Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Still traumatized from seeing his brother's abduction as a pre-teen, Mike Schmidt loses his job as a mall security guard after assaulting a man he mistook for a kidnapper. At risk of losing custody of his younger sister, Mike accepts a job guarding the long-abandoned Freddy's Fazbear's Pizza, a once popular pizza restaurant and family entertainment venue that shut down after several kids disappeared. Mike doesn't know the animatronic animals that once entertained the kids are now both haunted and have a connection to his past. Who's in it? The movie stars Josh Hutcherson , Matthew Lillard , Elizabeth Lail , Piper Rubio and Mary Stuart Masterson . Review: Both of our kids are fans of the video game franchise that inspired this movie, and because of that, my wife and I had planned on taking the kids to the theater to see it on opening weekend. Scheduling conflicts prevented that from happening, but we were able to watch it at home on Peacock last night. O...

My thoughts from the Green Bay Packers 24-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings today. I know it's likely easier said than done but I think fixing the Packers' slow start issue will go a long way toward turning this team's season around. The offense has shown flashes of what it is capable of but it's usually too little, too late. Constantly trailing also doesn't give the team a chance to fix its running game woes. It also leads to a lopsided time of possession that leaves the defense tired late in the game, when it is often called upon to make a play. On the subject of a running game , all you need to do is look at the Vikings' offense to see how much of a difference it could make for the Packers and Jordan Love. If the defense needs to respect the run, it gives the quarterback so many more options, especially off a play action. And staying on that subject, maybe the team just needs to design more run plays for Love himself. I don't think I'd describe him a...

My daughter had a field trip to Madison today and my wife and I accompanied her. We toured the capitol building. The first time for my wife and daughter and the first time for me since I was around my daughter's age. Here are some photos taken with my phone.

It was warm enough for some of the turtles to come out during my walk at lunch today. Since it'll probably be the last time I'll see them until spring, so I made sure to include them in my photos.

I wasn't out for my walk long, both because it's very windy and because I apparently forgot to charge the battery in my camera. However, I did catch this photo of some Canadian geese as they flew in to take a break on a pond.

 My thoughts from the Green Bay Packers' 19-17 loss to the Denver Broncos today. The offense is young, but at some point, that ceases to be an excuse and other explanations for the struggles on that side of the ball need to be considered. Matt LaFleur's offense tops that list. Is the Packers' head coach really an offensive genius? Or were Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams bailing him out in his first seasons? On that note, defensive coordinator Joe Barry gets a lot of grief from Packers' fans but other than the game against the Detroit Lions, the defense has kept the team in games. With the league rules giving advantages to the offense, that's really all you can ask for. Jordan Love needs to play better. It's his first year as a starter and it's not all on him. However, back-to-back late game interceptions aren't exactly something that makes it easy to have faith in him. In this game, Romeo Doubs looked wide open with the first down when Love forced the ...

Synopsis: After going off to college, Christopher Robin returns to the 100 Acre Woods with his new wife so he can reconnect with the friends everyone else thinks were imaginary. However, he soon learns Winnie the Pooh and Piglet have killed the other animals and angry over his abandoning them, have turned feral. He and a group of women on a retreat have their lives in danger as a result. Who's in it? The movie stars  Nikolai Leon ,  Maria Taylor ,  Natasha Rose Mills ,  Amber Doig-Thorne and  Danielle Ronald . Review: This wasn't a film that was particularly high on my list of movies I wanted to see. However, it was readily available on Peacock and since my wife and I wanted a horror film, gave it a try. Frankly, I wasn't impressed. I'll give the movie a few points for uniqueness. I mean, when you think of killers, Winnie the Pooh would probably be the last character that would come to mind. Other than that image though, there's really nothing special about t...