I was looking around for a film to watch today and I wanted to look for a comedy because I was in that kind of a mood. So, when I logged on to my Netflix account I saw that I had an interesting film to watch on my Queue called The Late Bloomer. Peter Newmans (Johnny Simmons) is a successful sex therapist who is preaching that life is about abstinence to better yourself. What Peter doesn’t realize is that he has never in his life gone through puberty. Peter never knew that he had a tumor that has pressed against his pituitary gland and when he is operated on, his life changes completely including the fact that he has feelings for his neighbor and friend Michelle (Brittany Snow). Now what is he going to do about all of this? The film also stars J.K. Simmons (Zootopia) as James Newmans, Maria Bello (Lights Out) as Brenda Newmans, Kumail Nanjiani (Central Intelligence) as Rich, Beck Bennett (Zoolander 2) as Luke, Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries) as Charlie, Jane Lynch (Mascots) as Caroline Chambers, Charlotte McKinney (Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser) as Attractive Woman, Blake Cooper (The Maze Runner) as Josh, Diana Lyubenova (Conan The Barbarian) as Marilyn, and the film was directed by Kevin Pollak (Vamped Out).
I honestly went into this film with an open mind because I wasn’t expecting much out of it, but when I realized the people that starred in this film I was a little more intrigued. The film has some great actors like J.K. Simmons and Maria Bello and it was directed by the awesome Kevin Pollak who is a great actor himself who was directing his first feature length film with this one. So one argument for the film that I saw online was that it was kind of like The 40 Year Old Virgin, but with a guy who isn’t really socially awkward like Steve Carell was and I beg to differ a little bit. While I loved The 40 Year Old Virgin, I definitely really enjoyed this one because it took the idea and it ran with it in a totally different direction. The funny connection between the two really is the fact that Jane Lynch starred in both films. This one has it’s raunchy moments and friends like the other one, but in a different way. Kumail Nanjiani was given the green light to be as nasty as he wanted to be and he succeeded because he and Beck Bennett made a great combo in this film like Rudd and Rogen. Alright, so I can’t really come up with too many differences because there is a crap ton of similarities in the structure of the story. You can’t knock the formula cause it worked and there were some real funny moments in this one. You also get treated to some T&A in the film which is definitely a plus. I am going to give the film a B+ only because it’s not completely original and not as completely funny as The 40 Year Old Virgin.
After 31 one straight days of Horror films, I am definitely ready to catch up and watch some movies that I have missed out on. Netflix has been producing some great comedies as of late and there was one that I just couldn’t wait to see and that is the mockumentary film Mascots which comes from the mind of Christopher Guest (This Is Spinal Tap). Every year, there is a competition that looks at the unsung heroes of baseball games, football games, and various other sports in the Mascots. This mockumentary explores that world as it follows various mascots like Mike and Mindy Murray (Zach Woods and Sarah Baker), Owen Golly Jr. (Tom Bennett), Cindi Babineaux (Parker Posey), Tommy ‘Zook’ Zucarello (Chris O’Dowd), and Phil Mayhew (Christopher Moynihan) as they all fight for the award called the Golden Fluffy. The film also stars Kerry Godliman (Derek) as Sarah Golly, John Michael Higgins (Bad Teacher) as Upton French, Jim Piddock (Best In Show) as Owen Golly Sr., Susan Yeagley (The Lucky Ones) as Laci Babineaux, Ed Begley Jr. (Ghostbusters) as A.J. Blumquist, Jane Lynch (Glee) as Gabby Monkhouse, Don Lake (Zootopia) as Buddy Campbell, Fred Willard (WALL·E) as Greg Gammons, Jr, 
I really loved this film because it’s everything you loved about mockumentaries like This Is Spinal Tap and it also helps that it was made by one of the stars of that film. He even makes a special appearance in the film as a guy named Corky and his chemistry with Parker Posey was incredible and hilarious. It also helped that the film featured so many funny people in one film that it was almost overload. This was a well written film with so many great subplots that helped drive the film forward as well as the main plot. One of my favorite parts of the film is when they finally get to the competition and you see all of the performances from the main guys and the hilarious reactions from the judges in the film. My favorite performance (if I was a judge) would go to the The Fist which was played by Chris O’Dowd probably because of the fact that he added an element of metal to his show. The other thing that I liked about the film is that they show you where all of the mascots are one year later. It definitely adds closure to some of the drama in the subplots that were presented to us. There was definitely some cliche comedy vices thrown in the film, but sometimes that is what makes them great. You have to give credit where credit is due to Netflix because they have produced some great stuff so far. If you have it, definitely give this film a shot if you haven’t already. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade because it’s enjoyable to watch.
There are some subjects in life that are very serious subjects and you never know the impact that they have on people because we are all wired differently. One of those subjects that is tough to deal with is the topic of divorce which is very commonplace today. Today’s film A.C.O.D. (Adult Children Of Divorce) deals with the subject matter, but in a different way. Carter (Adam Scott) has been dealing with life in his very own way. Carter is a child of a very ugly divorce who has constantly been in the middle. Fats forward and he is an adult who hears that his brother Trey (Clark Duke) is getting married and he wants his parents to attend even though they hate each other. Carter has to figure out how to get them together in one room, but when he does and he finds out that they’ve hooked back up as a result, his life begins to spin out of control. The film also stars Richard Jenkins (Step Brothers) as Hugh, Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone) as Melissa, Amy Poehler (Sisters) as Sondra, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane) as Lauren, Ken Howard (The Judge) as Gary, Valerie Tian (Juno) as Kieko, Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four) as Michelle, Jane Lynch (40 Year Old Virgin) as Dr. Judith, and the film was directed by Stu Zicherman (The Americans).
To say the least, this was a very interesting and entertaining film to watch for today. I had actually been putting this one off for a while now and due to some unforeseen circumstances decided to finally see it. I have been becoming a huge fan of Adam Scott, I can definitely appreciate his style of acting and what he brings to the table. It was cool to see him work with some of his familiar co-stars like Richard Jenkins (on Step Brothers) and Clark Duke (on Hot Tub Time Machine 2) because you can see that they possess a chemistry that is established. Jane Lynch is absolutely amazing in the film and very important to the plot. You see Carter discovers that all the years of therapy he thought he was getting was just research for a book that Lynch’s character writes. She then explains to him that she is writing a sequel to the book and that she has called it A.C.O.D. (Adult Children Of Divorce). It’s because of that and the fact that his parents have hooked up again that has thrown his life into chaos. There was just too much to write to put it above so now you have the rest of it. The film is listed as a comedy, but I call it a smart persons comedy cause it’s not a stupid comedy. That is why I enjoyed the film and loved seeing Jessica Alba (loved her look in the film) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade. It’s available on Netflix right now.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 