We’re joined by Jenna Charlton to discuss David Fincher’s critically-acclaimed Mark Zuckerberg biopic which straddles a very fine line between hero worship and cautionary tale.

We talk about the pre-Facebook internet days of Angelfire and MySpace, how the movie mostly gets its tech correct for a change, and our real-life experiences with the privilege which the film displays.

We get a bit serious in the middle as we unpack the overt misogynism on-display in the movie, discuss the impact of Facebook’s push into the editorial and advertising spaces, and look at what happens when content moderation goes awry.

There’s some light-heartedness along the way as the crew discuss the feel-good programs that they use for respite, why Dan’s name didn’t meet AOL standards, and Neil shares a story of an unfortunate encounter with Justin Bieber.

We’ll see you again in October for our discussion on JURASSIC PARK!

Twitters: @ScreenTesting @SheWrestlesTest @TheTestDoctor @neilstudd

Emails: [email protected]

Intro music: The White Stripes - Ball and Biscuit Outro music: The Beatles - Baby, You’re A Rich Man

It's time for another long-overdue dive into technology in 90s movies, as we go deep into the "not as bad as you heard it was" Sandra Bullock thriller, The Net.

We investigate whether Jack Devlin has the skills required to be an international spy, whether the film merited the little-known sequel and TV series which it received, and whether Angela should be briefer in her emails when she's being pursued.

As usual, there are tangents upon tangents, as we uncover the secret behind Neil's unwritten novel, Dan's time spent working at the bleeding edge of the early days of the internet, and the time that Neil was framed as a pervert by a badly-trained keylogger.

Films and TV shows mentioned:

• Hackers
• Speed
• Demolition Man
• Speed 2
• Patriot Games
• Clear and Present Danger
• The Hunt for Red October
• Independence Day
• Goldeneye
• North by Northwest
• Notorious
• The Net 2.0
• From Russia with Love
• The World Is Not Enough
• NYPD Blue
• The Bourne Identity
• Casino Royale
• Mr Robot
• Lost
• The Amazing Spider-Man
• Jurassic Park
• Gravity
• Bird Box
• Ocean's 8
• Our Brand Is Crisis
• Crash
• The Blind Side
• All About Steve
• They Live
• The Silence of The Lambs
• Bill and Ted Face the Music
• Star Trek: Short Treks
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
• Die Hard 2
• Doctor Who: Earthshock
• Hannibal
• Strangers on a Train
• Diagnosis Murder
• The Punisher
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
• Proxima
• Hanna
• Star Trek: The Next Generation
• The Mandalorian
• Firefly
• Bad Education
• Palm Springs

Other references:

• Taken 3 - Liam Neeson jumps a fence
• Anatomy of a Scene: fake breakdown of the Taken 3 fence jump
• Dwayne Johnson in The Net (TV series)
• Dwayne Johnson in Star Trek: Voyager
• Jeremy Renner in The Net (TV series)
• Ian McDiarmid "Do It"
• Shia Laboeuf "Do It"
• Ben Stiller "Do It"
• Blackadder Goes Forth - Alan
• Darknet Diaries
• IT Crowd - Fire
• IT Crowd - 0118... (I was pretty close)
• IT Crowd - "behind the lady"
• Goldeneye - Sean Bean impaled
• Commando - Bennett impaled
• Family Guy - Brian's novel
• Star Wars - Maclunkey!
• Bristol Tourist Board 

We'll be back at the end of August, hopefully with guests, to talk about THE SOCIAL NETWORK.

Twitters: @ScreenTesting @TheTestDoctor @neilstudd

Emails: [email protected]

Intro music: Mark Isham - The Net - Act I  Outro music: Annie Lennox - A Whiter Shade of Pale 

Trying to sync your episode with an immovable calendar date? Doing two recordings in one week? Suffering with kidney stones as well? It’s no problem for your favourite (perhaps) test-focused movie buffs, who are here to talk about a sci-fi classic which has an unmentionable sequel, despite the fact that Neil keeps mentioning it.

