Vincent O'Connell
@vincentoconnell.co.uk
Writer and film maker, here for distraction, information and (occasional) enlightenment.
www.vincentoconnell.co.uk
www.vincentoconnell.co.uk
We're going to be hearing a lot more of this nonsense aren't we.
AI chatbots could help stop prisoner release errors, says justice minister
AI chatbots could help stop prisoner release errors, says justice minister
HMP Wandsworth gets ‘green light’ to use AI after team sent in to find ‘quick fixes’ after spate of mistakes
Artificial intelligence chatbots could be used to stop prisoners from being mistakenly released from jail, a justice minister told the House of Lords on Monday.
Lord Timpson said HMP Wandsworth had been given the “green light” to use artificial intelligence (AI) after a specialised team was sent in to find “some quick fixes”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:02 PM
We're going to be hearing a lot more of this nonsense aren't we.
Not now, Comet C/2025 T1.
A striking cosmic event is captivating observers. Comet C/2025 T1 (ATLAS) abruptly erupted, taking scientists by surprise with a swift increase in brightness from magnitude 16 to 10.
www.ibtimes.co.uk/c-2025-t1-as...
www.ibtimes.co.uk/c-2025-t1-as...
C/2025 T1: Astronomers Baffled by Sudden Outburst — Glows Brighter Than Ever Before
Comet C/2025 T1 (ATLAS) has taken scientists by surprise, swiftly brightening from magnitude 16 to 10 in a spectacular, unprecedented display.
www.ibtimes.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Not now, Comet C/2025 T1.
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
Solar’s price drop is astonishing: panels are now 98% cheaper than when I first analyzed them in 2004.
Today, building a fence with solar can be cheaper than using wood.
Today, building a fence with solar can be cheaper than using wood.
November 10, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Solar’s price drop is astonishing: panels are now 98% cheaper than when I first analyzed them in 2004.
Today, building a fence with solar can be cheaper than using wood.
Today, building a fence with solar can be cheaper than using wood.
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
First thought- good news at last. Second thought- oh god who are they replacing him with?
BREAKING: Tim Davie resigns as BBC's director-general - with CEO of BBC News also stepping down
news.sky.com/story/tim-da...
news.sky.com/story/tim-da...
Tim Davie resigns as BBC's director-general - with CEO of BBC News also stepping down
Tim Davie has resigned as the BBC's director-general.
news.sky.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:33 PM
First thought- good news at last. Second thought- oh god who are they replacing him with?
help
‘Ambition is a punishing sphere for women’: author Maggie Nelson on why Taylor Swift is the Sylvia Plath of her generation
‘Ambition is a punishing sphere for women’: author Maggie Nelson on why Taylor Swift is the Sylvia Plath of her generation
What do Swift and Plath have in common, and should Kamala Harris have spoken out about her political ambitions? The Argonauts author turns her lens on poetry, pop and patriarchy
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:25 PM
help
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
Just need everyone to Google the name "Rosalind Franklin" at this moment.
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments
“People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Just need everyone to Google the name "Rosalind Franklin" at this moment.
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
The first comment on YouTube reckons you can spot Pat Phoenix. James Booth, Dudley Sutton, Yootha Joyce, Richard Harris and Glyn Edwards among the company.
A 1959 Monitor feature on Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop
I've struck gold with this 1959 report on Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at Stratford East from the BBC arts programme Monitor. The firs...
liberalengland.blogspot.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:28 PM
The first comment on YouTube reckons you can spot Pat Phoenix. James Booth, Dudley Sutton, Yootha Joyce, Richard Harris and Glyn Edwards among the company.
Wondering what all the xenophobes will have to say about the actions of Samir Zitouni...
Cambridgeshire stabbing attack: ‘heroic’ train worker praised for saving passengers’ lives
Cambridgeshire stabbing attack: ‘heroic’ train worker praised for saving passengers’ lives
LNER employee Samir Zitouni, who was hospitalised after Saturday’s incident, hailed by police for ‘incredibly brave’ actions
A “heroic” member of staff who was seriously injured after the mass stabbing onboard a train in Cambridgeshire on Saturday has been praised for his “incredibly brave” actions to protect passengers.
