The Last Video Store

Twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou are the most excited voices in Australian genre cinema since the release of their horror hit TALK TO ME. Their latest film, BRING HER BACK is another emotionally resonant horror exploration of grief and loss that, in many ways, surpasses their remarkable debut. Starring Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (THE SHAPE OF WATER), Billy Barrat (RESPONSIBLE CHILD), Jonah Wren Phillips (HOW TO MAKE GRAVY) and newcomer Sora Wong, BRING HER BACK is poised to be the horror event of 2025. It’s more than a pleasure to have RackaRacka peruse the shelves of the Last Video Store and pick out some of the films that influenced them. 

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in CANBERRA, SYDNEY ENCORE and MELBOURNE ENCORE in JULY

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s the RackaRacka pick-up list. 

GUEST PICKS: BRING HER BACK (HORROR), WHATEVER HAPPEND TO BABY JANE (THRILLER), BRAINDEAD (aka DEADALIVE) (CULT)STAFF PICKS: SINGAPORE SLING (CULT), HIRUKO THE GOBLIN (HORROR)

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From the MISH & ZACH podcast, comedian Mish Wittrup wanders into the Last Video Store, and the desk is manned by both Alexei Toliopoulos & Zachary Ruane. A passionate and opinionated movie buff and film lover Mish appropriately picks out the 2 best films that prominently feature video stores.

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in CANBERRA and SYDNEY ENCORE show in JULY

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s Mish’s list and here’s her actual letterboxd profile.

GUEST PICKS: MURIEL’S WEDDING (Comedy), SCREAM (Horror), EARTH GIRL’S ARE EASY (Comedy)
STAFF PICKS: CELIA (Horror), Shirley Valentine (Comedy)

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Danielle Walker is one of the funniest people in the country, and brings an eclectic mix of films to The Last Video Store. The comedian and winner of Taskmaster loves everything from the instant cult classic Pearl to the family friendly shenanigans of Andre (The Seal, not My Dinner With).

Danielle is touring her show 'Mundane' at the Sydney Comedy Festival now so make sure you check it out!

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in CANBERRA and SYDNEY ENCORE show in JULY.

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian pop music royalty and star of teen comedy classic THE RAGE IN PLACID LAKE, Ben Lee roams through the Last Video Store. Ben is a true cinephile whose tastes range from the surreal to the whacky. Ben’s seminal album “Awake Is the New Sleep” is celebrating its 20th anniversary (stay tuned for cool stuff around that, I’m sure) and you can listen to him and Ione Skye every week on their excellent podcast WEIRDER TOGETHER.

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in CANBERRA and SYDNEY ENCORE show in JULY

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

GUEST PICKS: Psychomagic: A Healing Art (Documentary), Adam Green’s Aladdin (Art house), Defending Your Life (Comedy)
STAFF PICKS: Local Legends (cult)

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Kristo, Sammy and Tom are three besties who you might know better as Mates Rates, who not only create hilarious sketches online and a podcast, but also created their own short(ish) film! It's called Mates Rates' Corporate Retreat, and it's a documentary about a road trip across NSW where they travelled in a crappy car, eating canned food, getting up to shenanigans.

Our first trio on the pod brings an eclectic mix of films, including an (dis)honourable mention in the form of Drillbit Taylor.

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in SYDNEY, PERTH and BRISBANEFollow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists.

GUEST PICKS: Sideways (Comedy), In Bruges (Crime), Minions: Rise Of Gru (Children)
STAFF PICKS: Klown (Comedy)

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Writer, Director, Stuntman. Nobody’s doing it like Nash Edgerton. He kicked of his feature directing career with the dark Aussie noir THE SQUARE (a film Alexei actually jigged school to go see in cinemas) and he also directed all 3 seasons of what might very well be the very best Australian television series MR INBETWEEN. A pleasure to get Nash in to peruse the shelves of the Last Video Store with Alexei.

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in SYDNEY, PERTH and BRISBANE

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here is Nash's list, and here is Producer Em's Letterboxd!

GUEST PICKS: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Comedy), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Adventure), Straight Time (Crime)
STAFF PICKS: Bellman and True (Crime)

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Director and producer Kriv Stenders is a true Australian film legend, and has directed films like Red Dog and his new one, political thriller The Correspondent. He's also a The Last Video Store fan, so it's only natural he finally graced the halls of our fine establishment!

Kriv lives and breathes film, especially Australian cinema, and has picked out some absolute classics to mull over with Alexei. His film The Correspondent is in cinemas now!

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, PERTH and BRISBANE

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Follow Kriv on Letterboxd.

GUEST PICKS: The Correspondent (Drama), Dogs In Space (Cult), Love Serenade (Cult)
STAFF PICKS: Out Of The Blue (Cult)

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Comedian and self-professed horror-head Will Gibb joins Alexei in The Last Video Store to chat about three of his favourite spooky films. Will is well-known for his hilarious skits on TikTok and Instagram, but he's also a bonafide cinephile, and his picks include Aussie cult classics and underground creepy Korean films. He's also touring his stand up show 'Why Am I Like This?' now so click the link below to check it out!

WILL’s comedy festival show link

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, PERTH and BRISBANE

Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Follow Will on Letterboxd.

GUEST PICKS: Red Rooms (Horror), The Wailing (Horror), Lake Mungo (Horror)
STAFF PICKS: Noroi The Curse (Horror)

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Weaving between narrative and documentary features OTTO BY OTTO, SERIOUSLY RED and extensive work directing some of the best television (including DEADLOCH and HEARTBREAK HIGH), Gracie Otto is one of the most skilled and in-demand filmmakers in Australia. With great stories around Wong Kar-wai and David Lynch, Gracie’s visit to the Last Video Store is one of the greats.

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, PERTH and BRISBANE

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

GUEST PICKS: OTTO BY OTTO (documentary), MULHOLLAND DRIVE (cult), CHUNGKING EXPRESS (cult)
STAFF PICKS: HIPPO (cult)

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Just before he lands at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Julio Torres joins Alexei Toliopoulos to explore the Last Video Store. Julio Torres is one of the great modern masters of surrealist comedy. Julio made his bones writing now classic sketches at Saturday Night Live (including PAPYRUS starring Ryan Gosling), he’s also the creative force on tv series LOS ESPOOKYS & FANTASMAS. Now Julio has directed his feature film debut, the brilliant comedy PROBLEMISTA, starring Tilda Swinton.

JULIO’s comedy festival show link

PROBLEMISTA screening with Julio & Alexei

BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, PERTH and BRISBANEFollow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd for all the rental combo lists. Here’s Julio’s list.

GUEST PICKS: PROBLEMISTA (Comedy), WHERE IS THE FRIEND’S HOUSE (Art House), BIRTH (Cult)
STAFF PICKS: T BLOCKERS (Horror), LOVE SERENADE (Cult)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.