Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Shepherd George Hardy is a loner who treats his sheep like his family, making sure to give them all names and taking the time to read them murder mysteries every evening. When George is murdered and his lawyer reveals he was a millionaire, his smartest sheep, Lily, becomes determined to find his killer and later learns she and the rest of her flock are also in danger. Who's in it? The movie stars Hugh Jackman , Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Patrick Stewart , Tobin Cole, Nicholas Braun and Molly Gordon. Review: Since it was Mother's Day weekend, I decided to have some family time last night and because it was less expensive than going out to dinner, took them to the movie theater. Since it was the only film we hadn't seen that looked reasonably interesting, we saw The Sheep Detectives . It ended up being a great choice. I'll start out with a word of caution for parents of young kids - pay attention to the PG rating. While I would still describe this as a family film...

Synopsis: Logan, a mutant with the ability to heal quickly and infused with a metallic skeleton who also goes by the nickname Wolverine, encounters a 17-year-old, "Rogue," and is injured while protecting her from other mutants. They are rescued and introduced to Charles Xavier, a telepath who runs a school/safe haven for mutants but soon learn they are being targeted by a group of militant mutants led by Magneto, who intend on turning the normal humans who discriminate against them into mutants too. Who's in it? The move stars Hugh Jackman , Patrick Stewart ,  Ian McKellen ,  Anna Paquin and  James Marsden. Review: I came across this movie while waiting for my wife to get done with martial arts classes last night and since there wasn't anything else that looked interesting, decided to watch it. It's not the first time I've seen this film, but it's been more than a decade since I watched it in its entirety. I have to admit, it was better than I remember...

Synopsis: Still mourning the death of his love, Jean Grey, Logan has chosen to hide himself in the wilderness and avoid violence. However, when a man he saved during World War II summons him to Japan, he honors his former friend's dying wish and ends up defending the man's granddaughter, the heir to his large corporation, from the people who want her dead. Complicating things is Logan's ability to heal quickly has been suppressed by another mutant. Who's in it? The movie stars Hugh Jackman , Tao Okamoto ,  Svetlana Khodchenkova ,  Brian Tee and  Rila Fukushima . Review: Even though I liked the movie X-Men , I wasn't overly crazy about the sequels and, because of that, never bothered to watch this movie. However, my wife decided to check it out from our local library and I agreed to watch it with her last night. Overall, it wasn't a terrible film. I think the thing I liked best about this movie was the almost-non-stop action. There was some downtime, to allow...

Synopsis: Keller Dover and his family are celebrating Thanksgiving with another family when his daughter, Anna, and her friend, Joy, go missing. Keller suspects they were kidnapped by a man driving an RV but, when the man, Alex, is found by the police, they can find no evidence supporting Keller's theory, forcing him to take matters into his own when the lead investigator, Det. Loki, looks at other suspects. Who's in it? The movie stars Hugh Jackman , Jake Gyllenhaal , Viola Davis , Maria Bello and Paul Dano. Review: My wife remembered she still had two library movies we hadn't watched yet and were due back soon. So, even though this film was quite a bit longer (2 1/2 hours) than we would normally prefer on a Sunday evening, we ended up watching it. Overall, it ended up being an OK film. I think the thing I liked best about this movie was the overall mystery surrounding Anna ( Erin Gerasimovich ) and Joy ( Kyla-Drew Simmons ) disappearing. Alex (Dano) was in the neighbo...

Synopsis: After losing his job as a shipping clerk, an impoverished son of a tailor, Phineas Taylor Barnum, cons a bank into giving him a $10,000 loan so he can open a museum. When the museum fails to draw a crowd, he adds a live freak show act that, despite ongoing community protests, quickly makes him wealthy. However, despite his success, he is still treated as an outsider by other members of the upper class and, in an effort to be accepted, takes steps that could cause his financial downfall and ruin his marriage to the woman he has loved since childhood. Who's in it? The movie stars Hugh Jackman , Zac Efron , Michelle Williams , Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya . Review: My oldest daughter saw this film during a movie day at school last year and quickly described it as one of her favorites. She is even working on an ice skating program to one of the songs from this film. As a result of this, she ended up with a copy of the movie for her birthday and, based on her recom...