MILO PARKER & Midas Man

Midas Man

Reegs: Welcome to Bad Dads Film Review, and at this time of year, I'd like for us all to stop and spare a thought, if you would, at Christmas. For Greg Wallace's PR team, because Jesus fucking Christ, the potato faced misogynist really cannot shut his mouth. We'll take any listeners here at Bad Dads, including middle aged women of a certain age, and this week we've got extra special content for them as we welcome Milo Parker to the pod for an interview.

Milo is an English film and TV star who's worked with the likes of Sir Ben Kingsley and Sir Ian McKellen, and is now reduced to slumming it with us. So his career has clearly hit the skids, but he's also the co star of this week's movie review The Midas Man, the tragic biopic of music entrepreneur and Beatles manager Brian Epstein.

And before all that, we'll kick off the show with our usual top five, and what else would it be but the top five Parkers.

Dan: Okay. Thank you.

Sidey: parking.

Reegs: Yeah. All that's left to do is introduce the dad, starting with walking tombstone Dan, he's so old his first parking meter was a sundial. We've also got eye candy Chris, he's got looks that could stop traffic and a brain that needs a jumpstart.

And last but not least, a man who knows a thing or two about pulling out slowly and squeezing himself into tight spaces, it's Sidey. And then there's me, Reeksalope.

Cris: Hello, Riggs. Alright.

Dan: It's been a full week. Have you been watching anything beyond the homework?

Reegs: Yeah, I watched Arsenal beat West Ham 5 2 and I can say that

Dan: This isn't a football podcast. Let's

Reegs: no, but Milo Parker supports Arsenal, doesn't he?

So,

Dan: But, yeah,

Reegs: relevant to the theme, Dan, so I watched that.

Dan: Tenuous, tenuous.

Well, moving the subject on swiftly, I've been watching Better Call Saul. Which most people would have seen. I started, it's about the third time I watched the first episode. And I got as far as the fifth of the six now. And I enjoy, I'm enjoying it. It's good. He's brilliant, Bob Odenkirk, isn't he? He's I think a lot of people wouldn't have seen him in many things before this came out.

And yeah, after then he's done that brilliant film, Nobody, which we recorded for, for the pod. But I really like his character here as well. He's, he plays him well.

Reegs: The brother's terrific.

And it's in it as well. I can't remember what

Dan: I know you mean, yeah, he's brilliant. Yeah.

Reegs: Christian.

Cris: I've watched I was actually going through to see not much because I don't, I don't really have time these days, but I did watch the first two episodes of a Netflix series called the Cuba Libre story. It's just a story about Cuba. It's like a documentary. It says it's eight episodes, but I've only watched the first two.

It's quite good. It's, it's, it's from the colonial rule. The Cubans try to win their independence, the influence of the US and all that stuff. So it's quite good. And I've watched One evening, the same one or two episodes. I've started watching the starting five, which is on Netflix as well. It's a series about the few point guards and a few people from the NBA.

So just watching that is just highlights of a few point guards from the NBA. And I watched

Sidey: Iverson. Yes. The answer. Yeah. Yeah.

Dan: Yeah, yeah.

Cris: And I watched the 82 point or 81 points game

Dan: Oh, you've made me watch that, I think.

Cris: about Kobe Bryant when he scored 81 points in a game. It's it's an hour long or 51 minutes long when I was in prime and that, that was it.

And the rest

Reegs: was just homework. I

Cris: mind them.

Sidey: Is it a Doral thing?

They're

Cris: cute. No, it's just a cheap thing.

Reegs: I just think of that,

Sidey: Not from Doral

Reegs: that, whatever it is, car, car line, you know, car advert, car insurance, yeah.

Dan: Yeah. Ah, yeah. I think the actor you were talking about before, thinking of, is Michael McKean. Ah. Who's, who plays the brother in

Reegs: Thanks, Mike.

Dan: Better Call Saul. I like him.

He's a

Reegs: Go on, Side.

Sidey: I always watch have I got news for you and I watched that. It was pretty good. And I was supposed to be out really early Sunday morning. I did go out, but my mate.

Cris: And

Sidey: so I went back home and instead of going, instead of, no, it was, we're going cycling, but my mate's bike let him down. So, instead of going out on my own, I thought, fuck that, it's wet and windy and cold.

So I went back home and I watched, there's a series on YouTube. I don't know if you've ever come across Professor Hannah Fry. Yes, she's got a a load of Things or sciencey stuff on youtube. So I watched all of those. Like ai Water scarcity all this other stuff really interesting If you like nerding I was in a nerding out mood.

So I watched that series. That was really good I watched any other films apart from the homework

Reegs: we all watched Miss Peregrine's Home for The

Sidey: Yeah, I think we all really enjoyed it

Reegs: pretty much

Dan: Strong recommend,

Reegs: Round, wasn't

Sidey: Yeah, we had a top five last week,

Reegs: top five POV top

Sidey: pops, yeah, , I

Reegs: I know, we've

Sidey: say

Reegs: It was Mel who pointed that out. And

Sidey: whole thing basically takes place from the

Reegs: seen that. I'd love to see

Sidey: get pretty scary headboards. Oh, yes. I've seen that

Reegs: did we

Dan: We forgot that one as well. Loads of POV content.

Sidey: but I think

Reegs: one of them going in peep show.

Sidey: Peep show should go in. Yeah. Yeah. Strong

Dan: Parking. Parker

Reegs: Parkers. Parkers. Yeah. Parkers. Parking. However you want to.

Dan: Well

Reegs: You any good at. Are you any good at parking?

Dan: I'm really good at

Reegs: fancy yourself. Yeah. Yeah. You can parallel park. Fine.

Dan: I can't do any of that. What? What

Sidey: I'm alright, I'd say I'm an alright parker.

Reegs: what about if all your mates are in the car, fine. Does it get harder or

Dan: That's

Sidey: she said. No, f f f fine.

Reegs: Yeah,

Dan: Pretty good. Yeah, the science of the the science of how you get into a space remains the same depending You know

Sidey: I also like don't care if it goes wrong.

Reegs: no, it is

Dan: You talk about the

Reegs: there's cars backing up, you're trying to parallel park on the street. Your mates are starting to come. Oh,

Sidey: I do remember one where I was driving the van at my previous job doing some deliveries at the central market in town. And it was quite a tight space and I just reverse into it like so fucking well. And I was like, look around, like anyone,

Dan: around,

Reegs: applaud! It's nice isn't it?

Dan: Sometimes you go into a space and you're thinking there's no one would get in there. You've got an inch of the, and you've got like an inch of the back and you think,

Reegs: thinking.

Sidey: Come on, someone just say,

Dan: that Austin Powers moment, you know, where you're just going forward, back, forward, back for, for ages

Reegs: We've got a tiny car now. We've got like a Kia Picanto. And it's like, you could just honestly, you could park it in here. Just it'd be so easy like every space is a parent a child space

Dan: and child space I I remember remember clive james

Sidey: and he

Dan: tv And he would throw on some japanese inventions or things like that every now and again One of them was a one of them actually was a toilet roll holder with a radio and a phone And we had that it was just mad to see that it came up on That show and then we already had it in the house Although we didn't have the telephone locked in, we had the radio working.

But the, the other one was tyres that instead of like, look, going straight forward as we know tyres do, they swivel and go onto their side and then you just sort of go in sideways.

Sidey: now you have also autonomous parking, it just scans the space, you just

Cris: I would

Reegs: just, I

Sidey: I would like to see that

Dan: Let the computer do it.

Sidey: it though?

Reegs: it though. Yeah, it'd be fine. Right, so, Top 5 Parkers. I'll start with Richard Parker. From Ang Lee's adaptation of Yann Martel's Life of Pi.

Dan: Oh, not the guy who manages St.

Sidey: The club secretary.

Cris: say the club secretary from St. Juan's. I was like, what? You know him as well?

Reegs: Not him, no,

Cris: He's a legend

Dan: about the, the tiger? Yeah,

Reegs: it's kind of Fight Club with tigers. There's probably a little bit more to it, but there is some element of that going on.

And then Peter Parker.

Dan: Okay, so you've taken all the best barkers,

Reegs: Alright

Dan: but all right

Reegs: a general discussion, there's been a lot of Peter Parkers.

Dan: Yeah, no there has been a lot of people people have had the markers

Cris: Yeah,

Reegs: easy for you to say.

Sidey: Yeah, well, it was 3 and 1 in the last movie.

Reegs: Yeah.

Dan: That was a multiverse one wasn't it Andrew Garfield I like that I thought that was really good

Sidey: I've

Cris: I've never watched any of the Spider

Dan: Oh, I like that one. Start with that one. And the

Cris: Whoa, the last

Reegs: that one. Or the last one. How

Cris: does it rank compared to the rest of the unbelievably long list of

Sidey: Well, I think that because it's fairly special effects reliant, they've sort of mastered that by the time those films come around.

