Alexei Toliopoulos meets Peter Jackson, Sir Richard Taylor, David Wenham & David Wenham

If you've come to our world tour already, thank you so much. You've all been, it's really so nice to see you all in person.

It means so much to all three of us, whether it's in Glasgow or Seattle or Auckland or Christ. Like, it's so nice to see you all out there.
And it's lovely.

I know you say that you're listening to the podcast and you bring up these references from this stupid show and it properly means the world to us. So thank you so much.

If you are in Adelaide, Perth or Melbourne, we are doing the last three final stops of this tour. It has been an incredible show.

I think if you speak to most people in all the cities, they really enjoy it. And I think we're probably in the mind frame now where we think it's our best show we've ever done.

So please come and see this one. We're really, really proud of it.
There's one show in Perth and Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, where there's tickets left for both. And Melbourne, two are sold out.

We're doing seven, no, three are sold out. We're doing seven palets in total.

There's some left for four of them. So please come along this Christmas.
It's going to be great. Enjoy this podcast.

Just on a side note, while I'm here, I think the run we're on now is the best run of podcasts in my personal preference. So enjoy these and we'll see you soon in a show.
If not, enjoy the potty.

A listener production.

Oh, wow. The best podcast you've heard in years.
we get one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life, Mr. Alexei Taliopoulos on, and then we scream at him for 30 minutes.

A true waste of a great guest coming up in this episode.

You're listening to the Honey Donna podcast, the greatest fucking podcast in the world. Bro, Mike attack is sometimes a guest.
We hope you enjoyed the motherfucking podcast.

This is one of our favorite people in the world.

They are Donna and Jason.

They giggle and

giggles already. Look at this giggling.
I'm giggling.

You might know them from the Grouse House series, So You Want to Been Been a Peanut Pump

by Demi Lardner. So You Want to Been a Pimma Pump.
In the first episode, the pilot episode with Paul F. Tompkins and Alexei Toliopoulos.
And our other Grousehouse series,

Finding Rocco, in which he and Cameron James tried to him and James Cameron from Avatar tried to find Rocco and his modern life.

Can you send him straight real quick?

It's called Finding Yeezus. Yes.
And it was about looking for Kanye podcasts.

Oh, the podcast. Oh, yeah, Rome.
Finding Rocco is the series. No, no, no.
You might

also know. Alexa, do you want to set him straight? I'd love to set this guy straight.
Am I allowed to take it to? Am I allowed to speak? Can I just do one more thing? You might also know Zach.

I mean, you might also know Zach.

I refuse for classification

the show of David and Margaret that stopped. Margaret and David, come on.
She gets first spilling. That toured Australia in 2025 to roaring reviews

from Lions. Roaring review? Yeah.

A roaring review from a lion. Roar.
Roar.

I want to just out of their bones.

They look like my lunch. And I explained to Alexi.
Alexi was like, oh man, I think they just saw two big, big, big meat boys. That's why they were roaring.
I said, it doesn't matter.

You just post post about it did you hear

did you hear yeah just you just get the you just

they don't know that they're lions

the audience doesn't know that they're lions they don't know the stars were attributed to Mr MGM himself the roaring lion you can say roar reviews

but wait did you see the lions review of taxi driver what did he say he said roar

Wow how many roars Oh no, he just kind of wore and then paced up and down along the glass fence. Yeah, it was before I numbered

16. 60.

They tried to introduce the star system with the lion, but he couldn't figure it out. So it's just whether how much he paces.

It's an art, not a science. Oh, beautiful.

How much did he pace? How many roars did he do?

He tear the flesh from the elk's bones with nothing but his teeth.

Yes, he did. At feeding time, yeah, they brought in some lamb legs and they, him and the other lion, two young, like juvenile males.
Yeah, they try, they do. I don't exactly understand it.

It's very complicated, but they do take into account

how tasty the meat of the performers are. Oh, wonderful.
So they try to do it. With you and I on this.
This is with our nice marbled flesh. I'm sure that lion was giddy and rolling.

Zach was everything Zach says is speculative, though. Like he's just looking at lions at the zoo and going,

wonder how they would, if they were reviewers, would they, you know? Would they roar? No, no, this is a thing.

Where are you getting this information? I think they've been doing in the Sun Herald

since 04.

They discontinued it, but yeah, no, they definitely. They brought it back for comedy festival season this year.
Lee Patch is a

lion. Lee Patch

is alive. Okay, please welcome

Alexi Tolopoulos. Wow, thank you so much.
Welcome back for me. I'm a welcome back into the heart of the Auntie Donna podcast.
And

have you got stuff on? Oh, always I'm one of the busiest boys in the biz right now. Busiest boys in the biz.
What makes you busy? I'm moving, I'm dealing, and often I'm wheeling.

I imagine watching all the movies, I'm watching all the films, cinema. How do you find the time? Being such a busy, because I'm a busy boy.
I like films. I don't love films like you do.
I like films.

I'm a busy boy. I never find the time to watch films.
How do you find the time? Well, when you do what you love, it takes precedent in your life and other things fall to the side.

Such as such as health. I don't look after my health that that much.

You know, I live quite an interior life. I'm sitting down, often in

not ideal conditions, such as my apartment that has black mold every now and then, especially during the colder climates. Nice.

Now we see

fun

cardigan there. Oh, wow, now, wow.

So, I mean, let's address the fact that Zach was so excited to have you that he dressed up for the occasion.

He even put on a tie. Zach has put on on a tie for the occasion.
And Zach, I'm so happy to see that you've worn a tie for me. And you know what? I like ties.
I know he doesn't like ties.

