Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis : Angie, a successful New York surgeon, has only one regret in her life, not saying yes when her now-famous former boyfriend, Tyler, proposed to her 10 years earlier. While taking a commuter train home, Angie falls asleep and wakes up in 2011, just in time to celebrate what she says was her last happy Christmas with Tyler and her family. Only things aren't quite as joyful as she remembers and she must figure out how to set things right by Christmas Eve in order to return to the present time. Who's in it? The movie stars Lyndsy Fonseca , Chandler Massey , Lea Thompson , Eric Freeman and Christopher Lloyd . Review: I came across this movie this past weekend and, while I didn't have time to watch it right away, made sure to add it to my library for later because I thought it sounded interesting. As it turns out, the movie exceeded my expectations. When we first started watching this, my wife and I thought it would have a plot similar to It's a Wonderful Life , w...

Synopsis : Hoping to revive their failing holiday decorating businesses, two feuding families enter a local decorating contest. As insults fly between the two family patriarchs (former business partners), their kids begin to become romantically involved and try to find a way to resolve the long-time war. They see an opportunity to do this by convincing their dads to team up to win the competition together. Who's in it? The movie stars Taylor Cole , Carlo Marks , Sarah Surh , John Cassini and Garry Chalk . Review: My wife and I saw a preview for this movie during our Hallmark binge this past weekend and quickly added it to our list of films to watch. Unfortunately, while it looked decent in the preview, it really wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. There are a number of problems with this film. One of the big ones is it is extremely predictable, both with the romance between Grace (Cole) and Tony (Marks) and the overall plot in general. Basically, it was one of those ...

Synopsis: Years after their breakup, Lara and Ben find themselves competing against each other in a televised Christmas competition. While they both want to win the $50,000 prize for their respective charities, renewed feelings may force them to choose between winning and a shot at getting back together. Who's in it? The movie stars Candace Cameron Bure , John Brotherton , Barbara Niven , BJ Harrison and Keenan Tracey . Review: My wife and I saw this movie advertised multiple times while binge watching Hallmark movies over the weekend. It looked interesting so we made sure to set aside time to watch it when it aired last night. Unfortunately, I just didn't like this one as much as I thought I would. I'll start out by saying I think the idea was a good one (though I feel like it's been done before) and had quite a bit of potential. However, the film just never really lives up to that potential, at least in my opinion. One of the things that hurt this movie was it was...

Synopsis: After being fired from their waitress gig, sisters Brooke and Margot Bennett travel to Ireland in search of their deceased father's relatives. While touring the estate of an Irish earl, Aiden Hart, Margot convinces Brooke to pretend to be a successful event planner so they get the opportunity to organize an elaborate castle party. They are successful but Brooke begins to have second thoughts when she starts to fall for the earl. Who's in it? The movie stars Lacey Chabert , Ali Hardiman , Stuart Townsend , Kate O'Toole and Breffni Holahan . Review: My wife and I saw this movie advertised multiple times while watching other Hallmark movies this weekend and, mostly because we both like Lacey Chabert , we made a point of watching it when it first aired. Unfortunately, while Chabert lived up to expectations, this movie really didn't. If there is one word to describe this movie, it would be "predictable." Everything from Brooke's (Chabert) budding r...

Synopsis : Vanessa Hall never knew her father so, when an ancestry DNA test allows her to meet him for the first time, she is thrilled, especially when he invites her to spend Christmas with him and the rest of her new family. As an added bonus, she sees romantic potential in a family friend. There's just one thing that threatens to screw everything up, a phone call from the DNA company telling her they made a mistake. Who's in it? The movie stars Aimee Teegarden , Andrew W. Walker , James Tupper , G eorgia Mae Orchard and Kendall Cross . Review: I'll be honest, by the time my wife and I started watching this movie, I was starting to get a little burned out on Hallmark Christmas films and gave consideration to finding something else to do. I did end up watching it, however, and am glad I did. This turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining movie, with a good mix of laughs and even tears (my wife had to get some tissues about midway through it). Overall, I feel I enjoye...

Synopsis: Christmas "Chris" Winnacker has made her small toy company successful enough to attract the attention of a larger company seeking both a merger and her leadership. However, for the deal to happen, she must first get her former business partner/best friend, Joe Sullivan, to sign off on it. Joe reluctantly agrees to do it, but only if Chris helps him organize his annual toy drive first. Who's in it? The movie stars Marisol Nichols , Paul Greene , Veronica Marin-Estrada , Ted Dillon and Barbara Eve Harris. Review: I spent a good chunk of my holiday weekend watching Hallmark Christmas movies with my wife. There were some I liked and some I didn't. This one was probably among my favorites. The thing I liked most about this movie is it wasn't as predictable as films in this genre usually are. A big part of the reason for this is the relationship between Chris (Nichols) and Joe (Greene). Unlike many other films, the relationship wasn't one-sided, at lea...

Synopsis: Historian Jessica Cooper is hired to research the Plaza Hotel and put together a historical Christmas display. When she is paired with professional decorator Nick Perrelli, their immediate chemistry puts her relationship with her current boyfriend in doubt. Who's in it? The movie stars Elizabeth Henstridge , Ryan Paevey , Bruce Davison , Julia Duffy and Karen Holness . Review: My wife and I watched multiple Hallmark Christmas movies yesterday and, while I had doubts, I did find I enjoyed most of them more than expected (at least the ones I didn't doze off watching). Some of them, however, just weren't as enjoyable as the others and, after some reflection, I feel this is one of those movies. I thought the premise sounded somewhat interesting, mostly because I enjoy history myself. Unfortunately, as this movie progressed, I realized the premise wasn't enough to save what ended up being a sub-par movie, even by Hallmark standards. There were a couple reasons ...