So I would say that Tom Holland does a really good performance. And so, you know, you can, you know, If you start there, you can go far wrong. If you don't like that kind of shit,

Cris: far wrong if you don't like that kind of

Sidey: like all Marvel films, they all struggle from having shit villains with really low stakes.

I can't even remember who the villain is in the first one.

Dan: No.

Sidey: Second one's Mephisto and the third one is the multiverse one with everyone. People tend to get real hard on for the Dr. Octopus one. The second one of the

Reegs: the

Dan: Is it the goblin? The first

Sidey: I hate that one.

Cris: okay.

Dan: one. Yeah. Okay. Why?

Reegs: that's an

Dan: frank discussion. That's Peter Parker done. Si, do you wanna go ahead or? Go

Sidey: bye bye Chris.

Dan: What about Chris?

Sidey: What

Cris: about me?

Dan: I don't know.

Cris: Oh okay. So, I, I haven't got Peter Parker. And I also don't have an actual Parker, which is might sound really strange. But in my defense, there is a list of movies that are based on books in which

Reegs: yeah, richard stark books the parker.

Cris: Yes, that they're all Parkers, but in the movies they change the name.

Yeah. And the only one that is called actually Parker.

Reegs: is a statham one

Cris: Yes. Is the state them one, but it's based on a movie called flash fire. And he's the only character out of all of them that is actually called Parker. My favorite one.

Reegs: was the mel gibson one, right?

Cris: All right. I D do you want to,

Reegs: Thanks,

Cris: thanks Riggs. Okay. Well the payback then there you go.

Reegs: There was a few others though, wasn't there? Yeah. What else is on that list?

Cris: There's Made in the U. S. A. Made in U. S. A. Based on The Jugger. Point Blank. Based on The Hunter. Misa Suck. Pillaged. Based on The Score. The Split. Based on The 7th. The Outfit. Based on The Outfit. Slayground. Based on Slayground.

And Payback. Based on Hunter.

Sidey: That's the only one of those i've seen.

Cris: Yeah. Payback is the best. It's also got Mel Gibson, who I really love and he's a great guy

Sidey: friend of rick's paper. Yeah,

Cris: And also, he's got in that movie, his name is actually Porter, but he's got Lucy Liu, who really wants to have sex with him, and he tells her, go boil an egg. So,

Dan: good advice. I had fight club because they fight in a car park.

Sidey: where they come up with the rules or fight club

Dan: and it's where they come in the rules. And it's also where we see that, that scene where, of course, he's been fighting with Tyler the whole time until you find out actually, no, he's punching himself in the face. He's throwing himself down the stairs. He's kicking himself. He's doing all this kind of mad and everybody else is just looking on it.

in awe to him and going, man, this guy really means it. And it was, I mean, it was a, it was a great book. And it was an even sort of more widely seen film than book read it fight club. I mean, we shouldn't even be talking about it.

Sidey: Pete's not here to nominate it. I know this would be his first one. But Seinfeld, he's a huge, huge fan of. And they have an episode called The Parking Garage. I imagine the Americans would say. The whole episode is sitting around. They can't find where they park their car.

In the parking

Dan: Ever done that? Ever just

Sidey: ever just gone to

Dan: Is that because you've done it before though?

Sidey: because you've done it

Dan: seen it in

Sidey: You've just seen it in movies. You don't. That's stuff you want

Dan: You don't you, that stuff you want to know before

Sidey: the car,

Dan: the car.

Sidey: then gone back

Dan: I've I've, I've, I've.

Sidey: next

Dan: I've parked the car and then gone back to it the next day and it's not been there.

Sidey: Then you

Dan: realize, no, I didn't park it there. Did I, you know, I've parked it in somewhere completely different

Sidey: Yeah, I

Reegs: Pete might have moved it

Dan: yeah, no, it is, no, that's a good idea.

I'll keep that one in the bank.

Reegs: In the bag.

Dan: I also had Sarah Jessica Parker because I loved L. A. 's

Sidey: I loved L. A. 's story.

Dan: that she was in with with Steve Martin. We did that for the pod a few mid weeks ago.

Reegs: Mm. I've got a

Dan: I've got a couple more Parkers, but I'll let you go, Riggs. You look eager to throw in another Parker.

Reegs: have got a couple more Parkers. Parker from Thunderbirds. Huh? The chauffeur.

Dan: can't not mention

Reegs: The director, Alan Parker, who did the movie Angel Heart. Did you

Dan: Angel Heart. Yeah, yeah. De Niro and Keanu Reeves,

Reegs: No, it's Mickey Rourke.

Dan: Is it not that one that he's boiling it? Oh no, I've got it mixed

Reegs: De Niro and Mickey Rourke. He's like a jazz, he's a a detective hired to look into New Orleans, like voodoo shit.

Dan: Yeah. Okay. So I, I've got him mixed up with but it, it is where De Niro's just like peeling a boiled egg. Yeah.

Reegs: yeah, yeah.

Dan: With long devil

Reegs: Louis Cypher is his really obvious name. Parker Finn did the movie Smile. Did you see that one recently?

Sidey: Two is just out, isn't it?

Reegs: Yeah spoiler alert, ends with a woman stabbing herself in the eye with a microphone in front of thousands of people. It's quite nice. And Trey Parker and Matt Stone did South Park.

That's a bit of parky

Dan: Park. Oh, lots of park.

Reegs: Yeah and then I'm more parking after this. I'm more parking orientated. Go on, take a

Sidey: I've got two parking scenes in one movie. Yeah. Heat.

Reegs: Okay.

Sidey: The bit where they do the rendezvous with Raven sends to resell the bonds back to him and he sends his guy to kill him takes place in a open air parking lot and they've got Val Kilmer as a sniper waiting for him and then they reverse into him and like really fuck him up.

And then later on the chase with De Niro and Pacino, at one stage goes through some parking lot action.

Reegs: Okay. Good bit. Parking garage. Good. Yeah. Nice. Chris

Cris: the is like the guy that parks your car. Does that count

Sidey: Yeah. Yeah.

Cris: as in he's parking?

Sidey: valet parts. Yeah.

Cris: yeah, Fred Durst in the movie in the in the video

Sidey: never been on the pod

Reegs: in

Cris: in the rolling.

Yes. He gets the keys and then he starts. I can't remember what he said. He is like, alright, partner or something like that. So,

A bit of an, a strange one, but not necessarily from a movie, but Skip that. Yeah. Yeah. I, I thought that's what

Sidey: to love? That's a

Cris: a good one out there for Fred Durst.

Dan: As I said, I've been watching Beck or Saul and there's he keeps going into the car park to park his car.

Cause he's working at the law firms there.

Reegs: He goes to the courthouse. That's where he meets. Mike does he

Dan: So he constantly sees Mike who, you know, Is the the park, yeah, the park parking attendant the troll under the garage, he calls him because he constantly needs to validate stickers and and he's never got enough. Bob Odenkirk he's never got enough stickers and at one point he he presses the button to release the the lever to let himself out even though that he doesn't have enough stickers because he just needs to get out there quick

Reegs: And

Dan: and of course the next time he rolls up It's not dispensing any tickets or anything and he goes, no, Mike goes, you'll have to go and park somewhere else, you know, and yeah, he's where he works and he's, so it's, it's a real kind

Reegs: starts building from there. Yeah. It, it

Dan: does they start to really get on each other's nerves.

But then there's another moment where he actually. Defends him, Mike where he could have sent him down and

Reegs: oh, you've got quite a journey to go on, Dan.

I've,

Sidey: I haven't seen any of it.

Reegs: oh, it's great. It's really good.

Dan: It's, it's an old one now, in the sense that everybody's seen it It's a bit like Breaking Bad. I mean, I watched a two hour film and I'm sure that's enough for most people.

Cris: I think it is.

Dan: I fast forwarded through the,

Cris: I wouldn't even watch

Sidey: that. There is no two hour film, there's a thing that you've made

Dan: up. No, it

Reegs: El Camino, but it's not Oh, yeah, no, this

Dan: thing There's a, there's a two hour film where they condense the entire series of

Sidey: the way that you should watch it, yeah, definitely the best. And fast forward through that,

Reegs: Yeah.

Dan: I fast forwarded through that. I know pretty much everything about Breaking Bad.

Reegs: Wonderful.