Scrinch up on my neck. For clarity, though, like for anyone listening,

I didn't think he'd be getting into any fancy dinner restaurants with this chip.

You ain't getting into the magic card.

It's a comical Christmas tie on an elastic strap. Yeah, I found it

on the table here. Oh, he almost called the table a shelf.
Ah!

Well, you know, it is the season.

What is a shelf for an elf? You know, that's a table for you. That is a thing.
It's just saying Christmas elf on the shelf is a thing. Kids are saying that people are buying elves for the kids.

They're putting them out at Christmas. Okay, so.
And that is like a system where the elf is watching.

The elf is watching the whole time. So we're at the top of the hour now.
We're going to go to the news.

And when we come back, a little bit more movie news from our resident movie expert, Alexi Taliopoulos.

Welcome back with Alexi. Now you great to be here, guys.
You are the go-to for movies. You are the movie guy.
Yeah, yeah,

would you say that you've is that are you feeling that?

Are you feeling what Margaret and David had that you've stolen that from them and you have become you have you have sucked in their spirits and their souls

and you have taken that for this country? I would say yes, I have Over a period of time, I did slurp up their soul, their essence, their being, and now I've incorporated it into my own beings.

Okay, maybe you can help us. We've had a bit of a debate here at the station.
Now, Mark loves Marvel movies, Broden loves DC movies,

and I'm a bit more artsy. I'm a bit more fancy.
What are the kind of movies you like, Zach? A24, which is a little studio you might never have heard of. Tell us, what do you think? Marvel DC?

What do you think of Mark?

Settle the bet. Settle the bet once and for all.

And we're talking about where those franchises are right now.

Not where they could be in a couple of years, all right? Well, I mean, where they are right now, I have only seen 24 minutes of the new Fantastic Four. So that's why only 24.

I was invited to a preview event that showed 24 minutes of clips from Fantastic Four. Sorry.
Yeah, Pedro Pascal was in attendance. Drop the commercial radio bit for a second.

Why? What do you mean? Why? Well, I was invited to an event that was called the launch event for Fantastic Four. And Pedro Pascal was there, who's the star of Fantastic Four.

Vanessa Kirby was there, who's the star of Fantastic Four. He's your daddy.

Yeah, he's the first daddy of the MCU, I would say.

Yeah. Vanessa Kirby from the Crown.
And she's mother. She's the first mother of the MCU, I would say.
Daddy and mother. Yes.

And Eben Moss Bachrach was there, who's, of course, the first cousin of the MCU.

And he plays plays the thing. The thing.

A rock hard man. A rock hard man who believes every now and then the time strikes clobberin.
And so he's sort of taken what started as a fringe dramedy in the in the Cookman, the bear. Cookman.

And the girls and girls before that. Oh, it was a girl.

Famously was a guy that ate Mani's ass. Yes, but it was a fake ass.
It wasn't a fake ass. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I saw a whole thing about how it's a full prosthetic.

Anytime you see dong, especially on HBO, it's usually a fake. So you're telling me, fake dong, fake asses, faker punani.
So you're telling me the guy from Fantastic Core, the big rock man,

was in Cook Boy and Girls of New York. And I

came in there. And played John Quincy Adams in the John Adams HBO series, Paul Giumati's John Adams.
Oh, I love that. Directed by the director of Cats.
That's right.

Tom Middlesmich or what his name is. Tom Middlesmich.

Thomas Middlesmich. Now, what's your favourite?

Why did you see 24 minutes of this fucking game? I was invited and I assumed it was a premiere event because I had the cast and it was like a big blue carpet as that is the

fantastic fair wear.

So

they dyed the carpet a colour to match the aesthetic of the film. And it was a big event.
Many stars were there. I think it was a custom die.
I think it would have been a custom die, John.

We're talking it was a big deal. It's the Marvel we're talking about.
They have the Monet.

Yes. I'm going to get back into this commercial radio riff that I've decided we're doing.
Okay. All right, here we go.
All right, that's so funny, Alexi. Must have been very awkward.

We're going to listen to Pig Pony Club now. Very fun song.
We've got it at double speed with a beat behind it. And then when we're back, we're going to ask Alexi what his favorite movie is.

Okay, we're back. Favorite movie, Alexi.

I just really want to know how you watch 24 minutes of clips, like whole scenes. Were there trailers?

Why? Were there credits? Why?

they uh did they cut in between and go that was a clip and now here's the next clip no at this moment we are seeing daddy uh with his stretchy arm like what were they trying not to give away the plot were they no no because you did i learned what the plot was from the 24 minutes of clips

The plot was essentially the silver surfer comes and she's like, I'm a herald from another universe that there will be stuff that will come destroy you guys. Oh, so

that's interesting for me. So a villain from another universe comes in and sort of just fucks shit up.
Yeah, but he's big. He's really tall.
He's like really.

But he's not like Thanos is tall. Yeah,

this cunt is tall. He's like Godzilla style tall.
He's big. He's very big.
I'm going to give you a seven bucket. No, he's fucking.

He's played by

Ricky Gervase's mate in the office. Yeah.
Stephen Merchant. No, no, no, no, though.
The mean one that comes in.

He's got a long nose.

Have you seen The Vitch? The Vivic. The Vivich.
The Vivich. The vivich

uh have you seen the green knights with dev patel no have you seen the green knight have you seen the office with ricky gervais you know the guy with the really deep voice and the northern accent no sorry no professionals that go with the bike no

no just forget it i'm sorry i'm sorry

it's all right you know what you watch a movie you can't tell it's him i had no idea

he's big in the guy he's probably tall in real life but he's very tall he's not as tall he's not as tall as he is in the movie do Do you think he's no, not as tall as he is in the movie?

