Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: A recently widowed Barb drives to a remote lake in Minnesota to honor her late husband's final wish and stumbles upon a kidnapping. With no cell signal and the nearest town two hours away, she attempts to take matters into her own hands against the well-armed kidnappers. Who's in it? The movie stars Emma Thompson , Judy Greer , Marc Menchaca, Laurel Marsden and Gaia Wise. Review: My wife was scrolling through our movie channels while having breakfast this morning and came across Dead of Winter. At first, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a movie I would enjoy enough to justify it making me feel cold (I had enough of snow and cold this year). However, it turned out to be an interesting watch. There were a couple things that really stood out for me about this movie. One of the main ones was the choice to have the main protagonist, Barb (Thompson) be someone in her 60s rather than in her twenties or thirties. This added a whole new element to the character becau...

Synopsis: A category 5 hurricane causes severe flooding in the town of Annieville, South Carolina, leaving those who didn't evacuate trapped. To make matters worse, the hurricane has brought a swarm of aggressive bull sharks and a single great white shark with it. Who's in it? The movie stars Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak,  Djimon Hounsou , Alyla Browne, Stacy Clausen and Dante Ubaldi. Review: We decided not to go out last night (once again because of the weather) and instead stayed home and watched a movie. I came across Thrash on Netflix earlier in the day and, figuring it had been a while since I last watched a shark-related movie, we gave it a try. It turned out to be a good choice. To be honest, there wasn't a whole lot about this movie I would describe as unique. Like plenty of other movies, it featured sharks in a populated area and those sharks always seemed to be hungry no matter how much they ate. However, this was one of those times when a movie did...

Synopsis: After her mom is killed in a tragic surfing accident, Beckett and her father (a famous author) move to Manhattan so she can attend a prestigious prep school. However, when a student commits suicide and Beckett learns it wasn’t the first time, she becomes suspicious. After some investigation, she discovers the school’s faculty members aren’t what they seem. Who's in it? The movie stars Sophie Curtis, Kelly Reilly , Graham Phillips, Sarah Sutherland and Stephanie March. Review: The outdoor chores I had planned for this weekend were put on hold because of rain. Since the rest of the family went out to do their own thing, leaving me in a quiet house, I ended up re-watching Innocence because I couldn't remember a whole lot about it. Now I remember - it isn't a very good movie. There are a couple major problems with this film. The first is it takes an eternity for something to happen in it. Sure, we see her mom die (well, actually, she just disappears) and her classmat...

Synopsis: After putting her life in danger to solve murders for the police and receiving no credit for her efforts, Agatha Raisin decides to give up her amateur sleuthing and instead open a detective agency. She finds immediate success and soon has a full staff working for her, including her new neighbor, Emma Comfrey.  While most of her cases involve missing pets, adulterous spouses and runaway teenagers, Agatha is soon hired by Mrs. Laggat-Brown to investigate death threats being made against her soon-to-be-married daughter and stops a murder attempt at a dinner party. As her investigation continues, the detective once again finds her own life in danger, both from the investigation itself and from Emma, who has fallen in love with Sir Charles Fraith and grown jealous over Agatha's friendship with him. Review: Our local library will be closed for a month because it is moving out of its temporary location and back into its newly remodeled building. As a result, I took the time to...

Marybeth was the most popular girl at my high school. This was mostly because of genetics. Her mom was a former beauty pageant winner, and her father was an underwear model. Marybeth got the best of both of them, including her mom’s blonde hair and her father’s piercing blue eyes. This is why it shouldn’t be any big surprise she was also the frontrunner and eventual winner of every high school honor you could think of, homecoming queen, prom queen, class president and (more the result of perverted teachers than actual intelligence) valedictorian.  Her charmed life continued after graduation. After a year of following in her father’s footsteps and modeling underwear in multiple catalogs, she moved to Hollywood and had a semi-successful career in horror movies. She couldn’t act to save her life, but she didn’t really need to because she was willing to show her perfect chest at the drop of a hat. That perfect chest once again on display. Only this time, instead of being on the latest ...

Synopsis: Two airplanes carrying shipments of gold are both forced to make emergency landings and are then robbed and their pilots killed by a gang of outlaws. Sheriff Roy Rogers investigates and soon suspects the outlaws are working for a local businessman seeking to drive the airport out of business with help from an inside man so he can purchase the land. Who's in it? The movie stars Roy Rogers , Betty Richards, Andy Devine, George Meeker and Trigger. Review: I overslept by about 15 minutes this morning, which both threw off my routine and meant I wasn't able to watch the movie I had planned on watching. As an alternative, I ended up selecting The Gay Ranchero because it was shorter in length. At first, I wasn't sure if I would like the film, but it turned out to be a halfway decent western. The main plot itself was about as predictable as you would expect from a movie like this. Even before Sheriff Roy (Rogers) had his theories, it was both reasonably clear who was ...