How I Met Your Mother Finale

So this is it for How I Met Your Mother. While the series has definitely had its ups and downs, it was better than most sitcoms on the air and I’ll be sad to see it go. At least Ted’s kids (and us) will finally hear the answer of how Ted met What’s-Her-Name. 

FIVE THINGS I’LL MISS ABOUT HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

1 The Concept I like the idea that the series is a really long story a father is telling his kids. Sure, it’s creepy that Ted tells his kids about all the women that he’s slept with but still. I also enjoyed that they decided to present the story non-linearly. Very clever.
2  Robin being from Canada Cobie Smulders is from Vancouver, so I’m sure the writers had a lot of fun writing Robin coming from the same city. I loved the mentions of the Canucks, Smithers and Tim Horton’s. Funny stuff.
3  Running Gags They really respected their fans by including a number of quick gags with minimal explanation. Favourites include the infamous slap bet and the intervention banner.
4  Catchphrases Like the running gags, some great phrases were peppered throughout the series. Loved “Nobody asked you Patrice!”. Also, some are used in regular conversation now, like “Challenge accepted”, “Wait for it”, “You’ve just been lawyered”
5  Barney Stinson I thought this character would grow stale with his horn-dog one-noteness but he managed to be awesome the whole series through. Loved his high fives, playbook and laser tag obsession.

FIVE FAVOURITE EPISODES

1 Slap Bet (Season 2 Episode 9)

Marshall thinks that Robin was previously married; Barney thinks she was in porn. But it’s far worse, Robin was a Canadian teen pop star.
2 Stuff (Season 2 Episode 16)

Robin finds out that Ted has kept mementos from past relationships meanwhile, Lily does an awful play and Barney seeks vengeance for being forced to see it.
3 Murtaugh (Season 4 Episode 19)

Barney is convinced that he can still do young people things while Ted tries being an old person, meanwhile Marshall and Lily coach kindergarten basketball differently.
4 Ten Sessions (Season 3 Episode 13)

Ted falls for the plastic surgeon removing his drunken tattoo but he only has ten sessions to get her to like him which involved Britney Spears as her receptionist.
5 Girls vs Suits (Season 5 Episode 12)

Ted dates the Mother’s roommate but the relationship is doomed. Barney must decide between a hot girl and wearing suits. Guess what wins.

FIVE FAVOURITE BARNEY QUOTES

Cause let’s face it, Barney gets all the great lines.
1 [after Quinn finds out Barney dated Robin and gives him exactly 1 minute to explain himself] Seven years ago when Marshall and Lily got engaged Ted saw Robin across a crowded room and I said "oh yeah you just know she likes it dirty," but Ted really liked her so we played "Haaave You me Ted?" They went to dinner, he walked her home, should have kissed her, didn't, lame. So he stole the Smurf penis, went back to her place, should have kissed her, didn't, lame. He threw three parties, they kissed on the roof but decided to be friends, lame. Then Ted wanted to take Robin to a wedding, she couldn't go, he went alone and met Victoria. Didn't kiss her either, lame. Not a great closer Ted. Then he finally kissed her, they started dating, she went to Germany. Ted kissed Robin, lost Victoria, Ted did a rain dance, got Robin. Ted and Robin broke up, Robin moved to Brazil came back with a Latin stud. Ted got jealous, got a tramp stamp, not really relevant to the story I just like mentioning it as much as possible. I hooked up with Robin, Ted and I stopped being friends, Ted got hit by a bus we made up... Robin and I started dating and I got fat her hair fell out. We broke up, Robin dated Don, I dated Nora. I cheated on her with Robin, I dumped Nora. Robin dated Kevin but not for long and then I met you and you took my Grandpa's watch, but I fell in love with you anyway and you let me fart in front of you and I asked you to marry me and you said yes so we came over here to meet little Marvin and that's everything. Also I went on the Price Is Right and I won a dune buggy!

2 There are only three things I would fight: the stubborn clasp of a bra, a paternity suit - nine for ten - and the urge to vomit whenever I see someone wear brown shoes with a black suit.
3 Attention, Canada. I'm Barney, from America, and I'm here to fix your backward-ass country. Number one, get real money. [shows Canadian dollar bill] Don't know what board game this came from, but it's a [in French accent] joke. Number two, and this is a biggie, quit letting awesome chicks like Robin Scherbatsky get away because you know what, you don't want her, I'm planting my flag in her if you know what I mean-which you probably don't- and getting her the hell out of here. You may now return to being pointless.
4 It's gonna be legend-... wait for it... and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second half of that word is DAIRY!
5 Oh right, because there can be too many of something wonderful. Hey Babe Ruth, easy big fella, let’s not hit too many homers. Hey Steve Gutenberg, maybe just make three Police Academy movies. America’s laughed enough.

Enjoy the finale this Monday.

Film: Divergent

GENRE: Action/Adventure

RATING: PG for some violence and thematic elements
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 19 minutes

STARRING: Shailene Woodley (Descendants, Spectacular Now)

Theo James (Downton Abbey), Kate Winslet (Titanic)

DIRECTOR: Neil Burger (Limitless, The Illusionist)

WRITERS: Evan Daugherty (Snow White & the Huntsman)

Vanessa Taylor (Hope Springs, Jack & Bobby)

PLOT: A ‘Divergent’ girl tries to get into a specific faction and learns that her specialty may get her killed.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:

1 Talk about Hunger Games lite in both film and source material. Divergent is merely mediocre. Hunger Games is life or death and exciting, Divergent is interesting but not as compelling. The comparison is inevitable and there it is.   
2 Woodley and James do an admirable job in their roles as Tris and Four. They are pretty charismatic even though some of their dialogue is laughably cheesy.

3 Christian Madsen’s character of Al is done a disservice in this film. Due to time, the character is not given enough time to make me care what he does or what happens to him.

4 With the exception of some sparse elements, the look of the film is pretty close to what I imagined in my head while I was reading it.

5 The soundtrack in unbelievably terrible. The score is fine but the song choices and when they play was poorly thought out. Too Dawson’s Creek-y at times (and not in a good way).

RECOMMENDATION: Watch on Netflix unless you love the book

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Muppets Most Wanted, Noah

Film: The Grand Budapest Hotel

GENRE: Comedy/Drama

RATING: 14A for some language, sexual content & violence
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 40 minutes

STARRING: Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter, Schindler’s List )

Adrien Brody (Darjeeling Limited), Tony Revolori (newcomer)

DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, Life Aquatic)

WRITER: Wes Anderson (Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums)

PLOT: A concierge and his trusted lobby boy strike a friendship and find themselves inheriting a painting which causes all sorts of trouble and mystery.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:

1 I love Wes Anderson films. I would say this is my third favourite of his (Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom slightly edge it out). This Anderson film has all the same bells and whistles but I believe this is the most action packed of all his filmography. Very fun stuff.

2 Like usual, it’s the art direction that blows my mind. I love Anderson’s attention to detail. Every location is its own character. I also loved the amount of signage found at the hotel.

3 I like the way Anderson uses trucking to move the camera left or right, it usually ends in a wonderful reveal of quirkiness.

4 There’s a great running gag of inspired speeches getting interrupted. Classic.

5 Again, Anderson gathers a brilliant cast of favourites and newbies. It’s really like he’s putting on a play with every new movie. Fiennes is a fantastic addition to the Anderson family.

RECOMMENDATION: Great fun at the theatre

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Divergent