Because it would be using probably a similar style technology that Peter Jackson pioneered on the Hobbit movie.

When we talked about this, we actually had on this podcast not only Peter Jackson was on this show. Wow, Peter Jackson.
I didn't know PJ did the show. Would you like to meet him? I'd love to meet PJ.

But then also, I think you'd also love to meet when you talk about miniatures in film. I think there's someone you might want to meet.
Oh, my gosh. Has he been knighted?

Hello. Can you introduce Peter, please?

Because I'm going to become him. All right.

Alexi, I'd like to introduce you to a very close friend on the podcast. Wow.
Peter Jackson. Alexi, lovely to see you.
How are you? Oh, Peter.

How am I? I'm great. I've been a huge fan of you since day dot.
Well, I think you'll be surprised to know that actually I'm familiar with your work as well.

Because we've seen a fair bit of the things you put online on the internet. Oh, my gosh, Peavy Parents.

I spent a lot of time at home watching things and sort of just ruminating on ideas, like, for example, They Shall Not Grow Old, which was footage, found footage from World War One.

Yes, a beautiful film, Peter. Thank you so much.
Well, it was just a lot of times sitting in studios, we're looking at footage of these young men sent off. Yes.

And getting that at the right frame rate, getting that because

it was a rolling camera. And they had to roll it.
And so getting that matched perfectly, getting those colours exactly right was a pursuit of mine.

And much like you talking about movies that you love.

It's a path, it's a shared love, but also miniatures, I hear. Miniatures?

Oh, my God. Hello.
Hello. You know who's me? Yeah.

Sir Richard Taylor. Sir Richard Taylor for the special features of the Lord of the Rings series.

I'm here to tell you all about miniatures and making armor and all those sorts of things that I've done with my friend Peter.

And

friends are loaded with there because we've had moments of tension between us and the other. Well, obviously, I run the workshop and he runs digital.

We're both wetter and we're both on the boards, but he's more digital and I'm more workshop.

Wow.

You like miniatures. I love miniatures, but I also realized a term that you invented.

What do you want me to call you, sir? Yes, I am Sir Richard Taylor. Sir Richard Taylor.
And I invented the term bugaches. That's what I was going to say.

Invented the term bigoters because your miniatures were so big

that they could not be fathomably seen as miniatures. I will say, though, that I didn't invent the term bugatures.
That was an intern in the office. I wanted to call them medium chasers.

Because of the medium size.

Halfway between a normal.

that's just been just normal. You just say a thing is a normal size.
You don't have to put into context that it's bigger or smaller than it should be. Famous squabbles.

They're famous squabbles in the middle of the fifth. I do have one question.
What's the smallest bigoture you've ever made? The smallest buggature I ever made was a miniature. Ah, very good.

Very good. But when does it cross over, Sir Richard Taylor? When does it go from

one to the other? Because I wonder. Well, it goes

one to twenty-four would be a miniature. One to three is a buggature.
And is that when you're able to? The cross overline is around one to five.

Is that when you're able to speak to it through the astral plane? Wow. Close your eyes.
When it crosses over.

Ah, sure. Oh.

Oh,

are you a bit upset because you made the fab four a bit smooth in get back? No, it's not that at all. Oh, okay.
Though I did work, that was fan. I couldn't believe when I found that footage, Mark.

Yeah. Seeing before my eyes.
I didn't know I had it there, but Get Back being written in the moment. Yeah.
As Paul comes in early, John Lennon late with Yoko Ono. Yeah.

Just starts to fiddle away on the guitar, and you realise that you're seeing Get Back a song that's lived decades and decades in people's life.

That's what I said. Oh, these are John Tiger.
They're collaborators, you know. Just coming together in front of you, but I'm a bit sad.
Why are you happy?

Well, everyone's calling Sir Richard Sir Richard, but I'm also Nighted too. Yeah, United.
Yeah, but you know, you're not. I received an ONZ and a KNZM.

KNZM King's Nature Zealand's medal. Sounds like a video format.
What were you going to say? What I showed you.

I've got to remux it because it's in.KNZ.

I was going to say, Peter, you know, it felt more apparent to call Sir Richard Sir Richard because he's here with his chain mail on. He's got his.
That's true. He's dressed like a traditional knight.

He's dressed like a traditional knight. I'm not traditional.
I'm dressed like the Urukai before they were turned into Urakai. This is the thing.
We wanted a rich history to be seen in our armour.

He's ready to have, you know, Saruman's hands withered in paint and smeared across his head.

But, you know, you're hearing, I might just say cargo shorts, a slobby kind of polo with a few little grease marks on it.

But it's a chicken. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's your traditional grease. It's your traditional grease.
You're sitting in a dark room looking at old footage. Yeah.
I don't know.

And sometimes I'd turn the light and go, oh, geez, my lunch is on my shirt. Yeah, yeah.

But they'll say, I wanted to come in today dressed as riders of Rohan, and thank goodness I didn't, because we'd look quite the picture. Wouldn't we? Yeah.

He's got the. I'd be like, why aren't these guys worrying?

You have Hobbiton in your backyard. Well, to an extent, yeah, yes.

Bag in, yeah. He said to me, he said, New Zealand, Richard, I know you've built Bag Inn.
Could you put it in my backyard after we finish the trilogy? I said, yes, I'd be happy to, Peter.

You're a good friend. A bit of a backyard blitz, kind of removing that.
You saw Jamie Drewy,

Have you seen the original footage of that? Oh, the original footage of Jamie Jury, yeah, yeah, from War when he was in his magic mic. So in the backyards, they show up absolutely in ruins.

