The Last Video Store

Our special guest in the Last Video Store this week is Leigh Whannell. Breaking into horror co-writing SAW with James Wan, Leigh has built a reputation as one of the modern masters of genre cinema directing the films UPGRADE and THE INVISIBLE MAN. His latest film WOLF MAN is in cinemas now. Starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, WOLF MAN is a tense, thoughtful and horrifying lycanthropic nightmare.Join Leigh Whannell as he chats with Alexei Toliopoulos about some of his favourite films in the style of an old school video store rental combo + a staff pick from Alexei (based on his taste).

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s Leigh’s list on LB.

LEIGH’S PICKS: WOLF MAN, THE FLY and THE SHINING
STAFF PICK: VAMPIR CUADECUC

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION in MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, ADELAIDE and BRISBANE ON SALE SOON

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Author, playwright, broadcaster and one of the all-time legends of Australian comedy Wendy Harmer stops by the Last Video Store to visit her little mate Alexei and talk cinema. One of the most fun episodes of the podcast so far with the fast and loose riffs, these two have perfect comedic chemistry. Wendy’s one of the most fascinating people in Aus arts and media, of course her favourite films reflect that!

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s Wendy’s picks list.

WENDY’S PICKS: DUNE, WAKE IN FRIGHT, IN COLD BLOOD
STAFF PICK: THE STRANGER

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With Kate Jinx (Melbourne International Film Festival programmer, film critic and co-host of SEE ALSO podcast), Alexei talk through their favourite films in 2024 in the categories of Australian cinema, factual/documentary films, directorial debuts, honourable mentions and films that kinda came out in 2023 that felt too old for us to put on our lists this year. 

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s the list of every film we talk about on this episode. 

AUSTRALIAN FILMS:
Memoir of a Snail, Late Night with the Devil, A Grand Mockery, Flathead

Documentaries: 

No Other Land, Dahomey, Balomania, Witches, Porcelain War

Directorial Debuts:
Hoard, Good One, Julie Keeps Quiet, The First Omen, There’s Still Tomorrow, Kneecap, Monkey Man

Honourable Mentions and Movies That Might Be from 2023:
The Taste of Things, La Chimera, Hundreds of Beavers, The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, May December, The Substance, I Saw the TV Glow, Universal Language, My Favourite Cake, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, His Three Daughters

Repertory Screenings:

After Hours, Dead End, Crystal Voyager, The Last Days of Chez Nous

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One of the great modern documentarians, David Farrier explores factual storytelling through his films TICKLED and MR ORGAN, the Netflix series DARK TOURIST and now weekly on his must listen podcast FLIGHTLESS BIRD. If there was no TICKLED, there’d be no FINDING DRAGO, FINDING DESPERADO or FINDING YEEZUS so you can imagine it was truly an honour for Alexei to host David Farrier at the Last Video Store.

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s David’s list and his actual profile on LB.

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Celebrating some of the best films, movies and cinema of 2024 with Melbourne International Film Festival programmer, film critic and co-host of SEE ALSO Kate Jinx. Join us again next week for another bonus episode discussing the best documentaries, Australian films, directorial debuts and honourable mentions of 2024.

Kate’s top 5 films of 2024: Janet Planet, Hard Truths, Anora, All We Imagine as Light and Trap

Alexei’s top 5 films of 2024: Better Man, Hard Truths, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Love Lies Bleeding, Challengers and Babygirl

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s Alexei’s TOP 24 FILMS OF 2024.

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Comedian, Triple J breaky host and ⅓ of the haunted brains behind the fantastic comedic podcast Oooh, Spooky, LUKA MULLER joins Lex to wander through the hallowed halls of the Last Video Store picking out his favourite movies. Luka’s comedy special Five Top Smells I Smelled Before comes out on December 22, on the Comedy Republic YouTube.

JOIN Alexei for a night of NASTY CHRISTMAS films at Golden Age Cinema on Dec 20

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s Luka’s list, and Luka’s actual letterboxd account.

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It is the festive time for pud and panettone so Mark Bonnano had to swing by to pick up his favourite films. One of the funniest film lovers around. Mark just announced AUNTY DONNA’s 2025 tour DREM - pick up tickets NOW

JOIN Alexei for a night of NASTY CHRISTMAS films at Golden Age Cinema on Dec 20

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s MARK’s list on LETTERBOXD.

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HOW TO MAKE GRAVY, the adaptation of the classic Paul Kelly song is your taste of Australian Christmas melancholy cinema this festive season. Stars of the film and icons of cinema HUGO WEAVING and DANIEL HENSHALL wander into the Last Video Store to pick up a rental combo of their favourite films. A great chat with a couple of dream guests.

Between them they've starred in films like The Matrix, Snowtown, Lord of the Rings, Acute Misfortune, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert Proof, The Babadook, These Final Hours and V for Vendetta. And we're not just listing those for the Search Engine Optimisation (ok, maybe a bit).

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s Hugo and Dan’s picks.

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The most excitingly outrageous act in electro-pop, Sugar Bones from Confidence Man stops by The Last Video Store to chat to Alexei about his favourite films and the cinematic influences on their new album 3AM (La La La).

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s Sugar Bones’s picks.

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You know him for his tremendous performance as Alyn of Hull on HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, Abubakar Salim is a true renaissance man and multitalented creative. Starring in films like NAPOLEON, series like RAISED BY WOLVES and video games like  ASSASSIN’S CREED: ORIGINS. He’s also the creative force and director of Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a metroidvania style adventure game with a focus on poignant emotional storytelling.

It was beyond a pleasure to wander through the shelves of the store with Abu while he was in Australia for SXSW Sydney (who we thank for the link up)!

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s Abu’s picks!

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