Casino Royale, the

Sidey: It

Reegs: It has Daniel Craig, he gets mistaken as a sort of member of staff or something by the guy that he's eventually going to

Sidey: to set up

Reegs: wife. And he tosses him the keys to his Jag, which he just fucking rip roars around the car park, parks it perfectly, and then smashes it forward into the car to set off the alarm as a distraction, that

Sidey: garage itself the alarm is a distraction and he keels over before he's able to defibrillate but eva green back once again she does it for him in his parked car

Reegs: doesn't the van crash when they're in a layer

Sidey: when they're in a layer of the dream in a parking lot

Reegs: falling off a bridge, aren't they?

Sidey: possibly drive The, the initial getaway chase, he parks at one point during the, the thing, he, they've been watched by police cops in a helicopter and he pulls in to a structure just to hide from that and then goes out and it culminates with him stopping the car where he's planned to in a multi story at the end of a game reverses his jacket over and walks out leaving the car back in the in a parking garage.

And then I'll just nominate after that.

Cris: Nice.

Dan: I'm gonna slide through a few. I got Ferris Bueller's day off, where he parks the Ferrari 250 GT California puts it in reverse to try and take the miles off the the milometer and that doesn't work, and nor do the blocks that the rest in the car on and it, it reverses out.

through the car park, through the glass window which is on the edge of a kind of valley of trees. So it just drops out of there. Much to the disappointment of his dad who, who wouldn't have liked that, his friend's dad. I had Highlander.

Sidey: There can

Dan: There can be only one. There's clan Cleod has a big sword fight

Cris: fight. Is that his name?

Sidey: McLeod.

Dan: Yeah. McLeod. McLeod. Yeah. Christopher Lamb Lamber. Yeah. So he is the clan McLeod

Cris: brothers with Paul Lambert?

Dan: Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, the ex footballer and villa manager and they have a big fight under the car park in Madison Square Garden, and you're right, there can be only one. Tomorrow never dies.

Sidey: Dies.

Dan: We get Bond with his remote control and he's parking

Sidey: And he's parking it.

Dan: that's it. He's got the BMW 750 and he's got this little handheld remote that is really cool. And then I've got Milo Parker, of course, from ITV's The Durrells, where I first saw him. That was fantastic. And Fesp.

Reegs: Parker.

Dan: Ever heard of Fess Parker?

Sidey: No.

Dan: Well, he's probably a little bit before your time, but he played in Davy Crockett, he played in Old Yeller, and he also played in 1954's Them,

Sidey: Right.

Dan: which was all

Reegs: was good. It

Dan: That was good. The cinema was packed out. We couldn't believe it. We were shaking our rattles.

Reegs: Right.

Sidey: Are we chucking in knobs? Yes.

Reegs: to hear Noam's?

Dan: well,

Cris: was gonna be Fred Durst, but I just thought that's a bit too out there for some of our listeners. And there is a car park scene in the movie cop out with Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis, in which Tracy Morgan's character, Paul Hodges, Paul kicks a kid and the question is, Paul, did you just punch a little kid?

There's things you don't know about me, Jim. I'll fuck a little kid up if you kick me in the dick. it's a 10 year old car thief, the biggest car thief in Philadelphia or wherever the movie's set. And the kid punches Tracy Morgan in the dick. And then Tracy Morgan just knocks the kid out.

Reegs: out.

Cris: And yeah, so that

Dan: kevin smith joined I think

Sidey: I think. Yeah, I was gonna do, nominate Die Hard. Because there's all that boring stuff in Nakatomi, but quite a lot of it is the guy in the limo just waiting. Yeah, just waiting.

Reegs: music kind of, isn't

Sidey: But I'm not gonna nominate that. I'm going to nominate La La Land at the start.

Reegs: Oh

Sidey: logjam.

They're effectively parked on the highway. It turns into a flash mob,

Dan: Traffic

Sidey: which is also when

Dan: James Corden

Sidey: James Corden did it in downtown LA to stop traffic. So him and his fucking idiot mates did this. Oh, how did they not get shot? I mean, it's fucking excruciating.

Reegs: there's never a gun in America when you need one,

Sidey: with a movie in it. But La La

Dan: I'm gonna go for, being it's Milo Parker week, I'm gonna go for Milo Parker and his role is Joey Dole in The Doles.

Reegs: Nice. And I'm going to go for The Sopranos, which has not one but two extraordinary parking related moments. The episode Long Term Parking is the one where Adriana confesses that she's been talking to the FBI and is killed by Silvio.

And the, in the finale, About the last, right, you come into the end of what is arguably the greatest TV series of all time. It's tense as fuck, although kinda nothing's happening. Tony's going for dinner. There's six or seven minutes left. There's sort of symbolism that maybe he's going to be getting killed, but what the fuck?

We're watching Meadow Park really badly for three and a half minutes. So that is part of the very end of the Sobranos as her Meadow Park, it like struggling to come to park the car. Maybe a metaphor for Like, how difficult it is

Sidey: To end, yeah.

Reegs: I don't know. But yeah, The Sopranos.

Dan: Well,

Sidey: Cool.

Dan: still after one more nom. So let's have yours.

Sidey: Milo Parker Week continues with Midas Man.

Dan: Yeah.

Sidey: Which

Dan: without

Sidey: knowing anything about it, I was expecting, like, I didn't know what to expect. Like, yeah, like, is it fantastical sort of thing? And then obviously straight in you're like, oh, it's the Brian Epstein Epstein. Yeah, story.

Dan: man with the golden touch certainly, and it's a little known story really, although a lot of people will be familiar with the Beatles and, and the manager.

It's not a story I'd seen. A lot

Sidey: lot of people would be familiar with the people

Dan: familiar

Sidey: Yeah. That's downplaying a bit.

Dan: dumb saying isn't it?

Sidey: think like

Reegs: would be familiar with them. But what do

Dan: probably right to say that. If you've

Sidey: dunno because I'm, well, I am quite young, but I, if you've seen the Beatles anthology. Then certainly I had seen that and so I was like fairly

Cris: say

Dan: most

Cris: side, but you guys are British and you are also very into music. I couldn't care less about the Beatles or the music. So then I'd never even heard of these people. I know, I know who Ringo Starr is and all that stuff. I know the four Beatles. I know they're from Liverpool. They went to Hamburg, all that stuff.

But I don't, I didn't really care. And I don't know who the manager was. The manager who knows about the manager of, I don't know, Madonna or, you know, all the queen who was like, this is not like, Oh my God, I love the Beatles. So therefore everybody should

Sidey: what I was going to say is there was a release of the Beatles anthology when Free as a Bird and all that stuff came out and that, that would have been widely watched.

Maybe not.

Dan: Your

Sidey: Gaff, but around the way, and that had a lot of stuff about Brian Epstein. And so that and so I was aware of things, and they're watching the film, they don't appear in the film, some of the stuff.

Dan: Right.

Sidey: But what it does give you more as fleshes out how He goes to the Cavern Club and that's really like the genesis of the story is when he goes to the Cavern Club in this, but we do get some family background beforehand.

Dan: Yeah, so this is very much a Brian Epstein story of how he discovered the Beatles, but also not just the Beatles. It had Cilla Black in there. Jerry and the Pacemakers. Eddie, Eddie Kramer in there.

Billy Cramer in the Dakotas or something like that, wasn't it? And and just of the, the time because it was, it's got that real kind of innocence around that time or certainly how we look at you know, how life and the music industry and, and media and everything now.

Sidey: Well he is got sort of more humble big background story. Yeah. Although he has been sent away for a very good education. Well he, he and he talks

Cris: sounds very posh, you know, come from

Dan: Yeah. Well, his, his father had obviously

Sidey: very well todo, isn't he?

Dan: And he was quite well to do what educated

Reegs: they were an immigrant family though. So they were entrepreneurial and had set stuff up. They were, they were well to do off the back of a lot of hard graft. But the dad, like he sees his, the son is kind of into He doesn't look 32, does he?

Or at this stage, he's going to be about 25 or something, isn't he? He doesn't look it. He's arranging stuff in the store and attracting new customers in and all that sort of stuff, but he's dreaming much, much bigger.

Dan: got an electrical store,

Reegs: Yeah, well, it's, it's sort of everything because it sells furniture and records

Dan: Can we say that? Yeah.

Reegs: It sells records as well.

And that's because he talks to his father in synagogue about expanding on that idea. Cross, he's like a human Spotify at this point. He can recommend bands from all different places, bands. They don't even stock and he wants to bring them in and bring and set that

Sidey: Anywhere in a week or something as you say something like

Dan: That's it. Any, any record in a week or two weeks or

Reegs: days. Any record?

Dan: a young Amazon

Reegs: Yeah. So that they fast forward two years, I think, at this point. And he set up North Northeast music stores that Northland Music Stores nms. Yeah. Which went on until the eighties or nineties. And his idea is to attract teenage girls 'cause they bring in teenage boys and you can attract teenage girls with pop music and he's got a great ear for listening to the, to the bands.

