The Loose Connections Recommender #25

On Music, Neurodiversity, Resilience & Families on Substacks & Screens & More

Aug 25, 2024

I have been through a purple patch of consuming so much great stuff in the past couple of months I feel compelled to share it all with you!

Loose Connections Recommendations!

5 Great TV Series/Films/Documentaries (That All Happen To Be About Outsiders, Neurodiverse Folk, Hard Times, Love & Families)

*I have some streaming info for Australia, US and UK but for those of you reading from elsewhere you might have to get your Google on as its a bit complex to work out, sorry!

1. Rain Dogs

A dysfunctional family attempt to go straight in a crooked world in an extraordinary tale of a working-class single mum's love for her daughter.

The most realistic portrayal of all the bizarre and awful places you can find yourself when you’re poor and desperate I’ve ever seen on television. The aching brutality of the Rain Dogs world is completely tempered by the outrageous dark humour, deeply drawn characters and warmth inherent in the brilliant writing and performances from everyone involved. UK comic Daisy Mae Cooper as the struggling writer trying to keep herself and her endlessly optimistic daughter afloat in an precarious world full of perverts and judgment is something to behold.

Excellent review in The Guardian here

2. HIP

French TV series about a broke, smart ass (‘high intellectual potential’), single mother of three who works as cleaner at a police station, until they realise her genius brain can help them solve crimes and so they hire her as a consultant detective instead.

Iconic performance from Audrey Fleurot, who reminds me so much of my musician friend Bambi Lee Savage (who I wrote about in Rolling Stone here) that it gives me an extra layer of enjoyment!

Unsurprisingly, this series currently being adapted for American audiences.

Streaming on Prime in Australia and UK and US.

3. Austin

Wholesome but sweetly biting and hilarious series about a narcissistic famous British children’s author and his super sharp artist wife as they deal with the social ‘cancellation’ that he’s hit with after he accidentally retweets a white supremacist while on a book tour in Australia - and his sudden meeting with Austin there, the charming and determined adult son he never knew he had - who also happens to be on the autism spectrum - and his tough, caring mother, played by Gia Carides, who brings so much heart to the role.

On ABC iView and BBC - not sure if its screening in US yet

4. Willie Nelson & Family (4 episode documentary series)

While we’re talking about Willie, his brand spanking new cover of Tom Waits song ‘Last Leaf’ from his upcoming new album ‘Last Leaf On The Tree’ is absolutely exquisite.

‘If they cut down this tree I’ll show up in a song….’

5. Love Lies Bleeding

This is a tough, often over the top and strange film but it has absolutely powerhouse performances from Kristen Stewart and Anna Baryshnikov and a dark gritty 80s vibe. You can smell the sweat and the desperation and determination and lust and hopelessness emanating from the characters, the gym, and the gun range owned by a character played by Ed Harris, whose performance is so audacious it teeters on ridiculous but is actually perfect. I thought it was truly original and fantastic.

Housekeeping #1:

Something went awry in the Substack admin backend with the collected list of playlists I’ve made that I sent out yesterday and it somehow didn’t send properly and was only available to paid subscribers, which was incorrect. I have been working for days to copy playlists over to YouTube and Apple from Spotify so everyone can use them and was excited to share them all with you for free. If you’re interested to check it out, click this link and you will find it there free as I intended:

Special Bonus Edition - Loose Connections Playlists

Lo Carmen

August 24, 2024

Special Bonus Edition - Loose Connections Playlists

I’ve curated a bunch of groovy themed playlists for your listening pleasure over the years here on Loose Connections, so I thought it might be helpful to compile a big ol’ list of them all here to make it easier to find and listen to them!

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