AI, are engaging in monitoring and surveillance, including reporting AI activists to police for potential future crimes. The report, published in The American Prospect, comes amid the well-known Anthropic-Pentagon standoff, in which the AI company has feuded over how the military deploys mass-surveillance tools and fully autonomous weapons. Anthropic lost several lucrative government contracts in the process. Last week, after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said Anthropic is “back on the right side,” a Pentagon official disputed the claim and said the company remains a “supply chain risk.” Anthropic told CNET via email that it disagreed with Boguslaw’s piece, saying the headline and framing were inaccurate. “Anthropic is not — and has never said it is — ‘building a predictive surveillance system to monitor activists.’ This is a physical-security function focused on keeping our employees safe, the same as any large company with a global workforce.” Drawing from postings and interviews with senior security officials at Anthropic, Boguslaw’s …

‘It’s easier when nobody’s watching’: inside the secretive and sublime freak-folk of @

‘It’s easier when nobody’s watching’: inside the secretive and sublime freak-folk of @

Published by Sam Flores

Victoria Rose arrives at Philadelphia’s 30th St Station and apologises for the sticky streaks covering her car’s interior. She’s a beekeeper, and it’s just propolis, a resinous sealant for gaps in the hive. Her bandmate, Stone Filipczak, is riding shotgun, and her protective gear occupies the rear passenger seat. We’re heading to one of their favourite spots, an Ethiopian restaurant that doubles as a venue. The dining room quickly gets boisterous – a challenge for our interview given that Filipczak and Rose are relatively soft speakers, and not wildly keen to divulge specifics about the music they make as @. Like Rose’s bees, they’re a secretive and self-sustaining pair. As you might guess, @ is pronounced “at”. It’s a tough Google. The name, Filipczak explains, came from “a vision of an @ sign on a kick drum head”. Not that they have any need for one: @’s art-folk is rooted in acoustic guitar, woodwinds and vocal harmonies that furrow and frolic. Their fantastic second album, Autosmile, is their first with the venerated indie label 4AD. …

Joe Russo Says Watching ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Required for ‘Doomsday’

Joe Russo Says Watching ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Required for ‘Doomsday’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Marvel fans are being given some homework. Avengers: Doomsday director Joe Russo says watching Avengers: Endgame is “required” to understand the upcoming film. Russo told Fandango that the upcoming Avengers: Endgame Encore — a re-release of the 2019 blockbuster featuring additional footage — is “going to connect the story of the two movies. There’s a natural progression from Endgame into Doomsday, which is also inclusive of all the other stories that have been playing out. But I think it’s important to see Endgame again in theaters for two reasons: One, you’re going to have a lot of fun … and two, I think it’s required viewing for following the story in Doomsday.” His brother and directing partner Anthony Russo added, “If you saw Endgame when it was originally released, you couldn’t see this coming.” With its 185 minute runtime, Endgame Encore has roughly four minutes of extra footage and includes a sneak peek at Doomsday. The film will be released on Sept. 25. Endgame currently stands at $2.79 billion at the global box office, one …

Get Excited for Grand Theft Auto 6 By Watching an Extended Preview on Aug. 27

Get Excited for Grand Theft Auto 6 By Watching an Extended Preview on Aug. 27

Published by Miika Tikkanen

After more than a decade of anticipation, Grand Theft Auto 6 is finally coming out. Rockstar Games is set to release the game on Nov. 19, and you can preorder the standard edition for $80 or the Ultimate Edition for $100 now. Before the game’s release, Netflix is streaming an extended look at GTA 6 at 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT) on Aug. 27. YouTube will also be streaming the extended preview a few hours later at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT) on the same day. Grand Theft Auto 6 is expected to be a juggernaut once Rockstar releases it. After the company nailed down a November release date, almost every other game publisher steered clear of that month. When Rockstar delayed GTA 6 in 2025, industry analysts predicted publishers would adjust their release calendars to avoid competing with the gaming juggernaut. “Publishers will undoubtedly shuffle around their release schedules to avoid going head-to-head with GTA 6,” Piers Harding-Rolls, research director of games at Ampere Analysis, told GamesIndustry.biz at the time. The result …