Yeah, it's true. He works with his team of

people in skimpy shorts. Yeah, did he help me Hobbitson and the Shire? What? No, not to mine.
It was a team that we used mainly in New Zealand that we worked on in the art department.

Wonderful team over there who worked.

We shot in South Island, we shot in North Island, but a lot of the actors moved over. Don't ask him about when they tried to unionise, though.
It makes him cry.

Oh, don't even mention the unions to me.

Jenny Jiri used to be a stripper. Just want to put that in the middle of the street.

Man about that. He was a part of manpower.
Yeah, man. Man part of manpower.
Yeah, that was keeping the women of the 90s just hot and haughty. Exactly.
To see a man of that beauty, of that caliber,

to be stripped down to his bare essentials. He was on Oprah.
He was on Oprah.

Alexa, you like films, I've been told. I love films, Sir Richard.
We make them. You make many of my favourite films.
I don't make the films. I make the miniatures and the armor and that sort of thing.

Do you know the man that makes the swords? I hired the man that makes the swords. I've met the man that makes the swords.
I know. I've met the man that makes the world sing.

Did you see all the songs that make the world sing?

Did you see all the little toys in my office? Yeah,

those miniatures? Or are those toys? No, they're just toys.

Did you see the guest book? Did you see who got a tour of the video?

John Lasseter, I believe he was just kind of confronted at Pixar.

He was on a holiday he said i'm between jobs at the moment can i have a tour i'm sure he gave a few hugs to the people around the office there that day no matter

no no he was just sitting at a desk next to young him did you notice sir richard taylor likes to yell but he doesn't even know he's yelling no he's got no control of the moment's voice

yeah or

loud no control i just thought he's passionate yell this much in real life but i thought it would be a good contrast to peter who is whispering more than he thought peter is a lot more chill, and I thought he's got a yelling energy.

But when are you going to be in a room with people like us again? I know you've interviewed David Wynham for your podcast. Yes, Farami himself.

But when are you going to get the chance again to talk to two people who are more prolific in filmmaking? Then you've got a window. I know, this is exciting.

I made the bones from Lovely Bones. I was going to say, Lovely Bones was an interesting movie.
Stanley Tucci played a pedophile. Tucci, we love Tucci.
He's earned the Oscar nomination to this date.

He's a transformer. He's informative performance.

He can play the side, the second in charge to The Devil Wears Proud. I hope he's in the sequel.

Well, yes, Patrick Brammel's in that.

He's very exciting. Patrick Brammel sort of pull-up.

Yeah, yeah.

Would you like to meet David Wenham? Oh, I've met David Wenham.

Well, I haven't met him so that's it.

Don't worry about it.

Did you know that a quantum experiment split him in half? Oh, really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's several David Wenhams.
I'd love to meet one of the David Wenhams. Would you like to meet one or two?

Let's meet a couple of the David Wenhams. Well, yeah, because they come in pairs now.
Yeah, I'd love to meet the podcast.

Well, let me introduce you to David Wenham and David Wenham. Oh, Alexi, it's good to see you again.
Hello, Alexi. Wow, Davids.
Who is David Wenham? Wow, Davidson.

What's your favourite number, David Wenhams?

Well, that's got to be.

Maybe just how many Spartans? Maybe how many Spartans? Getting squares. Gitten Spartans, though.
How many Spartans?

300. Three hands.

I was setting you up for that.

That was also in the sequel as well. 302.
Yeah, yeah.

302. Yeah, yeah.
Starring the girl from the lady.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't think that David Wenhams isn't quite Lexi.

Hello.

Hello.

What's your name again? My name's Lex. Oh, Lex.
I'm rebranding, I record. Oh, yes.

What would you think of David Corrin Sweat and Jason? Is he

I have not seen the new Superman.

So I would say from pictures.

He looks wonderful. And for someone who likes movies, you certainly haven't seen the hottest hit of the winter.

On this side of the hemisphere.

Or which is where you live. It's a fascinating little story because it's about a man.
It's about an alien who flies through the skylands in sort of rural...

United States of America. Yeah, he's raised by middle America.
Yeah, that's wonderful. In a ranch, they raised him in a farmhouse and stuff, right? Yes, correct, yes.

Yeah, it's a very anti-American story. Really? But he is the pinnacle of America.
He's Superman. Oh, this one's quite woke.
He sort of saves people. Yeah, and how do they feel about it?

So that's the matter.

Yeah, but Moy cares more about rodents than he does people in this one. He saves a lot of lives and sort of is a nice man for a two hour.
Yeah, he's looking after the rodents.

I'll tell you that he's strange. Wow, fair enough.
So he sort of tries to keep a strong moral core and a simple moral core in complicated times. Very woke.

What is your favorite movie? My favorite movie of yours, gosh, probably

Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit 2. Oh, wow, really? I know.

I control that one. Really? I'm somewhat being somewhat humorous, Peter, but because of the movie I've wanted to talk to you about, I guess.
What was that movie? Did you notice anything different?

Did it feel different to other movies visually? When I was watching this movie, I go, this is truer to life. It's almost as if the director found a way to make.

Oh, I'm going to come i was just so excited to tell you how i did that usually i'm watching movies and i go this uh i'm only feeling like maybe every second i'm feeling 24 sec 24 frames of truth here but while i'm watching the the hobbit the desolation of smell i go this is double the amount of truth per second that i'm seeing right now listen firstly first thing i'll say did you like the song by ed shear and i see fire in that i see fire love that and i love the um the neil fin song that also appeared in the other hobbit He's from New Zealand.

He is from New Zealand. He's Crowded House and Split Ens.
He's a part of Showdown House and Split Ends.

Well Tim Finn is split ends.