Dan: And word filters through about a band playing at the cabin.

Reegs: Well, not word. It comes from Milo, doesn't it? His assistant, Alistair Taylor tells him of this record that's been requested by Bonnie from this band that have been playing in, they're a local band, but they've been playing in Hamburg.

Yeah. The Beatles and I,

Dan: I had heard that just due to the requests that came in that it was Alistair Taylor, who.

then added this record on and it, unless they had a buyer that they weren't going to order a record, but he was convinced that if they just had the record, they would sell it.

Reegs: And also he's intrigued by the word of mouth as well, right?

Because then he hears of these lunchtime shows that the band are doing in Liverpool at the Cavern Club. So he goes down to see them and you get that going. It's already a big buzz outside and a lot of

Sidey: He looks like a fish out of water because he is Very dapper like he's got he must have a tailor.

He's very very smart And when he goes to the cloak room to give his jacket in it's silver black I think they just it's paul who points out. Oh, you should look after priscilla. You're like, oh,

Reegs: okay.

Sidey: And she comments on his clobber and he tips her and she's like, Hey lads, this is how you treat your lady and all that.

And he just doesn't really, he's just stood just watching and everyone else is sort of dancing when the band play, they're

Reegs: It's just one of my favorite bits of the movie as well because they're playing some other guy and the aspect ratio for the first 10 to 15 minutes of the movie is like 143 one or something. And then at this point it changes as the empties and it's just Epstein in the club in the cabin club. And I think looking at John Lennon, I thought they were going to lean into the idea of him being in love with him, which just never comes out really in the movie.

But just this moment he connects and as he connects. Like the, the aspect ratio changes to the widescreen and it's like the world has changed at this moment. He's understood. Finally, something's

Sidey: John, John Lennon cracks a few gags on stage and he's almost like doing a bit of stand up for people who are laughing, and he's really got a

Dan: Rapport

Sidey: with the crowd, they're, they're, they're musically so fucking

Reegs: the part. But John is very much shorter than he would have been in real life, isn't

Sidey: I thought, I thought Paul was, Paul was a decent lookalike Pete Best couldn't tell you. But George, I was like, really? It just,

Reegs: really? The heights were not quite right, but they, I think, It's hard not to just reduce them down to kind of tropes and

Dan: caricatures.

Reegs: they do a pretty good impression of

Dan: a pretty good impression of the Jake and Fortune Lloyd.

I don't want to make that a thing for it. He's

Sidey: a

Reegs: looking chap in here, yeah, yeah

Dan: Well, it is then the story of the Beatles where,

Sidey: What, he's just gonna, I, I wanna, I wanna manage them, I wanna

Reegs: goes to see them afterwards and they're sort of, they gently take the Mickey out of him. You know, he's stiff upper class English nurse

Sidey: Well at this point they're

Reegs: and there's scruffy leather jackets and all that stuff. And I think Alistair Taylor points you. Oh, you don't associate with them. They're all scruffy and all that, but he's hooked straight away.

So he gets in contact with there. Manager Alan Williams played by Eddie Izzard and he is a great line because he talks about

Sidey: that's dead naming

Reegs: No, he's credited as Eddie Izzard in this so They are credited. She oh fucking hell. I don't know actually. Yeah, I don't i'm not sure Yeah

Sidey: sure. Yeah. The Izzard.

Cris: The Izzard I

Sidey: know

Reegs: I actually don't know What Eddie is, but I believe he's credited as well.

Anyway.

Cris: yeah, it doesn't

Reegs: So they, they have a good, great conversation about there's two types of people in Liverpool, those who discovered the Beatles and those who turned them down. And Alan Williams was both. And so Williams is kind of happy to get rid of them. He calls them the bootles. They'll only get as far as bootle, he

Dan: Yeah, and how wrong he was. But it's lovely the way that Brian could very quickly, like from that first moment, just see the potential of these guys. And just, his mind was whirring many levels above everybody else. Cause he was convinced.

Cris: Well,

Sidey: above everybody else because he was convinced. He's not going to lose the house or anything.

Do you know what I mean? And they, and they are, they are fucking good. But all the time, you know, you do get flashes back to scenes with his father played by Eddie Marsan, who's great. And his dad's always like, not quite on board with whatever it is he wants to do. He's, there's always a bit of pushback from the

Dan: getting pushed back. Well, he's struggling. I think they, they know, and it's. Dives into it in a few different seams the the The fact he's a homosexual and he has to

Reegs: it's illegal.

Dan: yes illegal so it's all gonna be underground It's all dark alleys.

It's all kind

Reegs: He's nearly rumbled by the cops and all that and later his parents will get

Dan: he's beaten up, he's blackmailed and all those kind of horrible situations he has to put himself into because he can't be

Reegs: Yeah, they, they, they do it. He sort of straightens out their image, doesn't he? Gets new suits for them, gives them the haircut. So according, at least to this, the movie's idea that these were his things that he gave that became iconic and made them sort of have a more.

studied, practiced,

Sidey: for

Reegs: bow type thing. And they're playing Mr. Postman and everything's going well. There's a lot of record company interest and they get Decker take them down for an audition which actually goes a bit disastrously wrong. They start hinting at the idea that Pete Best is not a good drummer or not good enough for the

Sidey: for the band. He suggests that next time they should warm up.

I think they turn up late in a van, you know, you know, fucking rock and roll band, you know, what the fuck do you think they're going to do? But the audition doesn't go great. And so they don't believe that he's going to be the right man to take them forward. And to be Neil's

Dan: dad

Reegs: he's going to be the right man to take them forward.

Sidey: they

Dan: finally find George Martin and Parlophone,

Sidey: get a smash cut, don't we, of him getting rejected by everyone? Yeah. Just like,

Dan: a little montage of, no, no, no, no, no.

Reegs: From everyone though. Like, it was EMI, it was Columbia, it was all of the big

Sidey: and this is quite interesting because I didn't know there's Parlophone were really just comedy. They

Dan: Yeah, there was spoken word and they were there weren't any anywhere near Deco or EMI and they didn't have those kind of artists to fall back on.

But you have George Martin, who's Actually known as like the fifth beat or in for some of those so as

Sidey: Yeah, they changed that in it.

Dan: times They're all sharing the fifth beetle, title, but he had a real musical ear and and he kind of goes Well, look pete ain't good enough. You want to sort out the drummer

Reegs: Yeah. There's a bit of angling isn't there?

Where Epstein basically convinces him to give him a contract. He says write something out. It would've been absolutely meaningless just for this audition.

Sidey: Hey, they won't come down to another audition unless there are well, not an audition even, but they just want to be on contract to get somebody to do a recording. And so He doesn't get that really. And he just lies to them and says, yeah, you need to come down and, and just show him what you're about.

Reegs: And because they're more relaxed, they play Besame Mucho, I think is the, is by a Mexican song and it's

Sidey: he's kind of a little bit on the fence versus me before he hears them. But he says, listen, I know you're a trained musician. I know you can hear something. And so that's how he, and then when he does play, he comes down to them, George Martin. And he says, listen John you're straining your vocals a bit.

Paul just drive the blah blah Georgia that Pete just yeah As

Cris: did like that bit because they, as much as they could, obviously in the movie, I don't know the real, in real life, but as much as they were all the Beatles and musicians or whatever, the guy comes and tells them and they are

Reegs: okay.

Cris: None of them is really too cool

Sidey: Yeah,

Reegs: Well, they understand the feedback is really

Sidey: Well, they say, well, you look like a fucking square, you know, you just take your tie off.

So he takes his tie off and he kind of wins. They're sort of, you know, they kind of get

Dan: He's one of

Reegs: It's going to be more down to earth, I guess. Yeah. So yeah.

Sidey: that's it, and then we'll get a few more scenes where they just sort of chuck it at you, oh we're number one, we've got a first

Reegs: first of all, they get rid of Pete Best

Sidey: have to fuck him off,

Reegs: and it's left to Brian to break the news. And he thinks he's joking at first. He says, I'm the beat in

Sidey: it's quite a moment, especially when you

Reegs: and it's quite a moment, especially when you know that he was ill just before it. Ringo had already replaced it on a tour, hadn't they?

In the

Dan: and he never got his place

Reegs: And he basically never got his place back. They all prefer playing with Ringo. And so it's left to Brian to break that

Dan: He was just a better drummer. Wow. I

Reegs: And then that's when Milo has his big moment as Alistair with the conversation. It's a sort of big theme about Liverpool where they talk about Liverpool never forgets and he wonders whether the people of Liverpool will forgive him for what he's done, taking Pete Best out the band.

