DVD Review: The Unicorn: Season One

The Unicorn: Season One (2019-2020)

(DVD Unicorn)

 

I never tried to tune this series in when it began on CBS in the Fall of 2019. Now I wish I’d been watching it all along — it’s a very funny and yet touching show.

 

Walton Goggins plays Wade Felton, a landscape architect now raising two pre-teen daughters (Grace and Natalie) following the death of his wife. His support structure includes his best friends, found in the form of two other families — Forrest and Delia (Rob Corddry and Michaela Watkins) and their young daughter, and Ben and Michelle (Omar Benson Miller and Maya Lynne Robinson) and their four kids. The friends try get Wade back into the world of dating, with pushy-but-loving advice, and Wade tolerantly accepts their well-minded interference in his life. “The Unicorn” refers to Wade’s exalted status (in the eyes of his friends), because he’s a loving father and devoted former husband, so he’s as elusive and rare in the modern dating pool as the legendary unicorn.

 

Like so many sitcoms nowadays, there’s a little too much emphasis placed on the pursuit of sex, but when the characters aren’t obsessing about Wade’s sex life, and are simply dealing with their lives and relationships, it hits a home run. Recurring plots about supporting their kids, job hunting, career-building and Wade’s “widows” support group all add to making this an enjoyable part-comedy/part-drama. If you liked Modern Family, you’ll probably love this show! The DVD features a few nice "extras", including some deleted scenes!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Modern Family.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this TV series ] | [ CBS’ official The Unicorn series page ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Things My Son Needs to Know About the World by Fredrik Backman

Things My Son Needs to Know About the World
by Fredrik Backman (Biography Backman)

 

Backman is perhaps best known for his prose fiction, starting with A Man Called Ove, and including such recent bestsellers as Beartown and its sequel Us Against You.

 

In Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, Backman offers up a series of interconnected personal essays (hence it is cataloged as a biography in the libraries’ collection), all connected to the theme of sharing his adult wisdom with his young son. Each chapter is one long essay, paired with a series of humorous side notes. The titles of the chapters may be somewhat accurate, but Backman goes off (seemingly) on tangents with each one — “What you need to know about motion-sensitive bathroom lights”, “What you need to know about stuff”, “What you need to know about why that Felicia girl’s mother hates me”, and “What you need to know about when I hold your hand a little too tight”, for examples. Backman’s writing in this book is both hilarious, yet poignant. Wise, yet self-deprecating. Absurdist, yet at times almost gut-wrenching in its honesty.

 

I really didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this short volume (193 pages), but in the end, I found this to be very touching, and I laughed at it more than any other book I’ve read in the past few years.

 

Highly recommended, especially for anyone interested in exploring parenthood issues from a dad’s point-of-view.

 

[If you enjoy this, you may also enjoy anything else written by Fredrik Backman, but be aware that most of his other writings are far more serious.]

 

[ official Things My Son Needs to Know About the World page on the official Fredrik Backman web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

New Booklist on BookGuide: Introduction to Parenting

I know I can’t have been the only parent of a newborn who found themselves wondering why the nurses had forgotten to send home the instruction manual with the baby.

I have learned, as most parents do, that such a manual does not exist. That doesn’t mean, though, that there aren’t books to read and listen to that can help make child-rearing seem less mystifying. I had some favorites back in my “new mom” days, and I’ve seen some newer titles that I would consider giving as gifts to new parents today.

This list features some of the tried-and-true titles that are still popular and highly thought of among inexperienced and expert parents alike. I’ve also added some more recent titles that are getting great feedback from today’s baby caregivers.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the issues that come with child rearing, and that’s why it’s good to sample the ideas of more than one author on the subject. By trying some of the classics, and some of the cutting-edge offerings on this list (and beyond), it’s possible to cobble together your own, personal “instruction manual”. This may just save you the headache of searching for the one they always forget to send along when you bring baby home!