Is Neil Finn somebody joined the band at the latest juncture yes

before they moved to Australia and started Crowded House actually about

the house they lived in in Los Angeles writing the albums. Because there would have been so many fellas in that house.
That's the best, right? It's probably where they got their name.

Isn't that small?

Not enough bigotes.

Oh, we've gone through this before, Sir Richard Taylor. There's only so many bigotages and miniatures you can put in a a film.

Well, if you planned it a bit better, I could have built a couple more bigoters for you. Yeah, at what point does it become too big for you

because then it just becomes a prop, yeah? That'd be one for one, yeah, one for one. But if it's one, if it's two, one,

that's still a bigoture, yeah, but a very big bigoture. Big bigoture, it's a big bigoture.
Um, how did you guys do the coins that Smorg sits on?

Because they do look kind of when they're all bunched up together like that, they they look quite comfortable and I've you know I've sat on a coin or two in my time often in my pocket or my wallets and I've noticed that sometimes they can be quite uncomfortable when they kind of bunch up together but when you see uh smilg he's lazing quite carefree on them as is uh uh the duck the cartoon duck scrooge scrooge the duck did you use the same kind of sets that scrooge mcduck uh does it talk about when he scrooge mcduck dives into a pool of dives into those coins as if it was nothing but a but a humble swimming pool Yeah, because

it would not happen.

Scrooge McDucks are lucky to survive that dive. It would be dense, I imagine.

I can imagine

the amount of coinage that he has, not dissimilar to your friend Smaug.

Smaug is my friend, yes, yeah.

It would be equivalent to like for us, like a big pool with the amount of atoms, like each atom kind of making up a little bit of water and stuff.

He would be so rich that there would be the same effect as that many atoms coming together to form

father of us went to the bank right now

and said we'll get out all our money in coins and we probably have that many coins both between us not two dollar coins though you'd have to go fifty cents but they're quite big

they're probably too big

I'd probably need 50 cent coins

I think he took engines after all I think he could do it two dollars he produced more to engines and you wrote the screenplay with Philippa and Frank yes we sat down wrote it together.

Yeah, and it's based on big,

they're quite big too, those towns. The towns.
Well, we built the towns. They're on wheels.
And they scanned the towns.

Sam

directed that film. You had nothing to do with it.
What? Nothing to do with that film. You're confused.
No, I'm not confused at all. Ben Flick didn't direct it.
I believe it was a protege of that.

He directed it. It is a story of.
You're thinking of that town. This is about the towns on wheels.
Oh, sorry about that. Completely.
I thought you were talking about the bank robber film.

Remember, you you made me make a big wheel to be scanned by Weta Digital. I remember like it was yesterday.

And that's how Gundam were there down one

question for you, Peter Jackson.

When you were watching Benedict Cumberbatch perform as Smaug in that costume,

was there ever a moment where you went, it's a bit much? No, I thought this was going to be, I love the commitment he's doing to that, but also, you know, Richard Boone played him as well.

What? Richard Boone played Benedict Cumberbatch? Yes, actor Richard Boone. He played Smaug as well? He played him in 19, he was born in 1917, died in 1981.
Richard Boone. Under cartoon.

In the cartoon, Richard Boone from the cartoon. Richard Boone from the colony.
Richard Boone from the cartoon. From the cartoon The Hobbit cartoon movie.
Yeah. The Hobbit and Animated Adventure.

Which has a couple of live action shots in it, I think. I think it's Rotoscope.
Yeah, yeah, but then... Is it Rotoscope or am I thinking of some of the...

Or am I thinking about the Bakshi Lord of the Ring?

I think maybe I'm thinking of the Lord of the Ring. You're thinking of Lord of the Ring, the...

Yeah, yeah. And you're thinking about Richard Linkland as a scanner.
Darkness.

I was thinking with Smorg. What if I went back in 10 years' time and just picked up again, see where Smorg's at now, and then I'd do it again and again,

put it all together and

10 years previously? And you go, well, what was he doing 10 years before The Hobbit? I thought I could just do the first film where we're seeing a character grow in front of us.

My question, Peter, is would you be able to show that kind of restraint and do it in one film? Or must it be an Epic 3?

Well, that's why I'm keeping it under wraps now, but you've obviously seen the first one, Desolation Edition of Smorg.

But I think I'd like to turn it into a Richard Link-later-type brotherhood situation. Oh, it's all around brotherhood.
It's actually called Toy Hoods.

In Australia, I don't know what they call it in New Zealand. It could be called Brotherhood.

Well, I don't think it would because it's about a boy. Yeah, he's got a sister, and it's not like they have a brotherhood between his sisters.
I've not seen it. I've not seen it.

Well, you would love it, I think. You know, it's um well, how do they do it? How do they make him get old so quick? Well, they use the real passage of time.
Yeah, but they use time itself.

Yeah, you could say it was co-directed by time itself. By time itself.

Well, not really.

They just shot it over a long period of time. But a nice review could say something like that, kind of something a bit poetic.

I think most films are also, if that's the case, all films are directed by time itself as well, because no film is shot not in time, not to this extent. Except for Interstellar.
Well, that is true.

That is time less. It's close to the

we have a very big film question for you.

What is the opposite of a bookcase? The opposite of a bookcase. Yeah.
Wow.

We've thrown some stuff out there because if we were to go. Here are some options.
Here are some options. Because what we were trying to think about.

Thank you, because that first question was really open-ended. And I had actually no idea what the option was to go.
It's specific. Yeah, I forgot who I was here with.

I forgot what characters you guys are playing. So we were trying to think about...

Oh, hey, thank you, Peter. I'll just keep pulling you, Pete.
If one

of Interstellar was the complete opposite.