He does try to offer him other bands. He said, we'll find you another place to be. But obviously he's about to be booted out as the Beatles go fucking bananas, don't they?

Dan: Well, this is it. Very soon after that we're, we are talking to Ed Sullivan

Sidey: so I forgot about the Ed Sullivan

Dan: Yeah.

Sidey: And when you got Jay Leno, I'm like, Jay Leno's way too young to be, like, around, because it's just fucking Jay Leno.

Like, he's unmistakably Jay Leno. They don't, I think they maybe try a bit of prosthetics, but he's enormous. Like, Jay Leno's head is just fucking

Dan: Jay

Reegs: Do you see him in the news? Do you see like he's like I fell down that hill and it looks like you've got like two broken legs and like An arm in a sling and black eye like you've been beating up mate

Sidey: so.

They do that. So the theory of, I don't know, obviously, Chris, you're gonna you've said that not everyone knows as much stuff about it, but there's certain things that are really, really famous. And the Ed Sullivan show is one of them. As soon as he calls him Ed Sullivan, you're like, okay, yeah, I remember this bit now.

And there's other things one of the limitations I would say about the film, because I did enjoy the film, but I don't know if it's, you know, budgetary constraints, but they weren't able to show like any of the actual footage of the performance.

Reegs: The music.

Cris: I was, I was

Sidey: of the

Cris: about that.

Sidey: and, and I thought they might do cause they talk about the touring and there was a particular one at Shea Stadium, I think where they just couldn't hear themselves.

They couldn't hear a fucking thing. And that's when they sort of around then there was, they, and they do that in the film. So we We can't hear we're just fed up with touring

Reegs: They have to smuggle 'em in and out of cities in fish

Sidey: show you any of that. They're not able to get that and show you any of the actual

Reegs: They don't have the scale, do they?

Sidey: and they don't play any music.

Reegs: we can talk, talk

Dan: It was interesting. Covid

Reegs: interrupted this movie.

So

Dan: Interesting, it was largely Alistair Taylor's job to find routes in and out of stadiums to escape crowds.

And that, imagine that's your job, is like one of the, like the beat where you've got to go, look. And you've got to get all, you know, Mr. Fix it. If we want it, he's got to find it and

Sidey: well, my mom went to see him. My mom went to see him, and she snuck in. In, would have been in Belfast, I assume through like the windows of the toilets to go in and sneak in and say, Fucking screaming women, like, my mum would have been one of them.

Reegs: just

Dan: Did they come to Jersey at one point as well?

Sidey: did, yeah.

Reegs: they did.

Yeah, they did. Yeah. Yeah.

Dan: Nuts.

Reegs: So yeah, so he does secure that deal with Ed Sullivan. He doesn't know how to eat a hamburger at

Sidey: because, because it's, the timing of it is the quirk, isn't it? 'cause when he is talking to Ed Sullivan, they haven't had the hit. Yeah. And he says, ed Sullivan's like, listen, this is the biggest fucking show in the country and you are trying to put some guys on my show.

You are trying to bargain with me. Yeah. For some nobodies who aren't even gonna make it. And he says, okay, well, we'll do

Reegs: three for 10,

Sidey: of one. Yeah. And then after that they have the number one, number one. And so the timing like couldn't work out better. So when they go on the Sullivan, what's the viewing figures?

It's something like 78

Reegs: million people watching.

Sidey: watched them live.

Cris: Yeah

Dan: was a record, a big deal record at the time. I don't think anybody had watched. You know, it was a case of, you know, That and the moon landing, it was, it was up there, wasn't it?

These were the, the big events of the 60s.

Reegs: Brian has also met a romantic partner, John Tex Ellington, a struggling actor who sort of really seduces Brian, really.

And we've

Dan: and uses him,

Reegs: Yes, later we'll, we'll see. They do spend a bit of time together. And

Sidey: He's popping pills as well, we

Reegs: yeah, so we start seeing popping pills all manner of pills as well. It starts off with slimming pills and it becomes

Sidey: mealtime, he'll, he'll like forego a meal and just pop a pill.

Dan: that's what he said. At one point he said, you've got to eat something Brian. And all he does is have a pill, doesn't he?

Reegs: And he's had, you know, he's had a couple of disastrous sexual encounters, one where he's beaten up like almost in the act by a guy who knows him, which is even more terrifying. And then his parents are kind of extorted

Sidey: extorted.

Yeah.

Dan: some blackmail going

Reegs: won't, he won't go to the police because he knows that he would be found to be guilty and in trouble of a crime, you know, a big crime.

perpetrating a crime. And also like his father, he's got this relationship with his father where his father doesn't really understand him, thinks of his son's homosexuality as a sickness or an illness and

Sidey: an illness.

He

Reegs: it, you know, yeah, it's sad, internalizes it as, Oh, we've done something wrong. You know what he says later, what did we do wrong?

And they never connect.

Dan: man. His his father,

Reegs: he? Yeah. Yeah. Well, later his mother will tell him that he was so proud of him. He just never told him while he was alive, which is, you

Dan: Yeah, yeah, well that is right towards the, the kind of end of the film because we know where this ends.

It's Brian Epstein died early. He died of a drug overdose around, sort of, 32 years old. So that's the way that this film was always going to end.

Reegs: And it happens really after this, you know, the band have been successful. Tex does take him for a ride when he comes to stay. Brian has a huge amount of cash and a load of drugs in a, in a

Sidey: It's all gone, yeah.

Reegs: takes and it prompts a breakdown, really.

He's in their equivalent of the priory for a bit, and then back with his, his mom and dad.

Dan: yeah, and, and when he goes back there's a really nice scene actually where he, he goes back to talking about the yellow submarine and he's showing those parts for the Beatles boys, they're kind of welcome back, Brian obviously know that he's, he's Been through the mill and there's a lot of love from them and a lot of care.

'cause he has

Sidey: there since day one

Dan: he is promised. Yeah, I've been there from day one and I will work for you guys. I will. It's you. Nevermind everyone else. I'll work for you guys. Work my socks off you. You're my number. And he's been true to that. And they all see that kind of in him.

Reegs: in here. That's it. We've got some artist impressions still there on the table.

They're clearly like, this

Sidey: He does, yeah. He's got some artist's impressions on the, on the

Dan: table. Yeah,

Sidey: They're, they're clearly like, this is, we're not touring anymore. This is like experimental stuff. They've obviously done Sgt Pepper by this time.

Reegs: I was trying to work that

Sidey: The clubber looked like that sort of era. So they're, they're really like peak Beatles.

Reegs: And they're being lined up for which, for what I think is really quite an amazing moment when you think about it.

The first ever live satellite TV broadcast,

Dan: got to write a song for it. And what do they do?

All you

Sidey: we need something universal, something

Dan: I mean that it's just such a simple sing along, um that we're singing still sort of 30 40 50 years later

Reegs: And I think it zooms out, doesn't it? As that performance starts with Brian sort of framed in the window is sort of center of the success, maybe not part of it, but watching it and instrumental in it.

And then after that, his father dies and they have the conversation, don't they? And yeah, I know we finished with that

Dan: and, and, and, and this is it. I mean, as we'll chat a little bit later on with, with Milo who played Alistair Taylor in this film, Brian Epstein's assistant the this, the period setting and the, the costumes and the authenticity of the whole film oozed that, you know, it oozed 70 60s Liverpool and the, the costumes, the the performances, the music.

Reegs: was great. It is a shame they didn't have a licensed soundtrack, but I could live with it because at the beginning, especially it didn't matter because a lot of those tunes were covers that the Beatles, you know, and there are, there's stuff like money and other tunes that you've heard a few times and associate with the

Sidey: Beatles. A massive, massive part of it. And that's, that's why he's the Midas man. It's not the Beatles film, ultimately, it's his film. It's his story that we're here for. So, we shouldn't let that hold it back.

Dan: No, not at all. And it is an amazing story. A man who is a, is a, in his twenties, has decided I'm going to manage a band. Who were, you know, clearly very different sides of the track to him. He's gone in there he's convinced them to take 'em on. He is worked harder. Him, he's, he's got those breaks.

Reegs: and

Dan: become, you know, the biggest band ever. Well,

Reegs: Well, certainly in this movie's opinion, he's absolutely instrumental in their push and I think it ends on a quote from Paul

Sidey: Paul says he was the fifth Beatle.

Reegs: the fifth, the

Sidey: I always thought they said that George Martin was the fifth Beatle, but anyway, both very, very important.

Reegs: I was surprised at this movie's sort of failure to address Brian and John's like, well, Brian was certainly by many accounts in love with John Lennon and the

Sidey: I wondered,

Reegs: not seem to address that in any

Sidey: it at all, I wondered if there may have been pushback from London's estate if they wanted to do that, I don't know, I don't know, but it's certainly not mentioned.