Dan and Neil are your guides on a trip through that most traditional of holiday tales, featuring a weird mix of American bravado and hubris. The explosions are almost as large as the plot conveniences, as they set out to answer all of the most important questions: Is there such a thing as too much backstory? Was Randy Quaid really abducted by aliens? And does this film feature the most expository line of dialog of all-time?

Oh, by the way, the show that Neil was thinking of which featured a Pringles can antenna was Mr Robot (S2E4, “Master-Slave”). However, any attempt to link to it was MAJORLY spoiler-ridden, so you should just watch all of Mr Robot instead.

Films and TV shows mentioned:

• Independence Day: Resurgence
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• Jurassic Park
• The Fly
• The Tall Man
• Battlestar Galactica (TV series)
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park
• Men in Black
• Godzilla
• Armageddon
• Deep Impact
• Titanic
• Goldeneye
• Ant Man
• The Legend of Bagger Vance
• Six Degrees of Separation
• Enemy of the State
• Gemini Man
• Memphis Belle
• Rocky Balboa
• The American President
• The West Wing
• House of Cards
• Stargate
• Mr Deeds
• The Mummy
• Planet of the Apes (2001)
• Doctor Who TV movie (1996)
• Airport
• Airplane!
• The Wonder Years
• Jason Bourne (2016)
• Arrival
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• Hidden Figures
• Star Wars
• Independence Day (1983)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Hamilton

Other references:

• Orion Cinema, Burgess Hill
• Empire magazine
• Amazon: Chris Hadfield - An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth
• YouTube: Independence Day UK radio play
• Wikipedia: Star Trek: Short Treks
• SETI@home
• YouTube: Riskstorming the Death Star
• Image of the British army official who doesn't know how to handle guns
• YouTube: James Brown and the upside-down Empire State Building

Join us again later in July for a long-overdue romp through THE NET!

Twitters: @ScreenTesting @TheTestDoctor @neilstudd

Emails:
 [email protected] Intro music: David Arnold - 1969 / We Came In Peace Outro music: REM - It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

Where have the last two years gone? Neil and Dan reunite as they attempt to quantify the many things that have kept them away from their microphones, whilst also focusing on some of the bigger issues of today (virulent or otherwise).

As well as the many subjects of births, deaths, marriages and bubbles, we attempt to put a positive spin on COVID, discuss the ever-evolving impact of Black Lives Matter on historical media, and there's a rundown of the mixed bag which is the current UK box office for 2020.

Films and TV shows mentioned:

• Contagion
• Deep Blue Sea 
• Brexit: The Uncivil War
• Doctor Who: The Talons of Weng Chiang
• Frozen 2
• Space Force
• Hunters (Amazon Prime)
• Star Trek: Discovery S1
• Serpico
• Trolls World Tour
• The Hunt
• 7500
• The Walk (not Man on Wire!)
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Inception
• The Platform
• High Rise
• Uncut Gems
• Punch Drunk Love
• The Wedding Singer
• Good Time
• The Invisible Man
• The Handmaid's Tale S1
• Hollow Man
• Emma.
• Jojo Rabbit
• Thor Ragnaraok
• Avengers: Endgame
• The Mandalorian S1
• What We Do In The Shadows S1
• Birds of Prey
• Parasite
• Get Out
• The Gentlemen
• Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
• King Arthur
• Aladdin
• Paddington 2
• Dolittle
• Bad Boys For Life
• Lethal Weapon 4
• Transformers: The Last Knight
• 6 Underground
• Sonic The Hedgehog
• Pokemon: Detective Pikachu
• 1917
• Rope
• Dunkirk
• No Time To Die
• Black Widow
• Tenet
• Dune
• Arrival
• Blade Runner 2049
• Dune (1984 version)
• Hamilton

Other references:

• Testers' Island Discs - Episode 25
• MoneySupermarket
• Scott Logic
• Dan's fundraising page for Macmillan Cancer Research
• Postman events (including Twitch streams)
• Twitch: Automation in Testing Online
• Clifton Suspension Bridge
• BBC News: UK virus-tracing app switches to Apple-Google model
• Quality Remarks podcast Episode 12 - Ethics Panel
• BBC News: Liverpool fans flock to Anfield to celebrate Premier League title
• BBC News: Beach littering
• Black Lives Matter
• BBC News: George Floyd death
• BBC News: Edward Colston statue torn down
• BBC News: John Cleese speaks out about Fawlty Towers removal
• BBC News: 30 Rock: Tina Fey apologises as blackface episodes are withdrawn
• BBC News: Little Britain pulled from iPlayer and Netflix
• Meetup: Ministry of Testing Manchester
• Meetup: Ministry of Testing Buckinghamshire
• TestBash Home 2020
• Upcoming TestBashes
• Kiuwan: Busting the Security Myths in DevOps
• The Motrix: Transcendental Learning from the Space Time Continuum
• Agile Testing Days
• BBC News: The Hunt release cancelled
• Star Trek: The Next Conversation

We'll be back again by the weekend, with our timely take on the sci-fi classic INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Twitters:@ScreenTesting @TheTestDoctor @neilstudd

Emails: [email protected]

Intro music: Pearl and Dean Theme Outro music: Depeche Mode - Shake The Disease

We're back from a brief hiatus with - unbelievably - a film which actually deeply relates to testing! We're joined by Mark Tomlinson, who brings his own experiences of dealing with the National Transportation Safety Board, to discuss a film about a remarkable moment of true-life heroism, and the decisions that we make in the heat of the moment.

The events of the movie give us a chance to get into in-depth discussions about the challenges of testing within regulated industries, developing risk mitigation strategies in life-critical environments, debugging/monitoring, and whether quality is a team effort.

There are remarkably few distractions, although we get into some meta-discussion about whether it was correct to portray the NTSB as pantomime villains, a general critique of Clint Eastwood's agenda, a surprising number of references to metallurgy, and we give Mark an introduction to 1980s UK gameshows.

YouTube trailers for films mentioned:

• Equity
• Miss Sloane
• Flight
• Unforgiven
• Bridges of Madison County
• Every Which Way But Loose
• Million Dollar Baby
• The 15:17 To Paris
• Gran Torino
• Ex Machina
• Deepwater Horizon
• Runaway
• Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle

Miscellaneous links:

• Amazon.co.uk: Captain Chesley B Sullenberger III - Highest Duty
• TestBash Philadelphia 2017
• TestBash San Francisco 2018
• Del Dewar - Dressing Up the Spinning Cat
• Wikipedia: Yanny or Laurel
• Wikipedia: US Airways Flight 1549
• National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• Wikipedia: 2015 Shoreham Airshow crash
• AP News: Real-life investigators object to portrayal in 'Sully' movie
• Federal Aviation Administration
• Wikipedia: Hagiography
• YouTube: Clint Eastwood RNC speech interviewing an empty chair
• Earwolf: James Bonding podcast
• /r/MovieDetails: Poster for Gran Torino visible in Sully
• YouTube: Eddie Izzard - Glorious (Birdstrike)
• YouTube: Agile Testing Days 2015: Richard Bradshaw - Automation in Testing
• YouTube: Brendan Gregg - Shouting in the Datacenter
• YouTube: Austin Powers (1, not 2!) - Bathroom Break
• YouTube: Sully EPIC SPEECH
• Wikipedia: The Krypton Factor
• YouTube: The Krypton Factor - Flight simulator round
• YouTube: The Krypton Factor - Rearranging perspex shapes
• YouTube: The Krypton Factor - Tony Slattery and Roger Lloyd Pack in "Dead Ringer" sketch
• RailPlan 2020

Twitters: @MarkOnTask @TheTestDoctor @neilstudd

Emails:[email protected]

Intro music: Christian Jacob - Sully Suite Outro music: Christian Jacob - Flying Home (Sully's Theme)

Pop quiz, hotshot! You want to record a new podcast episode, but you also want a break from some of the darker plots that you've talked about recently. Plus, you're snowed-in at home. What do you do? Dan and Neil decide not to shoot the hostage, but to instead kick back with a discussion about Speed.