So when he goes into

the Tesseract or whatever. Yeah, yeah.
Whatever.

I believe that's from the MCU.

And this version of Interstellar, Interstellar,

is he old and she still young? I'll look up. I just remembered that I wasn't part of this.
Zach was. So I turned that into a question.
Carry on. Yeah, right.

So, but when he goes into the bookcase, it's the opposite. So one thing we all agreed on is that there's lots of gravity.
Oh, yeah. So he can barely move off the ground.

But what is it that he's trying to... See, now we thought maybe a gun rack.

Because if books bring knowledge

and guns maybe bring death, which I guess is sort of once you're dead, you can no longer absorb knowledge

anything new.

Or yeah, one big book with small bookcases in it was another thought. Not really the opposite to me, more just like a sort of abstract version of a bookcase.
Could I pitch it? I agree with you, yes.

That's just a thing Braden said. Yeah, have a think.
Have a think. I would say this.
I'm actually sickened by this question. Why? I feel ill the way that you phrase it because

it's overwhelming.

I'm starting to reconsider life it's i've become metaphysical thinking about this that's a strange reaction i feel i feel overwhelmed by this question okay well i could give a i can't even take it humorously i feel i feel stranged by it i'll give an answer and you can see what you think of it yes so i'm thinking what's the opposite of books beer in what way books beer in the way that when you read a book you get sharper when you drink a beer you get looser great what's the opposite of a shelf a loose collection of things

so i would propose that he is communicating to his daughter through a loose collection of beers. A plethora of beers.

Maybe in like a... She cans of beer strewn across the floor.
What about like in an Eski or something? No, that's still a stream. Still too tall.

Yeah. Too close to shelf.
Okay. Loose beers across the floor.
You can loose them. So the beers wobble.
What on earth are you all talking about? The opposite of a stellar.

I don't think anyone's interested. I think they'd prefer...
I'd prefer to have my nose drawn. You'd prefer to do it in CG.
Oh, how easily

you can easily get it. You're feeling betrayed that you've been doing more CG and less practical stuff.
Well, I just want to creatively stretch and move and be able to evolve.

And the things CG can do today, I think you can attest that, Alexi Toliopoulos. Yeah, I guess so.
CG does some wonderful stuff, computer-generated imagery. I think it's wonderful.

But I'm much, Peter, I'll say this. I actually do think that

Sir Richard has a point. There is a magic in seeing the physical touch.

For one's mind's eye as they watch a film and interpret a film there is an element of seeing something that is really there even if it does not look completely real and authentic but to see it there it does be interpreted to truthful can we agree sometimes they just look like small things

sometimes they can look like

if you're shooting it at the wrong frame rate am i right if you were to go to you know muck around frame rates then perhaps yeah maybe it could do that but i'll tell you this i offered to him i offered to him i'd make him some bigoture fab four

how big are the fab four i'd make the beatles at one three no i had no interest in it one three

my film was entirely found footage yeah that's what you kept saying found footage found i said just let me make them see you don't have to use them

i said don't shoot i said you can just keep them nearby i said don't you

i said if i see one large john lennon or paul mccartney or any of the others for that matter how many points of articulation on these 1-3-Fab4s? Do they need articulation or they're a statue?

Well, I'm asking.

We could just do them standing still. But we made a Ringo.
I never told him this. We made a Ringo.
No, I told you. I warned you.
We made a Ringo. We did a bit of 3D printing.

We're pissing away that RD budget behind your back.

Tell him about

his rival war museum. Oh, we made rival war exhibitions.

You guys make rival war exhibitions. Yes!

You both have a fascination with the young men sent off.

Did you have family?

Yeah, the anzacs. I did bug.
So, you know how you make a money?

I did big soldiers. How big are the soldiers? Oh, sort of three times the size of a man.
So, like, maybe.

Fucking big men. Wow.

It's like eight meetings or something. So it's like, look, that big.
But big. Not that big.
No, that's the point. It was like the old.

And I wanted to call them bigot chips. And I said, this is why you don't why we shouldn't have called medium chips.

They were never that big to begin with. Well, that's the point.
You walk in and you go, oh, look how small I am compared to this boy on the beaches of Gallipoli. But he was never that big.

There'd be people walking in, waltzing in in Wellington to the exhibition and saying, well, I didn't realise those young boys were that big.

The Turks from Gallipoli.

If you turned to Gallipoli, saw them coming, they would have run for that.

You're getting all excited excited over nothing made. Pete, we would get.
Think of the Turks. As they're coming into Gallipoli, they're gigantic men.
They would have run for the hills.

History would have worked out very differently. That's right.
To know what it's like.

You open up a Gallipoli exhibition on one end of Wellington. It's not a big city.
And then you find out on the other end of Wellington, there's another World War I exhibit of the United States.

Exhibition

soldiers. Did you not talk about this? I don't know the full story, but I just don't add rival exhibitions.
Surely you got. Did it come from a disagreement about how big the soldiers should be? Well

I can assume we can gather

we can make a two-hour play

about these two these two titans of New Zealand industry. We really

think I'm an idiot

because you think, I think that all the boys

were three times as tall as normal people. But you're the idiot because you don't know that I realise that.
I'm doing it for artistic reasons.

We could have joined forces to tell people about the young boys climbing the the beaches of Gallipoli but instead you were big this little that we did make them miniature so they were normal size in your exhibition so you mean miniature and they were tall when they miniature bigature fellas on the not a bigger chair because that's a medium chair a bigature

let me be honest to be to show the true scale of things like Gallipoli, some things were smaller, yes. Right, but there's pictures and such.
So that wouldn't have confused people. Not at all.

I don't think that's.