Dan: London's estate if they wanted to

Sidey: in

Reegs: this film.

Dan: that, I don't know. Curriculum. Activity with him. He has that extra dialogue and everything with him Maybe they're they're just nodding to it there But for me, you know that that is a you know, another side of the the story I was really interested in this on this man.

Okay, not humble beginnings because he did start out probably well to do as you say, but still from what he's done like a An electrical store in liverpool to becoming the

Reegs: underestimate how hard it was to be an immigrant Jew in Liverpool in 1950s, like England especially.

Well, also, yeah, it was a bit, some of the other stuff about like, him and his early life, Brian's early life at the time that he spent in the military as well was, was missing from this story as well. I was surprised to see that. , not Covid.

Sidey: But they,

Dan: they packed in quite a bit it was around about what an hour and 40 something like

Reegs: it was nearly two hours. I think this one.

Sidey: I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it.

Reegs: I think Jacob Fortune Lloyd was really terrific.

Cris: he was good. He

Dan: were some really good performances in this.

Reegs: And the girl who played Cilla Black as well. There wasn't a lot there. She mostly kind of mothered him a lot and was worried about

Sidey: It was a kind of almost cliched gay best friend

Cris: Yeah, but that was, that's also part, it happens, and she was good. And she was just like a, It would have been a

Sidey: would have been a great scene to be around by then as well.

Reegs: the music was sensational.

Dan: I went to the the cabin earlier this year actually for the first time and it was, yeah. I went to the the cavern earlier this year actually for the first time and it was,

Sidey: you know what when they showed it on the screen? I was thinking, man, that wouldn't get past any regs.

Reegs: these

Dan: regs,

Reegs: it wouldn't. Your right side.

Dan: side, yeah. Yeah,

Reegs: And Milo, Milo was very good in it. It's not just he was

Cris: he had a few cool things like, Oh, do you never knock? Not when the door is open, you know, there was a few bits where I thought that was, you know, he had a few and he, I do have to say though, he did look almost like a, not in terms of how he looks, although he does look young, but he looked like a, almost like that guy's son.

Like Brian

Sidey: I thought they was a little bit

Cris: It looked like that guy's

Sidey: mini me.

They look very, very

Dan: He's very tall, the

Sidey: they're both very well turned out as well. They're both like dapper. Yes. Yeah.

Reegs: suits, good suit content.

Dan: content. All part of that kind of costume stuff, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, really enjoyed this. If you like The Beatles, you'll love this.

Cris: if you don't like the Beatles, I don't know

Sidey: Oh, here we go. Another anti Beatles

Cris: No, no, no, no, no, man. Jesus Christ. No, I don't even, I don't know because I, I don't, I've never, I look, I grew up in

Sidey: Well, you're going to have some after

Cris: you know, distant fart from communism. But for someone that I've never listened to their music, I never really got interested. I thought this was brilliant just because it's a, it's good music and it's a nice story. Obviously sad with the fact that it's illegal to be gay in the sixties, but those were the times and they have to show it like it is.

They didn't show the real life or what do you guys

Sidey: 32 years. I say that

Dan: Yeah,

Reegs: Yeah.

Cris: Yeah, I really enjoyed this movie, and you know how I am with length of movies and all that. I thought this was

Sidey: perfect.

Dan: Well, I think you should love this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's not a hard day's night. It's it is a good movie

Sidey: Back in the USSR.

Dan: Why not strong recommend

Reegs: I am the walrus. right. This is, I've been so excited about this 'cause he told me something amazing

Sidey: I've got noms for next week and it does involve a handout.

Dan: What

Sidey: out

Dan: Oh good.

Sidey: a three letter word. First of all, the top five, have you ever done Christmas songs before?

Dan: No,

Sidey: So we're going to do top five Christmas songs. If it's in a movie, even better. If not, does it matter? Because we're then going to put that into our Spotify playlist.

account, we've got Spotify, Bad Dads Players, and share the Christmas playlist for

Reegs: Alright, okay. So alternative Christmas

Sidey: Yeah, we've got a choice.

Reegs: For midweek,

Sidey: We've got Nutcrackers, which is on Disney

Reegs: Plus.

All right. Ben

Sidey: Stiller movie,

Reegs: Yeah, I'm in for that.

Sidey: it's probably Jewish. And we've got The Night Before Christmas, K N I G H T, Night Before Christmas. How has no one ever done that before?

That's on Netflix. Which one do you want to do?

Reegs: nut crackers.

Dan: I'm thinking Nutcrackers.

Sidey: Okay, Nutcrackers it is. And the main is called The Christmas Club. It's a Hallmark Christmas movie, and we are going to do Hallmark Christmas movie bingo.

Reegs: Oh!

Dan: What, this is coming up next week?

Reegs: look, this is the handout. Oh, we've got the handout sheets for Christmas

Dan: handout. Oh, jeez. OMG, somebody has been hard at work.

Reegs: Oh, blindy.

Dan: can you can you can hear the handout

Sidey: not saying that they're formulaic, but certain things always happen in those types of movies. So what you have to do is tick off your On your bingo sheet what happens in the movie and note down what time if you create if you complete a row

Dan: eggnog

Sidey: And then we'll discuss all the things that happen in the christmas club

Dan: Okay sentimental

Sidey: That is available on amazon

Dan: Strolling

Reegs: this is related to the Christmas Club?

Sidey: This is the this is for the main feature.

This is this is Hallmark Christmas movie bingo. And the kids thing is it's it's a version of Sesame Street called Shalom Sesame. And the episode we're watching is called the missing menorah. And I will send you a link for

Reegs: Nice. We've never done Sesame Street, have

Sidey: Well, this is not actually technically Sesame Street, it's Shalom Sesame.

It's a whole Other subset. But all that remains is to say society signing

Dan: Wait a minute. Hallmark movie bingo. One of them

Reegs: old flame reappears.

Dan: Someone else has a crush on the love interest.

Sidey: Essentially what always happens is what frequently happens is city boyfriend

Dan: A

Sidey: goes back to hometown, realizes career isn't as important as she first thought, falls in love with the guy, blah, blah, blah.

The

Reegs: blah, blah.

Sidey: All that remains is to say Sady is actually this time signing out the.

Dan: Reeds has left

Reegs: we're doing. Dan's gone.

 

Interview Milo Parker

Dan: Oh, good mate. Thank you so much for coming in and joining us today.

Milo: my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Dan: this

Reegs: the record button by the way, just so you know, so anything you say now could go permanently into the airwaves. So we're not live. We're

Dan: not live or anything. This is rigs.

Reegs: Hello.

Milo: Hello, mate. Nice to meet you. I'm Milo.

Dan: And and we've got one other here sidey and these two guys kind of, lead the pod and run it.

And this is my man cave. We get a little peep into here. So, I've got the dart board, the bookshelf and the, the bar, the carom table. It's, it's my little getaway

Milo: Oh yeah,

Dan: getaway.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome actor Milo Parker to Bad Dads Pod.

Thank you very much for coming Milo. It's an absolute honour to have

Milo: My pleasure.

For having me on guys. Appreciate it.

Dan: Not at all. For those of you who are unsure maybe who Milo is, let me remind you he played Jerry in the Durrells, the wonderful ITV series, but before that he played Roger in Mr. Holmes. He played Hugh in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

He was born in Ipswich. He supports Arsenal.

Reegs: you oh,

Dan: I've, I've left. I've left, I've

Milo: my sins.

Dan: for Reece who's also a a Gooner.

Reegs: Yeah,

no, I'm also a Gooner. I thought you were going to be an Ed Sheeran botherer, because you're from Ipswich, right?

So, no.

Milo: Yeah, I do go to a couple of the games, but I'm, at least I've got one ally in the room. So,

Dan: exactly. Well, us West Ham fans are still feeling the the burn from the other day. But

Milo: We won't talk about it.

Dan: thank you very much.

One of the things I was looking at online is Milo, you're a child actor which is just incredible, isn't it? When you think about probably you're, you're looking back. I looked at, you went to young blood theater.

What was that like? And how old were you?

Milo: Yeah, it was, it was brilliant. I was, I must have been about sort of nine or ten when I started. It was a really cliche story, I'm a school play and I really enjoyed it. And I decided to start going to an acting group in Ipswich near where I grew up, which was Youngblood Theatre Company.

And the person who ran it, Beth, who was just Fantastic. Her husband was the co founder of a talent agency and he came to watch one of our sessions and offered to take me on and I bit his hand off and he's still my agent. It was a case of right place, right time.

Dan: He's still your agent today.

Milo: Still my agent today. Yeah, absolutely.

