Screen Testing
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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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: YouTube trailers for films and TV shows mentioned: Twitters: Emails:...
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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...
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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: 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: Emails: screentestingpod@gmail.com Intro music: Outro music:
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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...
info_outlineWell, it was inevitable. A trawl through Neil's favourite Bond movie results in an unprecedented level of pedantry, fact-checking and conversational rabbit-holes, as we lean particularly hard into the uncomfortable elements of the movie, including inappropriate remarks in the workplace, the enigma of Boris, and unconvincing love stories.
There's plenty to celebrate though, as your presenters explore their respective histories with the Bond series, the novels, and the GoldenEye 007 game on the Nintendo 64. Dan wants a laser pistol, Neil wants to talk physics, everyone reminisces about trying to connect to the internet in the 1990s, and for a change there are some valuable insights from the director's commentary.
It's a time for heroes, as Dan's tonsillitis battles through our longest-ever recording session, and Neil somehow manages to edit over three hours of material into a sub-2hr podcast. (If you've got a well-stocked liquor cabinet, the original tapes are available on request.)
References:
- Neil's 11 pages of notes about GoldenEye
- James Bonding podcast
- YouTube: Diamonds Are Forever - Mr Wint and Mr Kidd's "Bombe Surprise"
- 2 Minute Terminator podcast
- Star Wars Minute podcast
- YouTube: GoldenEye 007 N64 trailer
- YouTube: GoldenEye 007 N64 soundtrack
- YouTube: The Office - Gareth "You will never win"
- YouTube: Adele - Skyfall
- YouTube: Sheryl Crow - Tomorrow Never Dies
- YouTube: Garbage - The World Is Not Enough
- YouTube: Chris Cornell - You Know My Name
- YouTube: Jack White & Alicia Keys - Another Way To Die
- YouTube: Bono - GoldenEye (demo)
- YouTube: U2 - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
- YouTube: Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen - Theme from Mission Impossible
- YouTube: A View To A Kill - Beach Boys on the soundtrack
- Wikipedia: Contra Dam, Switzerland
- Contra Dam bungee jump experience
- YouTube: Casino Royale parkour sequence
- BBC: Amazing Bond stunt wins top award (Sky Movies 2002 movie stunt poll)
- YouTube: The Man With The Golden Gun - car stunt with terrible sound effects
- YouTube: The best (and worst) of Sheriff J W Pepper
- YouTube: Sean Bean death montage (spoilers for everything)
- Leavesden Studios (Warner Bros)
- YouTube: The Spy Who Loved Me - ski chase and parachute
- YouTube: Fast and Furious 6 Runway Length calculation (from a fellow pedant)
- YouTube: GoldenEye opening credits
- GIF of the moment the Aston Martin and Ferrari collided (at the end of this clip)
- Wikipedia: Baccarat
- Amazon.co.uk: Ian Fleming - Casino Royale
- Wikipedia: Eurocopter Tiger
- Wikipedia: Derek Meddings
- Malwarebytes: Goldeneye ransomware - the Petya/Mischa combination rebranded
- Wikipedia: Risk analysis
- YouTube: GoldenEye - Scene between M and Bond ("sexist, misogynist dinosaur")
- YouTube: Skyfall - Q meets Bond (exploding pen callback)
- YouTube: Desmond Llewellyn's final scene in The World Is Not Enough
- Twitter: GoldenEye - GIF of the police car which gets crushed, but everyone survives
- YouTube: Batman v Superman Dropbox reference
- Nene Valley Railway filming history
- Bluebell Line filming history
- YouTube: GoldenEye - Deleted scene of Ouromov and Boris: "I crush bugs"
- YouTube: The Simpsons - Inanimate carbon rod
- YouTube: GoldenEye - final fist-fight with the villain
- Entertainment Weekly article about "Hello to Jason Isaacs"
YouTube trailers for films and TV shows mentioned:
- Spectre
- Live and Let Die
- A View To A Kill
- Octopussy
- For Your Eyes Only
- From Russia With Love
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service
- Casino Royale (Daniel Craig version)
- Goldfinger
- Diamonds Are Forever
- Remington Steele
- The Living Daylights
- Licence To Kill
- The Man With The Golden Gun
- Sharpe - Sean Bean saying "bastard" a lot
- First Knight
- 24: Live Another Day (set in London)
- Tomorrow Never Dies
- The Day Today
- Kingsman: The Golden Circle
- X-Men
- Taken
- Hudson Hawk
- Krull
- The World Is Not Enough
- The Death of Stalin
- The Thick of It
- Veep
- Leon: The Professional
- The Bourne Identity
- Blade Runner 2049
We'll be back in a fortnight for a much shorter episode about SHAUN OF THE DEAD, hope you'll join us then!
Twitters:
@ScreenTesting
@TheTestDoctor
@neilstudd
Emails:
screentestingpod@gmail.com
Intro music: Tina Turner - GoldenEye
Outro music: Eric Serra - Experience of Love