nerdfest Podcast: Movies, TV, Trivia and Fun!

If you're a fan of entertainment trivia you'll love our 40th episode, which is a Buff or Bluff bonanza!

The nerds face off on questions about actor/ musician duets, obscure casting choices, the one and only Keanu Reeves (including whether or not he was babysat by Alice Cooper), the "Angel" TV series, and the career of James Cameron. Was he really the one who came up with the idea to cover Arnold Schwarzenegger with mud for Predator?

That’s followed by a rapturous one-off (we hope) quiz concocted by Jon. He has 10 quotes, which are either lines of dialogue from Nic Cage films, or lyrics from Nic Cave songs. It’s tougher - and funnier- than you might think!

This episode is a mega review special - featuring everything new and exciting we've been moved by recently.... and "Brightburn".

And we welcome a new guest. It may be a surprise to some listeners to find that Louise actually exists, and is not just a product of Jon's deranged imagination, but we're delighted to have her join us for this episode!

We discuss Game of Thrones behind-the-scenes documentary, ”The Last Watch” and our lasting thoughts on Weiss and Benioff’s achievements, before speculating on the prequels coming up.

Next up is a review of “Toy Story 4” including Forky’s existential crisis, the rise of Little Bo Peep, the wonderful Duke Kaboom, and the different direction for the character of Woody.

Louise discusses "The Handmaid’s Tale" and how close to it's dystopian scenario we may well be in reaIity.

Jon recommends that you DON’T watch “Brightburn”, produced byJames Gunn, which explores the notion of SuperMan growing up evil/ having a bad reaction to puberty. Find out why Jon had problems with yet another movie featuring a Bad Superman.

Then Hazel recommends the second season of "Big Little Lies", which is just coming to an end (no spoilers though.. and that isn’t a lie!)

And finally Peter discusses the TV show "Years and Years", and what Emma Thompson would be like as the British Prime Minister, if possessed by the spirit of Boris Johnson....

It’s a fight between good and evil, as Hazel and Jon contest the fate of “Superman 3” in Nerd Court. Will Hazel’s evidence send it to the Phantom zone? Dan is the unbiased judge, with Peter as our expert witness.

We also have a voyage to the Void as Ian Mayor bids a wistful goodbye to Vertigo Comics, which announced its dissolution last week. Ian talks about how this comic giant came to be, and what made it so popular over the years.

Plus, we open the show with our Film Buff or Bluff quiz, which this week includes trivia questions on everything from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Little Shop of Horrors to the X-Men.

And don’t miss our very first LIVE podcast at Alphabetti Theatre in Newcastle on Friday 2nd August 2019. It’s all part of the Newcastle Improv Festival that kicks off on 27th July. We’re on straight after The SuggestIbles, and entrance to the live podcast is free to all ticket holders for this gig. Find tickets at https://bookwhen.com/newcastleimprovfestival/e/ev-snmk-20190802200000

This episode takes us on a wild and crazy ride as we discuss the life and times of 1980s comedy stars Steve Martin, John Belushi, Rick Moranis, Dan Ackroyd, Eddie Murphy and John Candy. Gain insights into everything from "Ghostbusters" to "Beverley Hills Cop" from Dan’s review of Nick de Semelyn’s new book ”Wild and Crazy Guys”, then test your own knowledge of 1980s comedy trivia as he sets us a quiz based on stories from the book.

Jon has ignored Gary Netflix yet again, to review ”The Perfection”, a disturbing new horror film involving a pair of amorous cello players. Peter and Hazel discuss ”Rocketman”, the biopic of Elton Hercules John, and how it ranks as a musical fantasy. And Hazel broaches the subject of ”Nanette”, a 1 hour Netflix special by Australian comedienne Hannah Gadsby, and how it swiftly swerves from stand-up to something much, much more.

And finally, we preview what’s coming up in cinemaland over the next few months: including ”Spider-Man Far From Home”, ”Yesterday”, ”Ad Astra”, ”Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, ”Toy Story 4” and ”Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker”.

If there was ONE thing that really stood out in 1997’s "Batman & Robin"....

In light of the news there’s going to be a new Batman protecting the streets of Gotham, our nerds debate who was the greatest actor to don the Bat Cape, Bat-nipples or no Bat-nipples. Most of us chose different portrayals although, spoiler alert, none of us selected Batfleck (in fact, we sort of forgot about him...)

Before that, we have our Film Buff or Film Bluff quiz, where our nerds face questions on the friendship between Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen, the Starship Enterprise, and whether Jim Carrey actually paid for the CIA to torture him...

We round off the show with a quiz, in which Jon asks us to identify movies, based on reviews from a Christian Right website...

How do you become a guest on the Nerdfest podcast? Sex and cookies, apparently.

