It’s another Buff or Bluff episode! Our nerds try to pick out the truth from the lies on topics including the Planet of the Ape reboots, surfer themed movies, Super Mario, and fictional food brands. Plus, Dan is on the ground at Star Wars Celebration in London. He brings us his thoughts on what Disney has in store. And we hear some interesting interviews that Jon, Peter and Ian conducted at the annual Nerdfest festival in Newcastle. MUSIC Surf Shimmy by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) is licensed under a Creative Commons license

It’s reviews and recommendations time! Our top recommendation is to not go down in the woods today as you may get an unpleasant surprise - Jon reviews “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.” Sometimes, it seems, copyright law is a good thing. Hazel has a double recommendation, consisting of two of Jon’s favourite things in life: “Women Talking”, and the return of “Ted Lasso.” Andy yet again takes the podcast in a much needed highbrow direction, with his review of the Iranian dark thriller “Holy Spider”. Peter enjoys the return of Christoph Waltz to the screen in the new mysterious and dark comedy series, 'The Consultant'. And Ian Mac delights us with an oldie but goodie - the Argentinian film 'BomBon', about a very good dog!

It’s buff or bluff time! Can you work out the truth from the nerds’ devious lies? Topics today include method acting in boxing films, the incredible career of Frances McDormand, and the life and times of Stanley Kubrick. Plus sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, as Peter investigates real life espionage activities for his Buff or Bluff. Stay tuned for Andy’s fun quiz at the end: guess the movie title from two clues in one!

It's reviews and recommendations time! We cover the start of Marvel Phase 5: 'Ant Man and the Wasp: QuantumMania'. Plus, 'Our Flag Means Death' has finally made it to these shores, much to Dan’s delight. Peter reviews 'Extraordinary'. Jon revels in Blumhouse’s latest horrifying creation, 'M3GAN'. And Hazel tells us why 'Till' should be winning all the awards. Speaking of awards, Hazel’s got her hats out! It’s time for our annual Nerdfest Oscars Sweepstake. But this time, all rules have been thrown out the window…. (An apology to our listeners as we did indeed get the date of the Oscars ceremony wrong! We were a week early :))

It’s time to lie to our closest friends again, as we play our Buff or Bluff quiz. Can you work out the truth from stories about the entertainment industry? Rounds include facts about re-used props in movies, the ridiculous diets that some stars undertake to prepare for a role, Sir Christopher Lee’s record breaking antics, and the weird and wonderful guest appearances of Sherlock Holmes. Plus, Hazel gets us all excited for Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie film, by befuddling us (and herself) with the elaborate plots of previous Barbie outings. We round today’s episode off with a “Higher or Lower” game of how many times movie stars have died in their movies. It’s a really fun one folks - enjoy!

Dan discusses the similarities between Spielberg’s mostly autobiographical 'The Fabelmans', and Terry Pratchett biography 'A Life with Footnotes'. Andy conducts a TARiffic review of 'Tar' (sorry, the puns don’t get any better….). Jon reviews post-apocalyptic zombie thriller 'The Last of Us' (as an avid fan of the game, will he be converted?) Hazel recommends 'This is Us'. which she accidentally stumbled across when looking for 'The Last Of Us' and has completely fallen in love with. And Peter reviews the Gary Oldman MI5 thriller series “Slow Horses”, with apologies in advance to our Slough-based listeners…

Jon, Ian, Andy and Peter riffle through the dusty attic of Ian's brain, attempting to find at least ONE thing he actually enjoyed over the past few weeks! We also play Buff or Bluff about early TV music shows, dodgy 80's computer game licences, famous actors' debut performances, and some ridiculously terse movie plotlines- Can you beat the team to guess which movies they describe?

It’s the first Nerdfest of 2023, and Jon, Peter, Kerris and Dan have each been making ‘most anticipated’ lists of the stuff we’re hyped for in ‘23. Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs! 'The Last Of Us' on TV! The return of Ghostface! A "fourth" Indiana Jones movie! And something about 'Groundhog Day'… What’s on YOUR "must see" list? Get in touch and let us know!

It’s our end of year show! Today our nerds - Peter, Jon, Hazel, and not one but TWO Ians, are all counting down our top 3 favourite things from the world of entertainment in 2022. It can be films, it can be TV shows, it can be games, it can be anything! So join us as we reminisce over what brought us joy in 2022. (Although, we do have to issue a warning- We start on an extremely controversial note, but the only way from a 'Moonfall' is up!) We wish all our listeners a fantastic Christmas. We’ll see you in January with our countdown of what’s coming in 2023.

We bring new reviews and recommendations, including the return of Benoit Blanc in 'Glass Onion', the onscreen adaptation of 'Matilda the Musical', and a TV show all about everyone’s favourite day of the week: 'Wednesday' ( the new series charting Wednesday Addam’s school years). Dan talks about his love for 'Andor', as he reflects on what this series has meant to him (no spoilers if you haven’t finished it yet!) Plus, we finally give in and let Jon review a new 'Hellraiser' film. Strap yourselves in!