In an episode recorded at the beginning of March (hence some timeline discrepancies and weird Oscar predictions), they find many parallels with Die Hard, and manage to work-in a surprising number of testing elements, including setting/reviewing acceptance criteria, pairing in the workplace, communicating information, and using psychology to analyse a situation.

Miscellaneous Links:

• BBC News: The Beast from the East
• How Did This Get Made? podcast
• Den of Geek: The strange history of the Die Hard movies 
• Dailymotion: Mythbusters - Speed Bus Jump
• TV Tropes: Camera Spoofing
• Dailymotion: The A-Team: Trouble Brewing (skip to 34:00 for the Polaroid scene)
• YouTube: The West Wing - In Excelsis Deo (Richard Schiff Emmy win)
• The West Wing Weekly podcast
• YouTube: Austin Powers - Head Puns

Films and TV shows mentioned:

• Die Hard 2
• The Thing
• Pingu
• Speed 2: Cruise Control
• The Net
• The Lake House
• Jurassic Park
• Twister
• Independence Day
• Die Hard
• Black Rain
• The Hunt For Red October
• Basic Instinct
• The Jewel Of The Nile
• The Matrix
• Point Break
• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
• The Haunting
• Under Siege
• Equilibrium
• Minority Report
• Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
• Tomb Raider (2018)
• The Rock
• Swordfish
• The Martian
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off
• Star Trek: Generations
• The Corner
• The Wire
• Lenny The Wonder Dog
• I, Tonya
• The Hateful Eight
• Lady Bird
• Game Night
• The Game
• The Mercy
• Finding Your Feet

As hinted near the end, our next episode will be based on the true-life story of SULLY with special guest Mark Tomlinson!

Twitters: @ScreenTesting @TheTestDoctor @neilstudd

Emails: [email protected]

Intro music: Mark Mancina - Speed (Main Title) Outro music: Billy Idol - Speed

We return a little later than planned, as we discuss one of the greatest thrillers of our time, getting into discussions about psychology, interviewing, misogyny and gender politics, and appropriate occasions for purchasing FBI-themed cakes.

We also salvage the best bits of our failed Oscars announcement episode, highlighting a few nominations that we hope will win big, and staking our reputations on a few predictions of our own.

Miscellaneous Links:

• Ministry of Testing charity calendar 
• Saving Linnea
• Wikipedia: List of Big Five Academy Award winners and nominees
• YouTube: The Silence of The Lambs as a Romantic Comedy
• Wikipedia: The Silence of The Lambs: Accusations of homophobia, transphobia and sexism
• YouTube: Frasier - Dan Butler as Bulldog
• YouTube: The Silence of The Lambs - Chris Isaak cameo
• YouTube: The Silence of The Lambs - George Romero cameo
• YouTube: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

YouTube trailers for films and TV shows mentioned:

• Hannibal (movie)
• Saw
• Red Dragon
• Hannibal Rising
• Manhunter
• Hannibal (TV series)
• Casino Royale
• It Happened One Night
• One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
• American Hustle
• La La Land
• The Wire
• Breaking Bad
• Se7en
• True Detective
• Criminal Minds
• Prime Suspect
• Contact
• Nell
• The Killing (Danish version)
• Spiral
• Sicario
• Sicario 2: Soldado
• The X Files
• The Day of the Jackal
• I.T.
• The Crying Game
• Philadelphia
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
• To Wong Foo
• The Danish Girl
• Heat
• Monk
• Diagnosis: Murder
• Columbo
• Detroit
• Wonder Woman
• Justice League
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• Moon
• The Shape of Water
• The Post
• Darkest Hour
• Saving Private Ryan
• Dunkirk
• Blade Runner 2049
• Molly's Game
• Loving Vincent

Twitters: @ScreenTesting @TheTestDoctor @neilstudd

Emails: [email protected]

Intro music: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - American Girl  Outro music: Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses

We begin 2018 with a discussion of Neil's favourite film of 2017, and a worrying early revelation about Dan's general problems with musicals. But we persevere, and discover not only a few musical gems in Dan's closet, but also a shared appreciation for some of the plot elements in La La Land.