— Lisa V. | Loren Corey Eiseley Branch Library | May 2020

Check out Lisa's list of recommended materials at the following link on BookGuide: 

 

Introduction to Parenting

DVD Review: Instant Family

Instant Family
[DVD Instant]

This one is a mild, family, comedic drama, with occasional forays into serious social commentary and occasional descents into almost slapstick comedy. Mark Wahlburg and Rose Byrne play Pete and Ellie, a married couple with busy lives, who’ve never gotten around to have kids of their own. A series of comical incidents, and family/peer pressures, lead them down the path towards becoming foster parents. But instead of a single youth child to help provide a stable home for, they end up taking on the challenge of raising three siblings — sarcastic teenager Lizzy, accident-prone pre-teen Juan, and precocious but emotionally temperamental Lita.

Instant Family is funny, with a sentimental touch. The entire cast is quite excellent, particularly Isabela Merced as teenager Lizzy, who’s had to serve as a surrogate parent to her two young siblings, and who desperately wants to be reunited with her drug-addicted biological mother. Octavia Spencer and Tig Notaro provide extreme comic relief as two welfare workers who put Pete and Ellie through foster parent boot camp and remain advisors to the new family. This is a fun, poignant, inspiring little film — perhaps it glosses over the inherent difficulties and challenges in becoming foster parents a bit in search of its humor, but it definitely has its heart in the right place, and leaves you feeling “up” by the end.

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Instant Family web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Grown & Flown by Lisa Heffernan and Mary Dell Harrington

Grown & Flown
by Lisa Heffernan and Mary Dell Harrington (649.125 Hef)

As the parent of a student who just turned sixteen years old recently and is already receiving applications to college in the mail, I thought this book would be essential reading for me. The purpose of this book is to help provide guidance for parents who are helping their children make the transition from high school to college — a daunting task for anyone. What began as a blog became a compilation of advice from mothers, teachers, college administrators and students who have made the transition from high school graduate to college freshman or have helped countless students to make that transition successfully. I found this book to be well-researched, funny and useful, all at once. Recommended for anyone with children currently in high school.

[ official Grown & Flown web site ] | [ official Lisa Heffernan/The Spruce web site ]

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: Instructions Not Included

Instructions Not Included
[DVD Instructions]

Until a couple of weeks ago, I was not aware of Eugenio Derbez, a fixture in Mexican TV and movie culture. Now that I know of him, I wish I had discovered him sooner. He directed, co-produced and co-wrote this lovely little film. “No Se Aceptan Devoluciones” (No Returns, in its original Spanish) was released in 2013 to an eventual $100 million box office take. Derbez plays the main character, Valentin, whose father repeatedly tried to toughen him up as a young boy by various scary methods, which Valentin came to greatly resent but then ultimately value. As an adult, he is living a carefree life in Acapulco, hooking up with as many pretty young women as he can until one of them shows back up on his doorstep with an 18-month old baby that she says is his. On the premise that she needs to go pay the cab driver, the woman, Julie, takes off, leaving little Maggie in Valentin’s arms. When he realizes the situation he tries to follow her to Los Angeles but loses track of her. By chance, he gets into a situation where an LA movie director hires him to be a stuntman and this turns out to be a lucrative way to provide for his instant daughter, especially since he doesn’t speak English. A few years pass and Maggie and Valentin are not only a family but best buddies, on set and off. In order to quell her longing for a mother who abandoned her — divorce is the reason given — Valentin contrives letters from Julie to Maggie that tell about all kinds of exploits wherein she sometimes saves the world from disaster. Then, out of the blue, Julie reappears and wants to connect with the daughter she gave away. Maggie is thrilled but Valentin is understandably upset. It seems the two parents work out an arrangement but then a short time later Julie sues for full custody. With the odds stacked against him, Valentin speaks from his heart about his love for Maggie and the judge rules in his favor. Desperate, Julie requests a paternity test, and things become even more complicated.

All of the acting is fine and the chemistry between Derbez and Loreta Peralta, who plays 7-year-old Maggie, is wonderful. And props go to Daniel Raymont as the movie director/friend. This is a funny, engaging and thoughtful story about how something terrible can turn into something terrific. (This edition is in Spanish with English subtitles available in the sub-menu).

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Three Men and a Baby (1987), The Game Plan (2007), Paper Moon (1973) or Overboard]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Instructions Not Included Facebook page ]

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!