Samir Zitouni, 48, who has worked for London North Eastern Railway (LNER) for more than 20 years, remains in hospital following the attacks. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Wondering what all the xenophobes will have to say about the actions of Samir Zitouni...
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
“FUCK AI” is turning into a movement.
After his Frankenstein Q&A at the Chinese Theater, Guillermo del Toro asked the audience to scream “FUCK AI.”
After his Frankenstein Q&A at the Chinese Theater, Guillermo del Toro asked the audience to scream “FUCK AI.”
November 1, 2025 at 9:42 PM
“FUCK AI” is turning into a movement.
After his Frankenstein Q&A at the Chinese Theater, Guillermo del Toro asked the audience to scream “FUCK AI.”
After his Frankenstein Q&A at the Chinese Theater, Guillermo del Toro asked the audience to scream “FUCK AI.”
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
RIP Peter Watkins, whose film about the 1871 Paris Commune treats it as if it were a current news event, with participants talking to reporters. It runs to nearly six hours & was shot in less than a fortnight in an abandoned factory www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDTT...
la commune.2000.peter watkins.film complet en francais
YouTube video by natasha fossati
www.youtube.com
November 1, 2025 at 10:02 AM
RIP Peter Watkins, whose film about the 1871 Paris Commune treats it as if it were a current news event, with participants talking to reporters. It runs to nearly six hours & was shot in less than a fortnight in an abandoned factory www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDTT...
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
"It is difficult to resist the suspicion that for Watkins, the film was also something of a self-portrait – one of Munch’s own favoured forms – showing the struggles of a committed artist against the conservative system that rejects him." R.I.P. Peter Watkins projectedfigures.com/2016/04/25/e...
Edvard Munch (1974) - Projected Figures
Peter Watkins' experimental biopic EDVARD MUNCH paints a complex but compelling portrait of an artist ill at ease with himself and his times.
projectedfigures.com
November 1, 2025 at 10:27 AM
"It is difficult to resist the suspicion that for Watkins, the film was also something of a self-portrait – one of Munch’s own favoured forms – showing the struggles of a committed artist against the conservative system that rejects him." R.I.P. Peter Watkins projectedfigures.com/2016/04/25/e...
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
Found myself thinking of the Battle of Algiers yesterday when watching 'Culloden', a docu-drama made by late Peter Watkins, and to my astonishment found it preceded BoA by a couple of years. Worth anyone's time youtu.be/nmEuXaea8rY
Culloden 1964
YouTube video by jonanonathan f
youtu.be
November 1, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Found myself thinking of the Battle of Algiers yesterday when watching 'Culloden', a docu-drama made by late Peter Watkins, and to my astonishment found it preceded BoA by a couple of years. Worth anyone's time youtu.be/nmEuXaea8rY
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
RIP Peter Watkins. A film here for the ICE Age...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bRM...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bRM...
Punishment Park
YouTube video by jonanonathan f
www.youtube.com
November 1, 2025 at 9:55 AM
RIP Peter Watkins. A film here for the ICE Age...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bRM...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bRM...
This was in response to Lisa Nandy's supposedly aspirational call for Oscar and Bafta winners from "small towns". Of course, it's a narrow and shallow definition of success, but it misses the point in so many other ways too.
BAFTA winner from Basildon here. Couldn't have done it without TIE/YPT provision in schools, without full (non-loaned) grant for university, without some basic state provision without hassle when I was finding my feet...all of which has gone. Invest in creativity.
October 31, 2025 at 9:00 PM
This was in response to Lisa Nandy's supposedly aspirational call for Oscar and Bafta winners from "small towns". Of course, it's a narrow and shallow definition of success, but it misses the point in so many other ways too.
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
Peter Watkins, 1935-2025
The maverick filmmaker and pioneer of the docudrama, whose anti-establishment works redefined political cinema and challenged the very language of mass media, has died aged 90
www.bfi.org.uk/features/pet...