Things get a bit philosophical and introspective as we dig into how we motivate ourselves (and others) when we (or they) suffer setbacks, how we tell our own stories about the world around us, taking the opportunities that come your way, avoiding being paralysed by "what if", and a few of the many screw-ups we've made in our past relationships.

As usual, we get sidelined by literal vs metaphor, fantasy physics, childhood dreams, Neil adopting some of Mia's vocabulary, and using BCC in emails.

At the end we have a very brief discussion about The Last Jedi, which is basically spoiler-free, but if you want to be really careful then you might want to fast-forward a couple of minutes!

YouTube links to songs referenced from La La Land:

• Another Day of Sun
• Someone in the Crowd
• Mia and Sebastian's Theme
• Take On Me / I Ran / Tainted Love
• A Lovely Night
• Planetarium
• Start A Fire
• Audition (The Fools Who Dream)

Miscellaneous references:

• Neil's profile on Untappd
• Dan's profile on Untappd
• YouTube: Kermode and Mayo's Film Review channel
• Empire podcast
• History vs Hollywood: The Greatest Showman vs The true story of P.T. Barnum
• Empire: Rogue One interview about the missing TIE Fighter
• TestBash San Francisco 2018
• Curbed: La La Land - The ultimate filming location map
• Game of Thrones location tours
• YouTube: A-Ha - "Take On Me"
• YouTube: A Flock Of Seagulls - "I Ran"
• Hollywood Reporter: How La La Land Got Its 6-Minute Sunset Dance Just Right (In Only 4 Takes)
• YouTube: Wayne's World 2 - Kenny G
• YouTube: Wayne's World - Bohemian Rhapsody
• Speak Easy
• The BRIT School
• YouTube: Galileo Observatory in Grand Theft Auto V vs the real-life Griffith Observatory
• BBC News: Golden Globes 2018
• Prince Charles Cinema - Blade Runner & Blade Runner 2049 double-feature (some tickets still available!)
• Amazon.co.uk: Ben Elton - The First Casualty

YouTube trailers for films and TV shows mentioned:

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• The Producers (1968)
• Les Miserables (theatre)
• Miss Saigon (theatre)
• Baby Driver
• Saturday Night Fever
• Staying Alive
• Mamma Mia!
• Mamma Mia! 2
• The Greatest Showman
• Moulin Rouge
• The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• The Commuter
• Singin' In The Rain
• Rebel Without A Cause
• The Lion King (movie)
• The Lion King (musical)
• Beauty and the Beast (2017)
• The Big Bang Theory
• Mulholland Drive
• LA Confidential
• That Thing You Do!
• Sliding Doors
• Doctor Who - Turn Left
• Quantum Leap
• Drive
• Blade Runner 2049
• Molly's Game
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Star Trek: Discovery - Despite Yourself
• Black Mirror - The National Anthem
• Black Mirror - USS Callister
• Black Mirror - Arkangel
• Doctor Who - Twice Upon A Time (Christmas 2017 episode)
• Blackadder Goes Forth ending
• Hannibal
• Red Dragon

As we discuss in the episode, January is a bit manic, but if all goes to plan then we'll be back with THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in two weeks' time! Twitters: @ScreenTesting @TheTestDoctor @neilstudd

Emails: [email protected]

Intro music: Another Day Of Sun (Instrumental Version) Outro music: City of Stars (Humming)

As the year draws to a conclusion, Neil and Dan give a rundown of their favourite movies of the past 12 months, and highlight a few festive turkeys.