Dan: Brilliant. Brilliant. Oh, that's, that's a great a great story. And he's really sorted you out with a few different roles then.

Milo: Yeah, he's fantastic. He's he's just brilliant. He can't do enough for me. He's also a lovely guy, which helps. So we're good. We're good mates as well. But he's just, I wouldn't work with anyone else. He's just fantastic. And I owe him so much.

Reegs: We talk we talk quite a lot on the pod about child actors, and often, right, we're not a fan, if we're completely honest, the the list of child actors, we and I first came across you in Robot Overlords, right? That was, I think, your film debut was, right? I was checking Wikipedia today. I didn't realize it was you until researching for this episode, and I think you had the distinguishing your father, I think, is killed, right, at the beginning of that movie, right?

And you're not. And I think it was one of the rare occasions where I was watching thinking, I'm glad the kid survives because you go on to have quite a big role in that movie. There's a few you discover that you can get rid of the like, implants that are on the people, right. And you turn up with a big heroic moment with fireworks.

What was it like to work in a big sort of special effects movie? It's like your first experience of

Milo: It was, as you say, I mean, it was my, my first job. And that scene that you mentioned where my, my father gets obliterated by this robot was actually the first scene that I did during filming. So it's my first scene ever. And I remember turning up, they'd shut this road, we filmed in Belfast and they'd shut this road in Belfast and they had this huge rain machine suspended over the road.

And I went, yeah, Milo, so it's all going to be okay. You sit over there and this rain starts. Okay. Cause obviously, as I'm sure, you know, you need to have really heavy rain for it to show up on camera. So it's absolutely chucking it down out of the machine and I'm standing there. It's freezing cold and I'm standing there and I think they were real tears because I was just like, what have I got myself into?

But. Yeah, it was a real experience. It was a diff, it was being thrown in right in the deep end really because it's, you know, as I'm sure you can guess, the robots unfortunately weren't real. So it was lots of sort of acting, looking at the end, they would hold up like a broom handle with an X on it.

It would be your eye line, you have to pretend that it was this giant robot. So it took a lot of imagination, but it was a fantastic job to get started on. It was lovely. I really enjoyed it. I've got lots, lots of lovely memories from doing that.

Reegs: And of course you, you worked with Sir Ben Kingsley on that movie, didn't you? And Gillian Anderson as well, a bit of a crush too. So did you get to, did you do any scenes with, with those actors? And

Milo: yeah, more, more with Jillian than, than with Sabine obviously she played Sean's mother, my neighbor's mother, and they'd be in when my, my father was killed at the start of the film, so I had quite a lot of scenes with her, and she was just, she was lovely, she was brilliant and Sabine as well was just brilliant.

fantastic. He had this wonderful sort of see a few scenes where he gets really angry and his eye just starts going, but it doesn't look cliche. It just looks totally natural. And I just thought it was, it was fantastic and also slightly terrifying. But yeah, probably as a young kid I didn't know who these people were.

I don't know now, obviously, but I didn't know who these people were. So they were just sort of normal people to me.

Reegs: Have you not been starstruck

Milo: So it was just

Reegs: Have you not been starstruck by any of them though? I mean, like, we were looking earlier, we've got Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Ben Kingsley, as we mentioned, you've got Judi Dench Eva Green Samuel L. Jackson, like, these are not, kind of, lightweight names.

Milo: No, not at all. Obviously, as I sort of grew up and progressed, I started watching films. My parents allowed me to watch films that were older than sort of 12As, and you do start to know, you do start to know who these people are. I remember when I met Samuel L. Jackson, and obviously Ian McKellen.

I was a bit like, wow, but the person I was most starstruck by, funnily enough, was Laura Linney, who played my mother in Mr. Holmes because she was the voice of the computer in Arthur Christmas, which was my favorite Christmas film growing up and it was, I was just completely in awe, I couldn't believe it it was like I was in a dream, but but yeah, no, but these people are all just, you meet these people and they're just, they're just ordinary, you know, People, they're all lovely and you know, they're big names and they're very talented, but they're all just lovely.

So you'll put at ease really quickly. I found anyway, in my experience.

Reegs: But to have the opportunity to learn from some of those guys have you taken anything from, like, in the way that they prepare for their roles and sort of, you know, made that your own, or?

Milo: completely. Yeah. The one in particular that I always mention is Ian McKellen on Mr. Holmes. I've never seen an actor become his character so completely as Ian did. Because obviously he was made to look a lot older than he was. So he had all these prosthetics. six on his hair slicked back and you know about a couple minutes before action was called we're doing a take he would just assume into this hunched position and he just his or even his facial muscles were just sort of drooped slightly it was and i was just looking on like that's incredible um and and so i learned i learned so much from him and also from working with everyone i mean that's the thing about an actor is that you never being an actor you never you're never done You're never perfect.

You're always picking up on things. I think Ian said that as well, that even now he's still looking and picking up and learning. And I just find that really exciting.

Dan: Yeah, it never stops. I was as you were talking about the robot overlords. I was just thinking how that you know, you're you're filming it with broomsticks and look over there. But then when you actually see the results of it on TV, particularly as a young star, how amazing is that to to see that? Seed and put it all together in the final cut.

Do you get to see that before or do you just see it in the premiere? When everybody else sees it?

Milo: So I, it was amazing. I saw, I had to do a couple of sort of additional dialogue recording for that film. And I saw sort of very early versions of the robots, like before they'd been rendered and everything. And I sort of thought that looks a bit rubbish. And I had to be told that that wasn't the finished version.

But the first time I saw So that was at the premiere when everyone else saw it and it was just incredible because that film's had a couple of, couple of harsh reviews. I mean, I think it's a, it's a good film but I think the one thing that you can't take away from it is the, the CGI. I think it is, it is brilliant and it's so lifelike and they've clearly invested a lot of time and I just think the spectacle, it was fantastic to, to see, to see that on the big screen.

Reegs: and you think it was your experience working on a sort of special effects heavy movie? Did that help? Like, was that part of what drew you into to Miss Peregrine as well? Because that is also, I mean, you've, you've, you've, you are kind of a part CGI character in that, right? You're the boy with bees inside him.

And so,

Dan: I

Milo: Yeah, I think that it's it's certainly a skill that I had to learn as I was going along before I did robots. And so, obviously, the only experience I'd had in acting was responding to people doing a scene and feeding off their feedback and their actions. So you can't do that when you're talking to a broom handle.

So it was. It was, it was definitely a challenge, but there were ways around it, so we'd have like, I did a film called Ghost Hunters after I did Robot Overlords, and that was very CGI heavy as well where I played opposite a ghost, which obviously wasn't real and they hired an actor at last to sort of do read the lines for me as I was looking at the eyeline.

So that helped sort of playing off his voice and his tone to sort of make it a bit more real. But you know, you have to just go along with these things, but everyone's in the same boat. So you just, you just, I just picked it up, I suppose, but it was definitely a challenge at the start.

Reegs: And the movie we're reviewing this week is Midas Man. It's on Amazon Prime. It's just come out not long ago, actually. And it's the biopic of Brian Epstein. And you play his right hand man, Alistair Taylor, a real guy, real. And how did you, is it different preparing for a role based on a real person? Do you prepare differently?

Do you research it differently? Or do you approach it in the same way that it's a character and you're trying to bring it to life?

Milo: Yeah, it is. It is certainly different. I was very paranoid about going down the route of doing an impression of him. I didn't want to do an impression. I just wanted to sort of capture an essence of him. And that's always danger when you're playing a character. That's existed in real life. I, in the Durrells I played, obviously, Jerry Durrell, who had existed in real life, but I, that was different because I was playing him when he was much younger, so it was a lot easier not to slip into doing an impression.

So, in terms of research, I tried to treat it like, It was just an ordinary role like I'd done before. I watched a documentary called The Brian Epstein Story that Alistair features in a little bit. Just to sort of see, sort of, a couple of mannerisms that I could get in, sort of, what his sort of essence was.

Reegs: There's

Milo: And then I

Reegs: a little thing you did with your glasses. I wondered if you'd got that from him.

Milo: I picked that up from that. Yeah, he always used to sort of, whenever he was sort of thinking, or I picked up when he was, he was a little bit uneasy, he would sort of adjust his glasses. And that was quite good too. To sneak in. But you know, as I said, I didn't want to do an impression.

So it was about creating that balance. And hopefully I've, I've, I've managed it. I, I don't know.

Dan: Yeah, I think you did. I really enjoyed it. I'm a big Beatles fan. And and this is kind of a story that isn't told in and around the Beatles as well. I mean, we've seen lots of documentaries, we've seen lots of stories on, on the, the Beatles themselves, of course, but Brian Epstein and Alistair Taylor have obviously,

the

big news story of the Beatles.