14 Thoughts I Had Watching the Verity Trailer

14 Thoughts I Had Watching the Verity Trailer

Published by Jenni Sidey

The trailer for the adaptation of the mega-bestselling 2018 psychological thriller Verity by Colleen Hoover just dropped yesterday. Already, it’s amassed more than 5 million views on YouTube, and is ranked #6 in the movies category for the site’s trending chart. I watched the trailer and have thoughts: First things first: I have to admit that I have not read anything by Big Hoove, but I am a part of the generation that watched Lifetime movies and Jerry Springer when I was home sick from school. In other words, I was born in messy TV, molded by it. Just looking at the thumbnail before I press play: Is that the Princess of Genovia (Anne Hathaway for the uncultured)? In another big adaptation?? We are truly feasting this year. First scene: Okay, Dakota! Looking very mysterious and serious. It’s giving ac-TOR. I feel like I’ve seen this aerial view of a winding road in mystery/thrillers a million times… Josh Hartnett: “You must have questions.” Why yes, yes I do, Josh. That look red-lipped Anne gave the …

Why Am I Watching Instagram on My TV?

Why Am I Watching Instagram on My TV?

Published by Daniella Wilson

The videos that Instagram suggests in my never-ending “For You” feed are usually of a constellation of women. They’re strangers, but I call them “my girls.” One of them is remodeling her house; one is always cleaning and “resetting” the van she lives in; one is sampling pasta and sandwiches at various New York establishments. And each has something special that I can’t explain to you—a je ne sais quoi, a curious style of speaking—so I’ve come to look forward to my regular glimpses of their lives, which I get when I scroll in bed before I go to sleep each night. I regard these strangers as my intimates in a way, even though some of them are not people I think I would like if I actually met them. One morning, I was watching one on my living-room television while sipping my coffee. My husband walked into the room and winced as one of the women changed into a perfect re-creation of an American Girl–doll outfit (very theater kid, not his thing). I felt …

Is Tony, A24’s Anthony Bourdain Biopic, Worth Watching?

Is Tony, A24’s Anthony Bourdain Biopic, Worth Watching?

Published by Sam Flores

A24’s Anthony Bourdain film, Tony, is set to come out of 14 August in the UK. But the biopic, starring Dominic Sassa as a young Tony, Antonio Banderas as his Chef, Emilia Jones as love interest Nancy, and Leo Woodall as fellow restaurant worker Sal, has already received verdicts from multiple critics. “A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life,” the movie’s synopsis reads. Here’s what reviewers think so far: What do critics think of 2026’s Tony? Reviews are generally good – it has already earned an outstanding 97% on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. But some critics think Nancy’s storyline is a bit thin, while others say the unavoidable shadow of Bourdain’s real-life suicide can’t help but colour the film for fans. “This is a strange film in some ways. It is watchable and entertaining, but its feel-good trajectory is compromised by what we know of the author… In a way, Tony is …

Why just even watching sport can be good for your health, according to science

Why just even watching sport can be good for your health, according to science

Published by Daniella Wilson

You can feel it when you walk down the street: that little pep in everyone’s step. While it’s not unusual for everyone to shuffle past each other with a grunt (particularly in London), throughout the last three weeks there’s been a vibe shift, with people even engaging in eye contact and flashing the occasional smile. And it looks like the summer of sport could be behind this shift in the national mood. The sun is out, England are through to the quarter finals of the World Cup, and 23-year-old British wildcard Arthur Fery made a courageous march into the semi-finals of Wimbledon before bowing out. “Just seems to get better and better every match,” Fery said after beating Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in straight sets on Wednesday. “I can’t believe it,” the dumbstruck wildcard added. Days earlier, England’s beautifully chaotic 3-2 World Cup victory over Mexico in the early hours of Monday morning, which saw Jude Bellingham scoring twice in the space of two minutes, shattered BBC viewing records, as well as our sleep schedules and, …