The show notes are deliberately brief to avoid spoilers, but if you want to see the films which we discussed in YouTube trailer format, there are some playlists linked below.

References:

• YouTube trailers: Neil's worst 10 films of 2017
• YouTube trailers: Dan's films of 2017
• YouTube trailers: Neil's top 10 films of 2017
• Letterboxd: All of Neil's 2017 cinema viewings ranked

Thanks everyone for listening to us this year, and we'll see you on January 12th as (joy of joys) it's finally time for LA LA LAND!

Twitters: @ScreenTesting @TheTestDoctor @neilstudd

Emails: [email protected] 

Intro music: Pearl and Dean Theme Outro music: Captain Picard sings "Let It Snow"

In an episode recorded over the course of five hours, your hosts gather at Chez Neil for their own mini Christmas party, with a fine array of mince pies, cheeses and ales, as well as two of their favourite festive movies. The result? A fun and rambling journey which gets increasingly erratic as we continue.

Both nursing sore throats and hangovers from previous nights' office parties, we nevertheless get to all of the important questions, such as why Hans Gruber owns a TARDIS on wheels, which of Macaulay Culkin's traps constitute appropriate force, whether the Nakatomi Corporation employees deserved an externally-hosted Christmas party, how long Kevin McAllister would survive in Die Hard, and which film has the most inept police presence.

There's also a special post-credits treat, as Dan treats us to a reading of A Die Hard Christmas.

Home Alone discussion begins at 6 minutes, and Die Hard commences at 33 minutes.

References:

• Loaded: Why Die Hard is the greatest Christmas movie of all time
• The Independent: YouGov poll claims Die Hard isn't a Christmas film
• Wikipedia: Home Alone (franchise) (yes there are five of them)
• Crave: Conspiracy - Uncle Frank Was Behind Everything In Home Alone
• Wikipedia: Scranton, PA (yes it has an airport)
• The Week: Diagnosing the Home Alone burglars' injuries - a professional weighs in
• Wikipedia: Tony Martin (UK farmer)
• Arcade Attack: Interview with Violet Berlin (including her Micro Machines videogame appearance)
• YouTube: Angels with Filthy Souls
• Waitrose Perfect Cheeseboard
• Arundel Brewery beers
• Neil's timing chart from the 100km South Coast Challenge
• YouTube: Run-DMC - Christmas in Hollis
• The Bluebird, Chelsea (venue for Dan's Medidata Christmas party)
• One Embankment, London (venue for Neil's ZPG Christmas party)
• Phil Spencer
• Twitter: Neil meeting Phil Spencer
• YouTube: Skyfall meets Home Alone
• Amazon.co.uk: Doogie Horner - A Die Hard Christmas

 YouTube trailers for films mentioned:

• Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
• Elf
• Bad Santa
• Miracle on 34th Street
• The Santa Clause
• Santa Claus: The Movie
• It's A Wonderful Life
• The Muppet Christmas Carol
• Jingle All The Way
• Aladdin: The Return of Jafar
• Heat
• Uncle Buck
• My Girl
• Richie Rich
• Bone Alone
• Spy Kids
• Agent Cody Banks
• If Looks Could Kill / Teen Agent
• The Breakfast Club
• Pretty in Pink
• Die Hard 2
• Die Hard With A Vengeance
• Cutthroat Island
• The Hunt For Red October
• Predator
• Last Action Hero
• Witness
• The Living Daylights
• Licence to Kill
• Ghostbusters
• Ocean's Eleven (2001)
• Aliens

We'll be back on December 22nd with our BEST & WORST OF 2017, where a much more sober Neil and Dan will reveal their biggest hits and misses of the year.

Twitters: @ScreenTesting @TheTestDoctor @neilstudd

Emails: [email protected]

Intro music: John Williams - Home Alone theme Outro music: Vaughn Monroe - Let It Snow (Die Hard closing theme) Post-credits music: Michael Kaman - Ode to Joy (Die Hard version)