Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: After a new political party, the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) takes control of the government, they announce a social experiment on Long Island that will make all crime, including murder, legal for 12 hours and offer residents financial compensation for participating. As Long Island's residents plan to hide in their homes or attend parties, the NFFA takes steps to ensure their experiment will be successful. Who's in it? The movie stars Lex Scott Davis , Joivan Wade , Y'lan Noel , Marisa Tomei and Rotimi Paul. Review: To tell you the truth, I was a bit disappointed when I got this movie from Netflix yesterday. I've never been a huge fan of the Purge movies and, while I did have this on my DVD list, it was way at the bottom. However, since there wasn't much on TV last night except re-runs of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , my wife and I wound up watching it. And, as it turns out, it was better than I expected it to be. I think the thing...

Synopsis: Three years after finally tracking down and killing his sister, Michael Myers is secretly living in his old house in Haddonfield. When a reality TV series decides to film in his house, he wastes little time hunting down the inhabitants. Who's in it? The movie stars Brad Loree , Busta Rhymes , Bianca Kajlich , Sean Patrick Thomas, Tyra Banks and Daisy McCrackin . Review: I was under the impression my wife and I had seen this film before. However, when we wound up picking it out on VUDU last night, I realized that was not the case. We might have seen bits and pieces of it before but neither one of us remembered actually seeing the entire film. And, as it turns out, I didn't hate this. OK, to start out, let me say this movie does have a lot wrong with it. For example, the film never properly explains how Michael (Loree) could live in his house for three years and nobody noticed. Did he really go that long without killing anyone (and why?). And, what the heck was tha...

Synopsis: On Halloween in 1968, Stella, Auggie and Chuck show their new friend, Ramon, an abandoned mansion that once belonged to one of their town's founding families, the Bellows. When Stella finds a book of hand-written stories in a secret room, she decides to bring it home with her. This, in turn, angers the spirit of Sarah Bellow's, the family's abused daughter. One-by-one, Stella's friends become endangered as Sarah adds new stories to her book. Who's in it? The movie stars Zoe Margaret Colletti , Michael Garza , Gabriel Rush , Austin Abrams and Austin Zajur . Review: While I understand the need to attract younger audiences to the movie theater, I fully believe the new PG-13 standard has ruined potentially memorable horror films. Sadly, this movie, which I mostly watched to appease my 15-year-old, is a film that falls into that category. Overall, I thought the premise of this movie was a good one. Yes, there was some familiarity with it. But, the idea of a...

Synopsis: Teenage friends Brady, Sam, Jeff and Roy (a.k.a PrankMonkey69) get a kick out of making elaborate prank calls and posting the results on the internet. When Sam begins having relationship issues with his girlfriend, Peyton, Brady decides to cheer him up by pulling off a few more pranks. However, things turn sinister when the mysterious Mr. Lee hijacks their phones and electronics Who's in it? The movie stars Gregg Sulkin , Garrett Clayton , Bella Dayne , Edward Killingback and Jack Brett Anderson . Review: My wife wanted to watch a scary movie after her virtual kickboxing class yesterday evening so, while she was showering, I went in search of one. After a while, I settled for this movie, which I found on VUDU. To tell you the truth, I wasn't really expecting to like this movie, partly because it seemed like it would be  very similar to another film I've already seen, really predictable or both. However, it turned out to be better than expected. I think the thi...

Synopsis: After having their wedding disrupted by a torch-bearing mob, Gomez and Morticia Addams move to New Jersey and make their home in an abandoned insane asylum, where they eventually raise a family. Thirteen years later, they face a new threat, a reality show host who sees the Addams home as a blight on her newly-remodeled perfect community and is willing to take extreme measures to protect her investment. Who's in it? The animated movie uses voices from Oscar Isaac , Charlize Theron , Chloe Grace Moretz , Finn Wolfhard and Bette Midler . Review: When I first saw a trailer for this movie a few months ago, I thought it looked kind of dumb. However, the 1991 movie was a pleasant surprise and its sequel wasn't as bad as I thought it would be so, ultimately, I decided to give this animated film the benefit of the doubt and add it to my Netflix DVD queue. We watched the movie as a family last night and, as it turns out, I was right the first time. This was actually kind o...

It's sunny and somewhat warm out today but also very windy. As a result of that (and because I forgot to grab my jacket), I wound up cutting my walk somewhat short. I did, however, manage to get a couple photos while out.

