Steven Helmer Publications

  While looking for Christmas presents for the family, I took the time to do some research on some board games, so we could try to spend some more quality time together before my oldest daughter goes off to college next fall. This particular game (which is more of a card game than board game) looked somewhat interesting so I wound up ordering it as a present for the family. We had an opportunity to play it last night and it turned out to be worth every penny. The games concept is a fairly simple one. You and your friends are at an inn, drinking and gambling. If your character gets drunk to the point they pass out or if they run out of gold, you lose. And, of course, your "friends" can help you out by spiking your drinks, stealing your gold, cheating at cards, etc. We found it entertaining because of the laughs we ended up having while playing it. At first, I wasn't sure how complicated this game would be because the instructions were a little hard to follow. Once we start...

Synopsis: Mirabel, a Columbian teenager, is the only person in her family that doesn't possess a magical gift, making her somewhat of an outcast. When their magical family home begins showing cracks and some of her family members begin losing their powers, Mirabel is blamed. However, she might be the only person who can save the day. Who's in it? The animated movie uses voices from Stephanie Beatriz , Maria Cecilia Botero , John Leguizamo , Jessica Darrow and Wilmer Valderrama . Review: My oldest daughter saw this at the movie theater with a friend and liked it so much, she insisted on watching it with us when it came to Disney Plus. After seeing it, I don't know if I would say it was my favorite Disney movie but will admit the film was better than I was expecting. I think the thing I liked most about this film is it wasn't as predictable as many other animated movies are. Part of this was the mystery about why Mirabel (Beatriz) was the one person who didn't hav...

Synopsis: A bus full of college students gets lost in the desert and breaks down in an abandoned Old West town. While searching for a phone and debating how to get home, the students discover the town is haunted by a murderous ghost and his gang. Who's in it? The movie stars Jessica Rose , Randy Wayne , Gil Gerard , Billy Drago and Annabelle Wallis. Review: Christmas was over, so my wife looked for a horror film for us to watch last night. After scrolling through a couple choices, she settled on this one. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as we were hoping it would be. The overall premise of this movie wasn't a terrible one though, admittedly, it did feel like a ripoff of other films we've seen. A film that takes place in the middle of nowhere with no easy escape and villains that can't be killed (because they are already dead) had a lot of potential. The problem was the movie really never achieves that potential. I think the biggest problem with the movie is th...

Synopsis: Several years after his older brother, Billy, went on a killing spree, a now-adult Ricky tells a psychiatrist about his life immediately after the violence and how he eventually became a killer as well. Who's in it? The movie stars Eric Freeman , James Newman , Elizabeth Kaitan , Jean Miller and Corrine Gelfan. Review: Since it was Christmas, my wife and I wanted to watch a holiday movie. However, none of the many Hallmark movies we had in our library seemed appealing so we decided to watch this holiday-themed horror movie sequel instead. After seeing it, we both regretted not picking out a Hallmark film after all. The best way to describe this movie is to imagine watching the first film a second time and calling the second viewing a sequel because that's basically what this movie did. More than half of the film was a replay of the first movie, re-showing each murder in order. By the time Ricky (Freeman) reached the point he was becoming a serial killer too, I had...

Synopsis: Low-budget horror movie producer Lawrence Woolsey comes to Key West during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis and uses both the heightened tensions and a bunch of gimmicks to make his film, Mant , a lot scarier. However, not everything goes as planned, leading to lives being put in danger. Who's in it? The movie stars John Goodman , Cathy Moriarty , Simon Fenton , Omri Katz , Lisa Jakub and Kellie Martin . Review: I had some free time yesterday afternoon while my daughter finished up her homework and, after coming across this movie, decided to watch it. At first, I didn't think it would be a film I would enjoy and figured, at best, it would be background noise while I did something else. However, the movie was actually somewhat surprising. There are a couple things I found I really liked about this film. One of the main ones was the movie-inside-a-movie, Mant. The funny thing is, had that been a real film from the 1960s, I probably would have found the time to...

Synopsis: Inspired by her parents' love story and needing a change of scenery after her fiancee broke off their wedding plans, Seattle native Angela de Luca now lives in Rome, where she works as a tour guide. After losing her job a few days before Christmas, Angela is fortunate enough to run into Oliver Martin, a businessman looking to acquire an Italian ceramics company but with no knowledge of the city or Italian traditions. He hires Angela to be his personal tour guide and even helps her with starting her own business but, as their partnership becomes more romantic, Angela wonders how they would make it work once Oliver goes back to the United States. Who's in it? The movie stars Lacey Chabert , Sam Page , Franco Nero , Holly Hayes and Bryan Bounds . Review: Since my wife and I have watched multiple other Lacey Chabert Christmas movies this month, we decided to continue that trend by watching this film last night. It ended up being a good choice. At first, I wasn't ...

Synopsis: Former ballerina Natalia Haddad has started a new career working as a choreographer at her hometown's professional dance company but is growing frustrated by her ideas not being heard and the lack of interest in making her the lead choreographer for the upcoming production of The Nutcracker. When Natalia meets a local dancer, Vivi Serrano, she is inspired to help Vivi by infusing traditonal ballet with the woman's Latin background. However, her side project may end up costing Natalia her job. Who's in it? The movie stars Jamie Gray Harder , Laura Rosguer , Jesmille Darbouze , Rachel DeBenedet and Nicolas Dromard . Review: While picking out our next Christmas movie this past weekend, I wound up choosing this film mostly because it sounded a bit different than the other movies we had been watching. There were times when I had some doubts, at least early on in the film, but it turned out to be an enjoyable movie. One of the things I really liked about this film wa...