And I would argue that the worry of you guys joining forces, had you, is that to meet in the middle, everything just would have been normal. Which is way too big.

Which is too big, yes. To show the whole of Gallipoli in a museum is too big.

The size of Gallipoli, the only place that would fit that is Gallipoli. Gallipoli itself, and then it would have to go on top of it, which would crush it.
Or something the size of Gallipoli.

Oh, sure, yes. You'd have to do it as an outdoor.
So we had a miniature Gallipoli. Sorry, Alexi.
Good boy. I think it's beautiful.
You've gotten quite a bit of a bit of a movie. Sorry, Alexi.

Do you have any fish? I'm sorry. No, but I'm sorry.
I love to talk about it. It's okay to talk.

Sometimes I love to be an observer, Observer of Television. Alexi.

Speaking of movies. Yeah.
Have you seen War of the World starring Ice Cube?

I watched a clip from it this morning.

I watched a clip from it this morning. Ice Cube, one of my favorite actors.
Incredible. Love Ice Cube, Doughboy himself from Boys in the Hood.
Just a little mention that we should all watch that film.

I will hopefully have watched it by the time this comes out. I've watched it three times.
You've watched it three times. I really like it.

Is the Amazon delivery as amazing in the context of the film as the scene itself? Phenomenal. I did see it.

And they save it. They save it? They save the world through it.
No, they save the Amazon delivery scene for a little later on in the middle. It's like the moment.
It's locked in.

Peter, I think you'd love it. Miniature man.

Sir Richard. Sir Richard Taylor.
That's his superhero. Sir Taylor, yeah.
Sir Richard Taylor.

Miniatures and Biggitches. I think you would love the size.
I think of Ant-Man. Yeah.
What do you think of Ant-Man? What do you think of Ant-Man? Fuck, because they were. Fuck!

What did you think of Ant-Man? Because of the miniatures and bigotues. And miniatures and bigotues.
Because yourself can go from miniature to bigoture.

I think you've fundamentally misunderstood what I like about miniatures. Really? So I think you think that I like little things

as rep because Ant-Man is about miniature things. Well, and Quantum Mania, he goes so miniature that things, that miniatures turn into bigotures.

That's not what the film's about. But what you've got to understand is when I make a miniature, I want you to think it's normal.
Right. So with a miniature, if he's a miniature, if he goes miniature,

then it's not normal, it's miniature. And you have to make it big.
But every now and then, they also do shrink large objects down to be miniature.

For instance, a vehicle, like vehicles, they'll shrink down.

But then it would be...

You understand that then I want to then make it more. You don't want us to interpret it as being small.
You want us to go

to the real deal we're seeing there. I'm only interested if the big car was little.

So, you know how it was a big car before it became a little car? Yes. If that big car was little,

if you could see in a special feature, they go, oh, wow, look at that normal car that they're kind of walking around. And then we could see in the bonus feature go, that car was actually a small car.

And we didn't know that until we saw it. It was even littler.
So until we saw the appendices kind of. So you thought the big car was was normal.
Yeah, it's actually one three. It's a bigger chart.

And then we shunned it down to a miniature. Are you two done? Because this has gone on long enough.
What?

This shit has gone on long enough. I think in the episode.

This is why I had to go do a show with him. I know.
I know I can talk about this. Now.

Wow, I can't believe Peter wanted to wrap something up. Alexi, what do you got going on at the moment?

Tell us about your life. Have you got any miniatures? No, just rich shit.
I'll fuck. I'm this close.
I've been making some miniatures. I'm not getting any work from you.
I'll go find it elsewhere.

You want any miniatures? I'd love a miniature. Another couple of miniatures.
You'll see what? I've stopped working with him and I've moved to CGI. I don't think it's miniatures anymore.

The only job you could get.

I don't think I only wanted miniatures. Thank God you have the job at Wedder, because the only other job you could get, Sir Richard, I think, is at Santa's workshop.
What?

I think the only other job...

I think the only other job that you could get that you would be satisfied with is working at Santa's workshop.

However, it would be the the bane of your existence because you would be telling people you're making miniatures and bigotages and other people would just be saying they're just toys Richard what are you talking about don't please I don't know I just I'm just saying I'm just saying it was just a thought that I had but it's not unless you put the camera up and change the frame rate make it look big that's what I'm interested yeah but the points of articulation what if you added points of articulation they would become toys yeah they would become it only becomes interesting to me if the end gullist put a camera close to it what I'm saying is he doesn't make too many human or like, you know, things that would have points of articulation.

Depending on the

tree beard. Treebeard is one of the creatures that he would have made that would have had points of articulation.

But mostly it's setting stuff, Mark. All I'm making.
Like Minister and stuff, you don't need maybe a drawbridge would be a point of articulation.

Although I have a feeling they only made one and then doubled it with CGI.

Do you think Arzengard is the same as

I just reckon they made one? How big do you think Isengard was? And doubled it in pen. How big do you think Arzengard was?

If you saw in the movie that was like at least like the size of the eureka tower nope it was one-third the size of that are you fucking kidding me he made a miniature big for a miniature that's huge for a miniature and then how did you get gandof to stand on top of it and then jump off i don't know i left that to digital and how did you do that i did it through uh cgi comping actually comping yeah they're comping their computer was used to generate that image and so i sort of handballed it over to digital that's what we used to do it used to be a dance handball's an aussie rules term which means sort of like with rugby you like to throw it backwards.

But in Australia, they get the ball and they sort of punch it. They punch the ball.
I didn't realise that was a turn of phrase that only applied because of football.

Just to wrap up what I was saying, I was just trying to express. You've got to wrap up your dick if they don't want to get pregnant.
That's true. That's true.