Synopsis: After spending most of her life living in and exploring the Peruvian jungle with her parents, Dora stumbles upon a clue that reveals the location of the lost city of Parapata, which is believed to have more gold than the rest of the world combined. However, because she nearly injured herself in the process, her parents decide to continue the exploration without her and, instead, send her to live with her cousin, Diego's, family in Los Angeles. Having never been around other teenagers, she immediately struggles to fit in and even Diego is embarrassed to be seen with her. Things take a turn for the worse when her, Diego and two of their classmates are kidnapped while on a field trip and transported back to Peru. They escape their captors with the help of a family friend but must find the lost city and her parents before the mercenaries do. Who's in it? The movie stars Isabela Merced , Jeff Wahlberg , Eva Longoria , Madeleine Madden , Eugenio Derbez and Nicholas Coombe...

Synopsis:  When renown mystery writer Harlan Thrombey is found dead following his 85th birthday party, it is initially ruled a suicide. However, the investigation is re-opened when a well-known private investigator, Benoit Blanc, is anonymously hired to consult on the case. Blanc immediately uncovers multiple suspects withing Thrombey's eccentric family. However, things take an even more dramatic turn when the mystery writer's nurse, Marta Cabrera, is named Thrombey's sole heir. Who's in it? The movie stars Ana de Armas , Daniel Craig , Chris Evans , Jamie Lee Curtis , Don Johnson and Christopher Plummer . Review:  I received this movie on DVD from Netflix yesterday and, since there wasn't anything good on TV, decided to watch it with my wife yesterday evening. Normally, my wife and I usually wind up sharing the same view of the movies we watch, we either both like them or we both hate them. However, this happened to be one of those rare films where we disagreed. ...

It's been too cold at night to plant my garden. But, fortunately, it has been warm enough during the day for me to get outside a bit. I got another walk in at lunch. Here are some of the photos.

It was beautiful weather today so I decided to duck out at lunch to see if I could get some photos. Overall, I think I was successful. Here is a selection:

Synopsis: Hoping for scholarship money to help her go to college, high school senior, Jamie Hall, becomes increasingly frustrated with her new teacher, Molly Matson, who seems to be purposely giving her poor grades. When Jamie catches her boyfriend, Danny, cheating with Ms. Matson, it sends things in a downward spiral that results in Danny's death and Jamie being accused of murder. Who's in it? The movie stars Josie Davis , Kelcie Stranahan , Cameron Deane Stewart , Brennan Elliott and Darlene Vogel . Review: When I picked out this movie on VUDU last night, I mostly did it because the description made me believe it would help my wife overcome the absence of new Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes. It wound up being pretty much what I expected it to be, a film with an OK premise but not-so-great execution. There were a couple things about this movie that I really didn't enjoy. The main one is, even though the movie is supposedly based on a true story,...

Synopsis: Three years after escaping from the video game version of Jumanji, Spencer, Fridge, Bethany and Martha plan to reunite for the holidays. Spencer, feeling his life has been spiraling downhill since high school, decides to try to regain some of his confidence by repairing the game and, eventually, his friends, his grandfather and his grandfather's friend are dragged into Jumanji as well. Who's in it? The movie stars Dwayne Johnson , Kevin Hart , Karen Gillan , Jack Black , Danny Glover and Danny DeVito . Review: I almost forgot this was out on DVD until I came across it on Netflix. When I did, I was quick to add it to the top of my queue and we ended up watching the movie, as a family, this weekend. Overall, I have to say I enjoyed the film. But, as is usually the case with sequels, it did lack something when compared to the movie that preceded it. I'm going to start out by saying I loved the way the movie decided to mix things up. Not only were the fri...

I saw this beautiful predator hanging out in the neighbor's walnut tree while I was taking stuff to our compost pile. It hung around long enough for me to get my camera and take a photo but eventually must have saw something because it took off in attack mode. I didn't see what it was chasing because it flew to the other side of the house.

I decided to take the family to Edgewater Park yesterday morning in the hopes the girls would get to see some baby turtles. Unfortunately, unlike Friday, when I was able to find a couple of them, there weren't any babies. But, we did see some adult turtles.

Synopsis: When the wealthy Leonard apparently dies in his sleep, the last thing his new caregiver, Katie, expected was for him to leave her everything in his will. However, her new-found windfall creates suspicion about her and her husband's role in Leonard's death. Who's in it? The movie stars Camila Mendes , Jesse T. Usher , Cam Gigandet , Elliott Gould and Sasha Alexander . Review: I actually had planned on just watching re-runs of Psych last night. However, I saw an advertisement for this Netflix movie and, since my wife and I are familiar with Mendes because of her work on the show Riverdale , I decided to watch it with her. Unfortunately, the movie really wasn't that impressive. My biggest problem with this film is the way pretty much everything could have been avoided had Katie (Mendes) simply called the damn cops. OK, yes, her and her husband (Usher) did some pretty stupid things, such as taking the $100,000 in cash Leonard (Gould) kept in his atti...

Happy May Day! The weather was beautiful today so I was finally able to get out with my camera again. Just in time too. The baby turtles are starting to pop out.