This time we have a new voice amongst our nerds, Andy, who joins us for an extra long spoiler special on 'Avengers: Endgame', now that most of the world has seen it (Some of us three times!) In the second part of the show we go scene-by-scene, discussing the fate of many beloved characters, whilst also pondering the eternal question: "How do you spoon a raccoon?"

We open the show with lots of new recommendations: Jon reviews one of the best horror movies he’s ever seen,'The Babadook', now released on Amazon Prime. Hazel has been mesmerised by new Netflix documentary 'Knock Down the House' about four women vying to replace long-serving Congressmen in the 2018 House race. Peter explores the new 'What We Do In The Shadows' TV show based on the Taika Waititi movie. And finally Andy has a solution for anyone who has a beef with Bear Grylls - try and cause him harm in the new and interactive choose-your-own-adventure series, 'You vs. Wild'.

So, if you HAD to, which dinosaur would you choose to "make the beast with two backs" with? It’s these sort of high-brow questions and more which our nerds seek to tackle in this episode.

First up is Film Buff or Bluff, starting with Jon's three outlandish storylines involving The Joker. Then Dan gives us three Jeff Goldblum facts, (one of which is his favourite dinosaur, taking us on said dinosaur dating route.) Peter tests our knowledge of some of Marvel’s wackiest characters, and Hazel tries to pull one over on us with her tricksy facts about the first cinematic appearances of certain female actors.

This episode also sees the return of “Shameful Gap”, as Hazel shares her first ever viewing of “Groundhog Day”.

This episode also sees the return of “Shameful Gap”, as Hazel shares her first ever viewing of “Groundhog Day”.

The jokes don’t get much better we’re afraid, as we explore the themes of Bill Murray’s starring performance as Phil Connors, the egotistical weatherman doomed to repeat the same day over and over again.

And Hazel and Dan just can’t stop talking about the musical "Hamilton", so the two unenlightened members of Nerdfest seek to thwart their attempts to rename the podcast “Hamilchat”.

In celebration of two great franchises both coming to their conclusions, we have some special features for this episode... Dan has devised a dragon-sized Game of Thrones quiz, spanning all seven previous series. And we record our first reactions to seeing "Avengers Endgame" - mere minutes after leaving the cinema (but after relieving our bladders!). Don’t worry - it’s all spoiler free.

Before that, we each have brand new recommendations for you- Jon reviews 'Sorry to bother you'; the Tessa Thompson and LaKeith Stanfield starring comedy which tells the tale of a telemarketer bejng told to use a ”white person voice”. Hazel goes all Elizabethan on us, performing a solioquy or two from 'William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily A New Hope' by Ian Doescher.

Peter has seen DC’s latest effort, 'Shazam', and classifies it as enormous fun, and Dan has another recommendation for the Nerdfest bookshelf - 'The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs', provoking many deep and meaningful discussions (including which dinosaurs took on the role of oil drillers, to try and blow up the extinction event asteroid...)

Duh duh du-du-duh duh du-du DDUUUUUH. "Game of Thrones" is back in front of our eyeballs and we couldn’t be more excited! In this episode we make our predictions for who we think will die first, and who'll end up on the Iron Throne at the end of the series. Unfortunately the three-eyed raven we’d hired for this purpose flew away, which means none of these predictions will come true, but it’s a fun segment!

Before that, it’s the return of ‘Film Buff or Film Bluff’ - and this time we try to fool each other with a combination of true and fake facts about movie special effects, the "Star Wars" Cantina band, Captain America, and Marlon Brando’s crazy on-set antics. Plus, Hazel has a bonus Buff or Bluff about submarines. Hope you’re ready for a science lesson!

Also, one of our nerds had never seen 90s action blockbuster “Last Action Hero” - so hear their thoughts upon watching it for the very first time in our “Shameful Gap” feature.

Our resident quizmaster Ian McLaughlin has come up with another sterling quiz idea - asking us to decode his cryptic movie title clues.

Finally we talk about some of the films we’ve endured from Jon’s infamous Sack of Fun, including “Foreplay”, “Self/Less” and “Sharktopus vs. Barracuda”. Our reviews were... unfavourable...

It’s "Captain Marvel" review time, the majority of which we spend trying to come up with our own synopsis.

Once we get that established however, we have a lively debate about the film’s merits and shortcomings.

In another inspired quiz, Ian borrowed the DeLorean to ask his 5 year old self to describe 10 famous movies, while the rest of us try and guess it from his cryptic clues.

And we start the show with our reviews section - including the "RBG" documentary and it’s cinematic counterpart, "On The Basis Of Sex". Peter enrols us in the "Umbrella Academy", and Ian plays a new game he found to comfort him after being too terrified by an "Alien" videogame. Meanwhile, Jon can't make up his mind WHAT to cover, so he attempts to review the entirety of human existence.