The maverick filmmaker and pioneer of the docudrama, whose anti-establishment works redefined political cinema and challenged the very language of mass media, has died aged 90
www.bfi.org.uk/features/pet...
Peter Watkins obituary: radical British filmmaker behind The War Game and Punishment Park
The maverick filmmaker and pioneer of the docudrama, whose anti-establishment works redefined political cinema and challenged the very language of mass media, has died aged 90.
www.bfi.org.uk
October 31, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Peter Watkins, 1935-2025
The maverick filmmaker and pioneer of the docudrama, whose anti-establishment works redefined political cinema and challenged the very language of mass media, has died aged 90
www.bfi.org.uk/features/pet...
The maverick filmmaker and pioneer of the docudrama, whose anti-establishment works redefined political cinema and challenged the very language of mass media, has died aged 90
www.bfi.org.uk/features/pet...
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
Hi Lisa Nandy! I’m a BAFTA winner from a small town. Instead of asinine questions like this, why not tell us how we can continue to make a living in the eviscerated creative sector over which you notionally preside?
October 31, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Hi Lisa Nandy! I’m a BAFTA winner from a small town. Instead of asinine questions like this, why not tell us how we can continue to make a living in the eviscerated creative sector over which you notionally preside?
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
None of the big museums or galleries were interested in showing the exhibition, most didn’t even reply when contacted. What the success of Outsiders shows is that you can bypass those gatekeepers and get your work seen if you persist and build relationships with people in regional organisations.
October 30, 2025 at 8:53 AM
None of the big museums or galleries were interested in showing the exhibition, most didn’t even reply when contacted. What the success of Outsiders shows is that you can bypass those gatekeepers and get your work seen if you persist and build relationships with people in regional organisations.
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
Guillermo del Toro on wealth: "a wealthy man is a man who has enough, not a man that needs more. If you have enough to invite someone for a beer? You're rich. If you have a yacht, planes, islands, and you still need more? You're not rich."
October 27, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Guillermo del Toro on wealth: "a wealthy man is a man who has enough, not a man that needs more. If you have enough to invite someone for a beer? You're rich. If you have a yacht, planes, islands, and you still need more? You're not rich."
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
18 years ago today, Sidney Lumet’s Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead hit theaters—a haunting final act from one of cinema’s greats. Revisit our deep dive into this gripping tale of greed & betrayal.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
cinephiliabeyond.org/before-the-d...
⬇️⬇️⬇️
cinephiliabeyond.org/before-the-d...
Reclaiming the Lost Art of Melodrama in Sidney Lumet’s Unsung Masterpiece: ‘Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’ • Cinephilia & Beyond
By Parrish Stikeleather I sent the script first to Philip, one of the finest actors in the country, and I gave him the choice to play either brother: Hank or Andy. Then I sent it to Ethan. And Ethan s...
cinephiliabeyond.org
October 26, 2025 at 10:28 PM
18 years ago today, Sidney Lumet’s Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead hit theaters—a haunting final act from one of cinema’s greats. Revisit our deep dive into this gripping tale of greed & betrayal.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
cinephiliabeyond.org/before-the-d...
⬇️⬇️⬇️
cinephiliabeyond.org/before-the-d...
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
I keep seeing young actors that vaguely remind me of someone else, then I find out they’re the son or daughter of another wealthy, successful actor.
In the U.K., the working-class actor is almost extinct. The acting profession isn’t better for their lack of experience of the real world.
In the U.K., the working-class actor is almost extinct. The acting profession isn’t better for their lack of experience of the real world.
Acting is almost as dynastic as medicine and a bit more than journalism.
October 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM
I keep seeing young actors that vaguely remind me of someone else, then I find out they’re the son or daughter of another wealthy, successful actor.
In the U.K., the working-class actor is almost extinct. The acting profession isn’t better for their lack of experience of the real world.
In the U.K., the working-class actor is almost extinct. The acting profession isn’t better for their lack of experience of the real world.
Reposted by Vincent O'Connell
Went through the "White House" today. It was just beautiful.
October 22, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Went through the "White House" today. It was just beautiful.