Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Just days from a forced retirement at reduced benefits, veteran train engineer Frank Barnes is tasked with training an arrogant rookie conductor, Will Colston. Their routine day changes when a trainyard error sends a locomotive hauling 39 cars and dangerous chemicals hurtling down the mainline at fast speeds and without anyone driving it. After barely getting out of its path and against the wishes of their boss, Frank and Will begin chasing the train down, hoping to slow or stop it before it derails and causes a catastrophic event. Who's in it? The movie stars Denzel Washington , Chris Pine , Rosario Dawson, Kevin Dunn and Kevin Corrigan. Review: My wife decided to work in her sewing studio last night so, after mowing my mom's lawn, I came home and settled in with a movie until she got home. I had seen Unstoppable before, but it had been a while, so I gave it another try. Overall, I still thought it was a decent choice. This is, in all honesty, a disaster movie tha...

Synopsis: Rosyln takes a nightshift job cleaning up files at a recently closed hospital at the same time a serial killer known as the Nighthawk is attacking women. Roslyn's growing anxiety causes her to suspect her husband, Cole, a suspicion she discusses with Dr. Irvin Clement, the psychiatrist organizing the files in the hospital psych wing. During the course of her conversations with Dr. Clement, Rosyln is forced to face her mental health struggles caused by a traumatic childhood, causing her to grow even more unstable and unable to distinguish between what is real and what is in her head. Who's in it? The movie stars Sara Foster, Cary Elwes , Michael Biehn, Colleen Camp and Gabriel Mann. Review: After my wife and I took our daughter prom dress shopping this morning, I found I just didn't have the energy to do much else once we got home and, as I started to doze on the couch, my wife found Psych:9 on one of our movie channels. We ended up watching it and, even after...

Synopsis: A group of friends sailing to a business meeting encounter an injured and hysterical man in the water and rescue him. They ignore his warnings to turn back, causing him to sneak onto deck and try to steer it himself, resulting in a shipwreck that leaves them on a seemingly deserted island. However, they aren't alone. The island is inhabited by a tribe of "missing link" humanoids who begin hunting them down. Who's in it? The movie stars Emily Baldoni , Nick Mennell , Marc Bacher , Brianna Brown and Maxine Bahns. Review: My wife saw previews for The Lost Tribe on one of our movie channels a couple nights ago and recorded it. Since we decided not to go out for karaoke last night, I put it on for us to watch. As it turns out, it wasn't as good as it sounded. I think my biggest problem with this film is the writers went with the wrong plot. The part about the friends landing on the island happened after what could have been a better story, with an archae...

Synopsis: In 1966, after being arrested for burning down a house and having no memory of why she did it, Kristen is sent to North Bend Psychiatric Hospital in Oregon. While there, she begins seeing the ghost of a former patient and realizes other patients in the ward have been disappearing, likely victims of the spirit. To make matters worse, the hospital staff seems to know and doesn't care. Who's in it? The movie stars Amber Heard ,  Mamie Gummer , Danielle Panabaker , Laura-Leigh and Jared Harris . Review: After being disappointed by the last two horror movies we watched, my wife and I looked for one to snap that streak. I picked The Ward mostly because I recognized some of the actresses in it and because it was directed by horror movie legend John Carpenter. Overall, it was definitely an improvement over the previous two films and an OK choice overall. The premise is an intriguing one. In addition to the mystery surrounding the vengeful spirit, there was also a mystery a...

Synopsis: After discovering a new-born princess' hair has the power to keep her young, Mother Gothel kidnaps the infant and locks her away in a tower. On her 18th birthday, Rapunzel, who does not know who she really is, expresses a desire to see more of the world and, when Mother Gothel refuses, escapes the tower with the help of outlaw Flynn Rider.  However, the quickly aging Mother Gothel will stop at nothing to bring her back. Who's in it? The animated movie uses voices from Mandy Moore , Zachary Levi , Donna Murphy , Ron Perlman and Brad Garrett . Review : My daughter's upcoming ice show is based on this movie and, after weeks of rehearsals, I realized I did not remember enough about this film to have any idea about what was going on. So, since we actually had a Friday evening without any other major plans, I picked this up on DVD and had a family movie night last night. As I said before, I didn't remember much about this film (which we last watched abou...