So it was a really interesting twist. And I think anybody that that enjoys the Beatles music and and like me is just fascinated by the times that they lived in as well, because I think that's what Midas man does so well, the costume and the period setting and everything. Liverpool back then it was just fantastic.

And it was great to see. It was like you're being transformed back there. I think that was a huge success with, with everybody. Did it feel like that on the, on the set that you had stepped back in time a little bit, or, or is it very kind of, yeah, very different or.

Milo: it was, it was, I think the attention to detail with the costumes and that the set dressing is what makes the film in my opinion. I think it's the attention to detail was incredible. And that's really useful for me as an actor as well because it immerses you more in the scene that you're obviously doing.

And I found that really. Really useful. with the story of be the Beatles that we know. He was a complete visionary who saw what no one else saw and fought for them. And it's just such a tragic, tragic end. So what could have been at such a, a, a lovely story.

Dan: I mean,

Milo: So it was a privilege to, to be a part of it and to bring his story. Yeah. Yeah. It's so sad. Yeah.

Dan: Yeah, he was a really young man, but we'll go down in history as finding you know, the greatest band that ever played in many people's opinions anyway. So, how has that

Milo: As well as sort of, you know, Cilla Black and Jerry and the

Reegs: Yeah.

Dan: Yeah. Didn't just stop there. Yeah.

Milo: incredible.

Dan: And,

Milo: yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Dan: are you, have you been doing a lot of promotion in and around this movie?

And and what's next as well, Milo? I'd be really keen to hear what you've got coming up.

Milo: Yeah. So it's been, it's been fantastic. We shot the film up in Liverpool and we had the premiere up in Liverpool as well, which was really fitting. Brian's hometown, where sort of everything started. So that was just lovely to go back to. I've completely fallen in love with Liverpool as a city as well, having spent so much time there over the last sort of year and a half.

It's just a magical place. I love it. So it's been lovely to do that. Sort of speaking about the film speaking about Brian as well, as it's been really sort of, I feel very privileged to do so. In terms of what's next, I'm currently at university studying politics. I'm essentially just arguing with people every day for the time being.

That's all I'm doing but we'll have to see. I'm trying to take a bit of a quiet spell now. It's my final year, so I'm focusing on that. But afterwards. We'll wait, we'll wait and see what happens. It's the first time in my life actually that I don't know what's, what's happening next. I don't know what, what sort of path I'll be going down and I, I thought I'd find that quite scary but I actually find it really exciting.

So yeah, so we'll see what happens.

Dan: I'm pleased to hear that because I really hope we get to see more and more of you on our screens. I remember when I first met you and you'd come over to Jersey because You're also an ambassador for Daryl Wildlife Conservation Trust, and I'd heard you speak as quite a very young man.

You'll remember how old you, you were when you first came at the cinema at Jersey Odeon, and he turned from the cinema, which is, it slopes right down, and I was right at the top, and you were at the bottom, looking up at all these people, and you want to hear just how this young man spoke. It was just, I couldn't believe it.

It was just, Absolutely fantastic. Just all off the cuff. He was answering answering questions from the audience and everything. And I was like, Wow, this guy is unbelievable. I couldn't believe your age. It was just so eloquent. And you had all the answers for, you know, just made everybody give him a huge round of applause.

We love the dolls there. And And now I have met I've been fortunate enough to meet Milo a couple of times because of his his extra charity work that he does. So, you, you, although you say you're, you're quietening down, I know that there's been a few other kind of bits and pieces that you, you stay involved in.

And is there. Is there anything that you think looking ahead then and it's great that you're not looking at the post every day to see if there's something coming in, you're quite relaxed about all that, but is there anything that you would really like to do in the future and targets you're setting

Milo: I would love to do a comedy, like an out and out comedy. And I'd love to try my hand at that. That would be the dream for me next.

Reegs: Who would be the dream to

Milo: I'd be, I'd, I think I'm a big fan of Jason Bateman because I think he's such a diverse actor. He can do serious. He can do funny. I'd love to work with him. He's my, he's one of my favorite actors.

and

Reegs: again, right? Because they must be mates

Milo: I know I need to have a word. Yeah. Get to put a word in. Absolutely. But as you say, we'll see what happens. Of that event that you were speaking about at the cinema, I know they almost didn't let me in.

Dan: Really? Why was that?

They

Milo: They said, I got, I got to the, I got to the gate and they were like, your name's not on the list. they had on the clip, they had,

Reegs: You're like, yes, it is. It's at the top.

Milo: Yeah. It was a clipboard with the list and then a poster of the Durrells with my face on it next to the list. And I,

I thought

Dan: pretty tight security up there. You know, we don't like to take any risks. They won't let anyone in.

Milo: Gotta be

Reegs: like, isn't it?

Milo: No, absolutely.

Reegs: So you've worked with all these amazing people. You know, before we let you go, we've got to ask if you've got any like backstage dirt, does, does Judy Dench like secretly chew tobacco?

Does like Samuel L. Jackson hate cats or do you know what I mean? Like, have you got anything? Ella Purnell, does she, you know, leave a really stinky toilet afterwards or something?

Milo: think

Reegs: You want to sign it in the court?

Dan: No,

that's fair enough.

Milo: I've been, I've been, it's so dull. Everyone I've worked with has been quite boring. There's nothing, the only gossip I can give you is that on Midas Man, there is a scene Jacob plays Brian. Jacob Fortune Lloyd. I don't know if you remember, he gets very angry. He was

Reegs: He's brilliant,

Milo: absolutely marvellous.

But, yeah, he he, there's a scene where he, gets angry at me because I've asked him about why Tex is on a retainer.

Reegs: Liverpool never forgets, he says to you, doesn't he? Something

Milo: absolutely, yes, he does. And in that scene at the end, after he shouts at me, he was, he throws an ashtray in my direction out of anger, and I make it into the final film, because we thought it was a bit much.

But I don't know if it was the nerves or anything, but Jacob. His hand slipped as he threw this sort of prop ashtray, stunt ashtray. And instead of hitting the wall next to my head, it hit me in my head. And obviously I was absolutely fine. It was just a complete accident. It was one of those things, but with head injuries, you've got to be so careful.

So they took me to the A& E to get checked out. And I was sat in an A& E in the middle of Liverpool in a full tweed suit, glasses, Brill creamed hair, and I looked absolutely ridiculous, and I got some real funny looks. But that's the only thing I could think of, I'm afraid. That's very boring, I'm sorry.

Reegs: No, I think that's pretty good, to be honest. It's probably that concussion that led to you being in this interview here, I would

think.

Dan: they seem to lead nicely into each

Milo: rubbish.

Dan: I, I wonder as well, if you could give us any of your own film recommendations, maybe films that we need to see or a little gems that we might've missed.

Milo: so obviously the main one I would say, I'm sure everyone's looking forward to the new series of Stranger Things. I can't wait. As well, let me think. I love Not a lot of people, not everyone's seen this, but one of my favorite films is The Lady in the Van with with Maggie Smith. I believe it's on Amazon Prime.

I don't quote me though, but I think that is just such a lovely film.

such a

Dan: artist there? Is there an artist

Milo: Yes, Alan Bennett, the

Dan: Alan? Yeah, the playwright Alan Bennett. She lives outside his house, doesn't

she? Yeah

Milo: it. Yeah, I just think it's, it's wonderful. And recently I watched a documentary actually called Apollo 11. I'm sure you can guess what it's about, but it's like, it's not acting or narration.

It is just restored footage and sort of commentary from the moon landing. And it is just so cinematic. Really recommend that as well. It's fantastic.

Dan: Brilliant. Well, I remember just running off, off that and back onto the Beatles theme. Peter Jackson did that anthology documentary, didn't he? Where he, he just pulled together all the the footage and made that, but I, I'm really, really pleased that you, you've come to talk to us, Milo.

Thank you so much for your time. Really do appreciate it.

Bye. I'm gonna I'm gonna look forward to checking out stranger things. I'm going to recommend the Midas man. If you haven't seen it already then check it out on prime. Check out Milo Parker, see what he's doing. Give him a bit of a rest for the next 12 months.

He's got some work to do. And. Hopefully we're going to see you on the on the, on the silver screen, but maybe you could be heading up the country under your politics as well in a few

Milo: Oh god, I hope not.

Reegs: I think I speak for everyone. I work,

Milo: scenes, pulling the string.

Reegs: be an actor. Don't be a politician.

Dan: Yeah.

Reegs: You're brilliant at that. So we don't need any more politicians.

Milo: acting in politics. So, you know, it could, could tie in quite nicely.

Dan: Exactly, exactly. Oh, well again Milo. Thank you so much from all of us at Bad Dads and Yeah, if you haven't already check out the film