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:
screentesting@gmail.com

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

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:

screentestingpod@gmail.com

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)