If you're making love

to someone with a uterus and you have a penis and you don't want to get them pregnant.

Unless they've got one of those little things with the little stuff. Oh, the robots.

Oh, yeah, if they've got a little robot in there.

donors are still very important for safe sex in absolutely to prevent from st and they've got that little string

i was yeah fuck i've got it i knew it was i knew one was right and

even if they've got that little string oh that's a message i want to send all the people

in new zealand you should get i you too even if they've got a little string in their vagina you've still got to wrap it up because you might get well it's it's a robot and i think just if i can talk to the young people listening today safe sex is really important because of some of the nasty stds that are out there From chlamydia to gonorrhea, to there's been a rise in syphilis.

In syphilis,

not since World War I have we seen so much syphilis. Oh my gosh, so that was in your research.
Did you ever make like a giant like syphilitic sore on your giant World War I?

That would be ridiculous. I mean, I thought you were so keen on being able to show people how big the history was.
If they had syphilis, stop this episode. All right, well, look, we've had a job,

stop talking about big things and small things. That's all I know.
I know. That's why I was saying I think the only other job you'd be satisfied in is toy making.
Please.

Even though it's a compromise. I actually do like toys.
I've got the studio books. We need to leave the room.
We need to leave the room.

Sir Richard. Alexi, thank you so much for being on here.
Thank you so much for watching. Talking about War of the World, starring Ice Cube, a highly recommended film.
I think you'll really enjoy it.

Thank you.

As you all should out there in Radio Land, have a great time and think about big things. Oh, no.
And small things and things that are... Try not to.

Things that are small things that are big versions of that small thing, which is actually... a really big thing.

We'll have to get you on it again sometime, Alexi, and maybe not play such big characters. Oh, but it's that you do some stuff.
I like the big characters. I like to interact with them.

It's a bit weird to get you here to be our straight guy. Yeah.

So apologies for that. We'll get you back on in a few minutes.
It's very rare that I get to be the straight guy on a podcast, so I quite enjoyed that. Quite enjoyed that.

A big character to begin with. Yes, it's true.
A big character in your video. You've got a big personality.
Yes.

Thank you, Sir Richard. Thank you.
I do have a podcast. Plug your fucking picture.
I have a podcast called The Last Video Store where I talk to cool people about their favorite movies. Sick.

Mark has been on.

Zachary has been on. Broden has yet to be on.
But we're all waiting. It's because I don't watch a lot of movies.
Why you have me on it?

I'm yet to be on it. Do you remember? Do I messaged you the other day about

Two Hands? Or the Mullet, one of them. Yeah, you messaged me about Mullet.
How do you do the video show? And Two Hands.

Gregor Jordan. Gregor Jordan.
No, don't look at Jordan.

Zach just looked at me and went crazy in his eyes. How do you do

that?

So, Richard, I'm going to keep plugging my thing, but I'll say, yes, on the YouTube of the podcast, we have it in a green-screened video store.

Well, if you don't have a woman, and I would love to get a miniature made out of it or a bigature one day if you're available. Yeah, but you have to make it.

If you're saying it right now, within six months i want to see proof they've made something

so richard taylor not the real one the character that i play if zacharway makes a miniature video shop you will put it in the background in one of your podcasts i will do it i'll put it on the table well challenge yeah i will do it

i would say so it's called the last video store check it out talk to cool people about their favorite movie

killing hardy i thought that was so cool i talked to killing hearty and i thought it was so cool about being on the spider-man 2 soundtrack they talked about being on the spider-man 2 soundtrack what do you do at the end end of it?

When they've said their favorite movies, what do you do? I do give them a recommendation based on their taste. Really? Yes.
I still haven't watched the one you recommend. That's okay.

Zach watched one of the ones I recommended to him. That was.
I haven't watched the second one yet. I watched the first one because I was going on again.

The first one was the greatest recommendation I've ever received in my life. Wow.
It was like... Right down the middle of my brain.
He's got a recommendation.

He's a few times Godfrey. Go and see that film.

See, I'm good at it. He's watched three times as many movies as me, so it's three times better.
Maybe more. I think it goes up in

a bigger way. You could monetize that.
Well, I'm trying to. That's what I'm doing with it.
Like a personal consultant who tells you what movies just say. Yeah, okay.
That's a good idea.

More than Peter, do you want to chuck me a few of your favourite movies and I'll throw one out to you now? Yeah, sure. So let's go to the Lord of the Rings.
No, no. King Kong.
King Kong?

Yeah, King Kong. One touch.
Bad Touch. Bloodhound Gang Song, Bad Touch.
No, I'm recommending movies he likes. Oh, he's like.

So you're like King Kong, and you're like, I think he likes ones about Eric.

Oh, I already watched The Frighteners the other night. Yeah.
I fucking love that movie. We've got to stop it, guys.

We have to stop. We have to stop.
We have to stop.

He likes King Kong. He likes King Kong.

Planet of the Apes. What about Congo? It's got a big monkey in it.
Yeah, watch Congo. Maybe Better Man.
Better Man. Better Man.
Better Man.

Kelly would love Better Young. I've seen it, man.
King Kong with the Planet of the Apes.

Yeah. Yeah, Mighty Joe Young.
You're just saying monkey movies. Or ape movies.
Primate movies. Primate movies.
Marty Joe Young. What's that one about

with George from Seinfeld and the monkey at the hotel? Oh, that is Dunce.

I love Dunstan. Watch Jackson.
They should have made a miniature hotel. Of the hotel.

Oh, my God.

We have to go. Oh, bye.

Goodbye.

You've been listening to the Auntie Donner podcast. Thanks for joining us for another rip episode brought to you by Auntie DonnerClub.com.
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