'Winnie the Pooh' keeps things simple

“Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh

Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff.
He’s Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh.
Willy nilly silly ole bear.”

When was the last time you heard those lyrics? Infectious little tune, isn’t it?

If you find yourself humming it for hours on end — and remembering the days of a stuffed bear who loved his honey oh-so-much — then perhaps you’ll spend some time with Pooh and his friends in the newest “Winnie the Pooh” movie, released last Friday.

The film, wonderfully narrated by John Cleese, centers around finding Eeyore a new tail after he lost his old one. The reward: A big bucket of honey — just what Pooh needs to fill his morning hunger pains. And so Christopher Robin alerts everyone of the problem at hand, and Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, Tigger, Kanga and Roo all set out to find the perfect tail for their dear friend Eeyore.

While Pooh and his friends try out a number of items for Eeyore — a clock, a balloon, a yo-yo, an umbrella, and even an accordion — nothing seems to work. As Pooh goes to alert Christopher Robin of their predicament, he finds a note on Christopher Robin’s door: “Gon Out Bizy Back Soon.”

As Pooh can’t read, he brings it to Owl, who misinterprets the note, thinking a “Backson” monster has taken Christopher Robin away. And so the gang digresses from their quest for Eeyore’s tail and begin to think of ways to catch the fictional monster.

The creators of this film couldn’t have released it at a better time — well, maybe one week earlier would have been nice so that it wasn’t overshadowed by a certain boy wizard — but still, “Winnie the Pooh” succeeds during a time when 3-D, CGI-animated, overblown-special-effect movies are all the rage. From the classic simplicity of the 2-D animation, to the wonderful songs such as “The Tummy Song” and “Everything Is Honey,” all is well in this film.

It’s cute, funny and even quite clever, for instance, as we see Pooh break the fourth wall a number of times by interacting with the narrator — “Just then Pooh discovered a note,” says the narrator. “I did?” asks Pooh — and by playing with the visuals, as Pooh walks on the words of the book and jumps from page to page — “Is there honey in this paragraph?” asks Pooh as he climbs from sentence to sentence, searching for any notion that he will discover honey sometime soon.

The only downside to the film is its 65-minute length — which some parents might see as a huge upside. To me it all felt a bit rushed; every story line rapped up a tad too quickly. And just as Pooh is always left with a yearning for more honey, I was left wanting more time with Christopher Robin and his “Hundred Acre Wood” friends.

Remembering Harry Potter

As you may have noticed, I decided to devote the majority of the A&E section this week to Harry Potter. After all, he’s graced our presence for the last 13 years — blessing us with seven novels, courtesy of J.K. Rowling, and eight movies, the last of which flies into theaters today.

A lot of people may not realize it — especially if they never gave in to the hoo-ha of it all — but this whole Harry Potter journey is kind of a big deal. Think about it: What other series of films can you name that have spanned 10 years and kept the entire cast, aside from the use of four different directors, through each and every film? All while managing to hold on to an adoring fan base and gross $2 billion and counting at the box office? There is nothing like it — just as Harry Potter is The Boy Who Lived, this is The Series That Lived. And unfortunately for us, the time has come for Harry Potter’s journey to come to an end — one that I’m sure we’ll never forget. Just as I have never forgotten — as I’m sure many of you, as well — the first time I was introduced to the magical world of Harry Potter.

I was probably 12 or 13-years-old when I first discovered the boy wizard. I managed to get a hold of the first novel, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” before the entire world caught on. It was 1999, and it started when my mother took my best friend and me to our middle school book fair. A bookworm at heart, I relished in the many choices of books I could get my hands on. While I could never make up my mind when it came to choosing one novel over another, my friend was the opposite. She saw the colorful cover with a boy on a broomstick at the center of it all, and there was no turning back. And although you should never judge a book by its cover, as we all know, when it came to the cover of Harry Potter, there was no doubt that it would be a spectacular novel — it just looked like a fun story — and her inkling was spot on.

A few days later she had finished the book and moved on to the newly-released sequel, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” While we were waiting to go to the beach one day, she was so absorbed in her sequel I decided to take along the debut and quickly found out what was so special about Harry Potter and his friends.

From there, the anticipation for the next novel year after year was like waiting for Christmas morning, and the page count kept growing and growing. The initial book spanned 309 pages, while the last installment marked an epic 759 pages.

I can’t say I’ve read any of the novels in a day, or maybe even a week, and I can’t say I know every-which detail of every book — but I’m a fan. The novels are wonderful, easy to read and full of vibrant descriptions that make your imagination run wild. Rowling managed to create a world that every kid wanted to be a part of. And when the last novel, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” was published nearly four years to this day on July 21, 2007, it was a sorrowful and wonderful day all in the same. But it wasn’t the complete end. We still had the movies.

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On Nov. 16, 2001, Harry Potter graced the big screen. It was a task Director Chris Columbus (“Home Alone,” “Mrs. Doubtfire”) knew had to be perfect, as the passionate fans of Harry Potter would expect nothing less.

The adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” sticks out in my mind quite a bit. Simply for the fact that it was the first year my family and I decided to have Thanksgiving at home, just the four of us (my parents and my older brother). And while we let the turkey cook away in the oven, we decided to fill the time by enjoying a movie on a day where the theater wouldn’t be bustling with people. And so we did. By the time we got back, our food was nearly done, and we managed to have a yummy feast just as the students of Hogwarts did in the film. It was delightful — so much so that we repeated the same fare the next year when “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” was released around the same time.

The majority of the next six films were then released in the summer months — an easier way to rake in the big bucks, I presume — so my family and I retired that tradition sooner rather than later.

But it was a time I remember fondly, just as I’m sure actors Daniel Radcliff (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) will remember their time making the films, as they were a mere 9 or 10-years-old when the initial filming took place, and they’re are now in their early 20s. They’ve spent more time encompassing their characters than they have being their Muggle selves. And we thank them for that. Because without them — and Quidditch and Horcruxes and Whomping Willows and Polyjuice Potion — our imaginations might have been as lonely as Moaning Myrtle.

'Weeds,' 'True Blood' return for the summer

Summer used to be synonymous with the notion that nothing good would be on television. June, July and August were filled with re-runs and bad game shows, and there was nothing to resort to during those times when you just wanted to veg out and escape the heat of the night.

Well times have changed, my friends. Aside from the four new television shows I picked out earlier in the month (and yes, I know, one was a game show), there are also plenty of returning favorites as well. And I mean plenty — from USA’s “White Collar” to NBC’s “American’s Got Talent”; from CBS’s “Big Brother” to FX’s “Louis C.K.” — there is a show for every taste.

This week marked the return of two of my favorite summer television likings — Showtime’s “Weeds” and HBO’s “True Blood.” These two, plus FX’s “Rescue Me” (returning July 12) and AMC’s “Breaking Bad” (returning July 15) encompass the cream of the crop of summer television. Now if only “Mad Men” wasn’t postponed until 2012 — but that’s another story. Here’s to two shows that keep my television working during the summer.

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“Weeds” returned on Monday to welcome in its final season — lucky number seven. As the show opens, we find Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise-Parker) three years from when we last saw her: giving herself up to the FBI for murder (her youngest son, Shane (Alexander Gould), was the real culprit) in order to guarantee protection from her drug cartel of a husband, Esteban, who is also the father to her newest son, Stevie.

Nancy is now out on parole, but on the condition that she must stay in a half-way house. But, of course, she soon finds herself back to her old habits.

The rest of the gang, or family for that matter, are living in Copenhagen, Denmark, where brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk), along with longtime friend, Doug (Kevin Nealon), are tour guides, son Silas (Hunter Parrish) is a model and other son Shane is a puppeteer, all trying to stay afloat while Nancy pays the price.

How’d they get here? Well, for those of you who have never tuned into “Weeds,” it’s never too late. I didn’t start watching until four seasons in, but with 30-minute episodes, I was able to catch up in no time. As a quick summary: It all started when Nancy lost her husband to a heart attack and found herself selling pot to the locals in order to bring in a little extra cash to support her family. But as you can guess, things get out of hand, drug cartels get involved and Nancy ends up biting off more than she can chew. Seven seasons later, she still hasn’t learned.

“Weeds” creator Jenji Kohan has managed to write a show that never gets old. It’s just such a fun show; all the characters are so different, yet they’re all tied together and it’ll be sad to see them go after this season.

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“True Blood” rang in the start of its fourth season on Sunday, and I must say I think it’s going to be a complicated one. There are so many characters, and their plots don’t seem to want to intertwine as easily as past seasons have. Let’s see if I can sum this up:

Sookie (Anna Paquin) has experienced the land of fairies, after finding out last season that she was one. But she soon finds out that fairies aren’t as nice and Tinkerbell-ish as one might think. Escaping the land that wishes to enslave her, along with her grandfather who was trapped there for 20 years, Sookie travels through a portal back to good-ole Bon Temps, La. Unfortunately for her grandfather, he indulged in too much of the fairy land and dies within minutes of landing home. And unfortunately for Sookie, she finds out that 10 minutes in fairy land equals over a year in Bon Temps.

Which brings us to everyone else: Sookie’s brother Jason has emerged as a sheriff’s deputy; best friend Tara has moved away, using all her pent-up anger to live a life as a cage fighter; and ex-lover Bill has emerged as Vampire King of Louisiana.

On the other side of things, Lafayette is still dating a witch, Jesus, and they experiment with a coven; vampire Jessica is adapting to home life with human boyfriend Hoyt; Sam has found some new shape-shifter friends; and vampire Eric, owner of bar “Fangtasia,” is still lusting after Sookie, while dealing with the equality issue among humans and vampires.

Did I get everyone? Probably not — I think I may have missed a werewolf somewhere in there — but that’s the best you’ll get out of me. While “True Blood” is still as addicting as ever — although I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, or type of blood for that matter — if the writers don’t minimize the number of characters in the show, they’re going to lose out on the fans they do have. Don’t get me wrong, I like the fact that they initiate a new breed each season — i.e. werewolves, witches, fairies — but the writers need to close up some of those story lines as well. Otherwise it’ll be one chaotic mess. Or just a big ole snack for the over-populated vampire community in the show.