The Last Video Store

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!...

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...

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...

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 Stor...

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 Alexe...

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 lin...

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 Ale...

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 & FANTASMA...

During her visit to The Last Video Store, actor Aisha Dee chose HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS as one of her favourite films, before finding out host Alexei Toliopoulos hates it with a passion. Listen to the full episode on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/aisha-dee-loves-how-the-grinch-stole-christmas/id999728026?i=1000689358616 Or on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/67pPawBK...

When comedian and podcast host  Michael 'Hingers' Hing  was 19 and in his 2nd year of uni, he wrote a list of what are, in his opinion, the best 50 movies of all time. And for the first time ever, he's sharing that list exclusively on The Last Video Store podcast. From Pulp Fiction to Finding Nemo, Michael and Alexei go through every movie on that list in this very special episode which...

A short and sharp visit to the Last Video Store from one of the greats of Australian cinema, David Wenham. His new film SPIT sees Wenham return to perhaps his most iconic role of ex-junkie Johnny Spitieri from GETTIN SQUARE. SPIT is out now in cinemas.  BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in MELBOURNE , SYDNEY , PERTH and BRISBANE Follow&nbs...

Celebrating a year into the pod with our original first customer and best mate… it’s the return of Cameron James! Cam has just released his new half hour special on Grouse House (the home of Finding Yeezus).  See Cam at your local comedy festival in Australia   BOOK TICKETS for Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION with Zach Ruane in MELBOURNE , SYDNEY , ADE...

Their film THE LAST JOURNEY just became the highest grossing Swedish documentary ever and was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. The duo Filip och Fredrik are responsible for some of Sweden’s best-loved comedic journalistic innovations, THE LAST JOURNEY is no exception. A touching and hilarious comedy documentary road movie as th...

Filmmaker Charles Williams won the Short Film Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for his his short ALL THESE CREATURES. His feature directorial debut INSIDE is in cinemas now. A superb crime thriller starring Oscar nominee Guy Pearce, Cosmo Jarvis (Shogun) and newcomer Vincent Miller is in Aus cinemas now. He’s also a former video store clerk so you know it is a banger! BOOK TICKETS...

Aunty Donna legend and film obsessive Zachary Ruane returns to the Last Video Store to reveal if Alexei’s recommendation of Brian De Palma’s BODY DOUBLE really was the perfect staff pick and to talk through a pair of the best new horror movies. BOOK TICKETS for Zach and Alexei’s comedy fest show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION in MELBOURNE ,  SYDNEY ,  ADELAIDE  ,  PER...

Sometimes known as the sketch duo FREUDIAN NIP, Jenna and Vic are now the creators and stars of OPTICS on ABC and the Christmas movie NUGGET IS DEAD (featuring little old Alexei Toliopoulos). They join their mate little Alexei Toliopoulos to pick up some of their favourite films and biggest comedy touchstones while they visit the Last Video Store. Follow ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS on Letterboxd  for...

Star of APPLE CIDER VINEGAR (on NETFLIX), THE BOLD TYPE and one of the best new Australian horror films SISSY, Aisha Dee joins Alexei on THE LAST VIDEO STORE. And almost instantly is the guest with the biggest impact on the show so far by picking the coolest fricking movie anyone has picked up in the first year of the pod and then immediately picking up the film that Alexei hates more than any oth...

Wandering into the Last Video Store to pick up some of their favourite films is one of Alexei’s new favourite musicians, ratbag. A rising Aotearoa alternative artist, ratbag’s latest track is “ look what you're doing to me ” and it continues a streak of fun and thoughtful music married with incredibly creative music videos. It’s true ratbag fricking rocks, in particul...

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 ni...

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 fil...

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...

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...

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, A...

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 CHRISTMA...

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...