Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: A 21-year-old journalist begins to experience everything from numbness and seizures to hallucinations. When various medical tests come back negative, her doctors believe her issues are psychological and want to send her to a psychiatric hospital. Her divorced parents and boyfriend, however, aren't convinced and continue to fight for more tests.

Who's in it? The movie stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Jenny Slate, Thomas Mann, Carrie-Anne Moss, Richard Armitage and Tyler Perry.


Review: I came across this movie on Netflix a few days ago and, while it's not something I would normally find myself watching, I thought it would be a movie my wife would enjoy and I added it to my list. We ended up watching it last night and, after seeing the film, I have to admit it was considerably better than I would have expected it to be.

As I've said in the past, I'm a fan of mysteries. And, this film fit into that genre nicely. It didn't quite fit into the murder mystery genre I …

Summer celebrated her 9th birthday yesterday and she had a group of her friends from dance class over at our house. In total, it was only three extra girls. But, there were times when it seemed like a whole lot more.

To be fair, they were all pretty well behaved. They were just really energetic and kind of loud. But, she had a good time so that's what matters most.

Next year, however, we will probably have this somewhere that isn't our house.

Synopsis: Wanting nothing more than to take a vacation, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is summoned back to England and secures passage on the Orient Express. He hopes to spend the trip relaxing and reading books. But, when the train becomes temporarily stranded and a passenger is stabbed to death, he reluctantly agrees to find the murderer.

Who's in it? The movie stars Kenneth Branagh, Daisy Ridley, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Willem DaFoe and Leslie Odom, Jr.


Review: I held off on watching this movie until I had a chance to finally read the Agatha Christie book it was based off of. And, even then, I honestly had some doubts about this movie, especially after being a bit disappointed by the novel.

Despite this, I did hold out some hope the all-star cast would find a way of making this movie a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, while it did ultimately exceed my lowered expectations, it still fell well short of being a memorable film.

To be fair, this wasn't…

Synopsis: A film crew travels to a remote, superstitious town in Moldova to film a follow up episode for a popular house hunting show. While there, they manage to offend the residents by filming a funeral and, as they are filming their follow-up, find their lives in danger from a mob looking to burn the home's owner as a witch.

Who's in it? The movie stars Brigid Brannagh, Carrie Genzel, Mia Marcon, David Alpay and Kris Lemche.



Review: I had never heard of this film until I came across it on Netflix yesterday afternoon. But, while I was a bit skeptical, the description of the movie was intriguing so I decided to give it a try, albeit with tempered expectations.

As it turns out, the movie was actually better than I was expecting it to be. The remote Eastern European location gave the film an uneasy feeling from the start (a necessity for horror movies), especially with the less-than-friendly villagers. And, while they were far from perfect, the members of the film crew (or, at le…

I had planned on posting these yesterday evening. But, I wound up being at the ice rink 3 hours longer than expected and, by the time I got home, I was ready to eat dinner and go to bed.

I took advantage of a sunny and warm (but not too warm) day to get my walk in and these are some of the photos I was able to get yesterday.

Synopsis: A short story collection that has super detective Hercule Poirot investigating two murders, solving the theft of valuable government papers and trying to prevent a murder while he's on vacation.


Review: I picked up this book at our local library a couple weeks ago and, thanks to my daughter skating once again (meaning I have hours to kill at the ice rink), I was able to get through it relatively quickly.

With some exceptions, I like Christie's Hercule Poirot novels and was intrigued with the collection of short stories that were, in essence, offering four mysteries for the price of one. After getting through the book, however, I did find I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be.

This is mostly because Poirot is a detective that has a set process that requires the reader to be patient. In short story form, I just felt as though his process was a bit rushed. In addition, some of the supporting characters (something that is usually Christie's strength) just …