Silver Screen Queens 164: Warcraft

Published 6 July 2016 • 34 minutes, 34 seconds

The popular and enduring strategy game finally gets a film. It’s at the hands of the always-interesting Duncan Jones (Moon), so we were intrigued. Reviews of this film have been universally terrible, except among hardcore gamers, but despite not being Warcraft players, we found soaring ambition and technical excellence beneath the clear problems with script and story. Non-fans will find it difficult to follow, but if you are into Warcraft, it’s probably worth your time.

Topical 69: Elections

Published 1 July 2016 • 24 minutes, 34 seconds

On the eve of the federal election in Australia, Russell and Jelly turn their focus to politics. Together, they discuss the concept of preferential voting, referendums and the way that government works… or doesn’t work, depending on your point of view.

Silver Screen Queens 163: Finding Dory

Published 29 June 2016 • 35 minutes, 6 seconds

13 years after the release of the classic Finding Nemo, Pixar has made a sequel focusing on the film’s most interesting character, the forgetful blue tang fish Dory. As expected, it’s beautiful, funny and has a great message. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of the original film, but it’s certainly charming and sweet.

Mobile Couch 86: Yeah, Something’s Wrong There

Published 27 June 2016 • 49 minutes, 41 seconds

With WWDC done and dusted for another year, Ben and Jelly discuss their experiences queueing for the keynote, attending side conferences, and getting the most out of the week. They then turn their attention to an quick overview some of the key things that Apple introduced for developers with iOS 10, including Siri and Messages Apps, and finally they pine for the thing they still wish they’d seen: improvements to Radar.

Topical 68: Campuses

Published 24 June 2016 • 23 minutes, 45 seconds

Having just visited the—strikingly different—campuses of Facebook and Apple during their recent visit to San Francisco, Russell and Jelly think back to the various campuses they’ve worked and studied in. Together they compare their experiences and mostly just try to make sense of things.

Silver Screen Queens 162: Now You See Me 2

Published 22 June 2016 • 33 minutes, 9 seconds

The surprise hit of 2013 is back, and the four horseman are recruited into the wacky schemes of an eccentric billionaire. A few new faces have come along for the ride, namely Daniel Radcliffe and Lizzy Caplan, and it’s pretty fun, if a little overlong and flimsy of plot.

Topical 67: The Big Question

Published 17 June 2016 • 19 minutes, 45 seconds

Russell’s ready to finally tackle the big philosophical questions that people ask: How did we get here? Why are we here? What happens after we die? He and Jelly look at where we turn for the answers, and how these questions are tied to our beliefs, our biology, and society itself.

Silver Screen Queens 161: Money Monster

Published 15 June 2016 • 33 minutes, 19 seconds

Jodie Foster is back behind the camera and Julia Roberts is back in front of it, playing, er, the woman behind the camera for George Clooney’s wacky cable money show host. Production is held up when a young man burned by the show’s financial advice takes the host hostage. The film has some serious points to make about the collapse of institutions and the role of the 1%, but suffers from some confused storytelling and feels like the world’s longest 90 minute movie.

Mobile Couch 85: Kidnapped by a Parameter Name

Published 13 June 2016 • 37 minutes, 24 seconds

In the lead up to WWDC, Ben and Jelly take an early look at some of the changes coming to the Swift language this year with version 3, which like one of the biggest releases so far. With widespread changes in the wording of method names, improvements to how C APIs are handled, and a Swift version of Foundation, it’s going to be a big change to both your code, and how you read it.

Topical 66: Speculation

Published 10 June 2016 • 17 minutes, 53 seconds

There’s no time of the year quite like the lead up to Apple’s developer conference, which sees the tech community start to bubble with the excitement and anticipation of the new things Apple is about to announce. Russell and Jelly look at why we love to speculate about new things, and whether doing so just leads to inevitable disappointment.