Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Out of work and with bill collectors pounding on his door, chemical engineer Lucky Downing accepts $1,000 to pretend to be engaged to beautiful heiress Elinor Bentley Fairchild for one month. He is thrilled to be making money for easy work until he learns Elinor's previous three fiancés were attacked by a mysterious figure known as the Smiling Ghost and his life is likely in danger. Who's in it? The movie stars Wayne Morris , Brenda Marshall , Alexis Smith , Alan Hale and Willie Best. Review: I had this movie in my library for a few weeks and finally had an opportunity to sit down and watch it earlier today. At first, I wasn't really sure what to expect from it, but it ended up being an entertaining film. I think the thing I liked best about this movie is, in addition to being funny, it has a good mystery. At first, the ghost/killer seemed obvious since there were those who had motive to make sure Elinor (Smith) didn't get married. However, there were quit...

  At this point, it is no secret Green Bay Packers' quarterback, Aaron Rodgers has been playing with an injured thumb for the past several weeks. He even admitted the thumb was broken a few days ago. While some (especially me) have questioned the decision to keep him in as the starter despite the injury, the Packers chose to let him play instead of giving backup quarterback Jordan Love the nod and let Rodgers heal. Last night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles proved that was a mistake. For those who didn't see it, Love entered the game in the second half after Rodgers went to the locker room with a rib injury. The Packers still came up short because of defensive woes that haunted them all night, but Love led the team to two scores (a touchdown and field goal) before the Eagles ran out the clock. Love wasn't perfect and made a couple mistakes, including trying to get the ball to Christian Watson instead of a wide-open Allen Lazard. However, there was also no signifi...

  I'm not a huge fan of staying at hotels but have been doing so more frequently now that my oldest daughter is in college. We first stayed at the Radisson Hotel, located at 100 Spring Street in River Falls, WI, a few months ago, when she toured the college campus there. We've been staying at a different hotel each time since but decided to switch things up on our last visit. It will be our first choice from now on. Cost-wise, this is slightly more expensive than the other hotels in the area, but not by a whole lot. This last visit, for example, it was about $5 more. It's worth the extra money. For one, the location couldn't be better. It's right across the street from the college campus and within easy walking distance of one of the grocery stores and most of the downtown businesses. The hotel also has a parking garage, something that is very handy when it's cold outside. The rooms are much larger than the other hotel we've been staying at. A room with two ...

Synopsis: American architect, David Burnside is working for a firm in London and dating his boss's daughter, Charlotte. He wants to buy her the perfect gift for their first Christmas together but all he can come up with, partly because of his busy schedule and partly because they've only been dating for three months, is a gift card. When a chance encounter results in him meeting Anji, a professional shopper, he enlists her help but even the "gift whisperer" discovers shopping for him is a challenge. The movie is also known as Christmas in London. Who's in it? The movie stars  Will Kemp ,  Reshma Shetty ,  Callum Blue ,  Sophie Hopkins  and  James Faulkner . Review: Since it is getting cold outside and we recently had some snow, I figured it was as good of night as any to start our holiday moving watching. My wife and I ended up picking out this Hallmark film from our library and it proved to be a good choice. Like many movies from this genre, the film was...

Synopsis: After watching his dad, a Hollywood horse trainer, get killed by coins and keys falling from the sky, OJ Haywood struggles to keep his father's ranch up and running while, at the same time, suspecting the phenomena was caused by aliens. As more strange events happen on the ranch, he and his sister, Emerald, try to capture the UFO on film, hoping to make money from the footage but soon find their lives in danger. Who's in it? The movie stars  Daniel Kaluuya ,  Keke Palmer ,  Brandon Perea ,  Michael Wincott  and  Steven Yeun . Review: I have wanted to see this movie ever since I first saw the trailer. I loved one of writer/director Jordan Peele 's other movies, Get Out and was interested to see how he'd approach the alien invasion genre. My wife and I watched it last night and were not disappointed. There were a couple things I really enjoyed about this movie. One of the main ones is how the film does a good job building the mystery and suspens...

  So, I'm not one of those football fans who wants a coach fired after a bad game or even bad season. I'm also going to point out some things can be outside a coach's control, like injuries and a late bye week. However, after watching last night's game against the Tennessee Titans, I think it's time to cast a large part of the blame in Matt LaFleur's direction. To be fair, LaFleur has probably earned the benefit of the doubt after taking the team to two NFC Championship games and 39 regular season wins over his first three seasons. However, as this year's team struggles to remain relevant, there are plenty of red flags: Red Flag #1 - Aaron Rodgers - I've made this point in other posts, but I'm going to make it again. The head coach is responsible for ensuring the best 11 players are on the field. Ordinarily, Rodgers would be one of those 11. However, even he is admitting the thumb injury he suffered against the New York Giants back in week 5 is affec...

  Last night's 27-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans has the Packers at 4-7 and, with the 7-1 Philadelphia Eagles on the schedule before their bye week and, even with 6 games left, it will take a miracle for the team to have any chance at the post season. As a result of all of this, it is time for Aaron Rodgers to sit. Frankly, even if the Packers had a legitimate chance at turning things around and winning the rest of their games this season, I would be encouraging the quarterback change. Normally, Aaron Rodgers versus Jordan Love would result in me picking Rodgers every time. However, that equation changes when it is a healthy Jordan Love versus an injured Aaron Rodgers and, despite his public denials, it's obvious that injured thumb, suffered weeks ago, is affecting Rodgers' play. That's only going to get worse in the colder temps. Love, a first-round pick, has had one career start since the Packers drafted him. That start was a loss, but many players and coaches have s...

Synopsis: Not wanting to disappoint his mother by having a baby out of wedlock Gus, is planning to marry his pregnant girlfriend, Selene, but her previous marriage is putting things on hold until she can locate her husband and get a divorce. Shawn tries to help but accidentally discovers Selene doesn't really exist and he and Gus try to find out who she is and what she is hiding. Who's in it? The movie stars  James Roday Rodriguez ,  Dulé Hill ,  Timothy Omundson ,  Maggie Lawson ,  Jazmyn Simon and  Kirsten Nelson . Review: This has been on my watch list for a few months and, now that I have a subscription to Peacock, I was finally able to sit down at watch it. Whenever there is a movie (or movie sequel) based on a popular television show, it tends to do one of two things. It either makes you miss the series, or it reminds you why it was time to take the series off the air in the first place. This movie accomplishes both of those things. I thought the ...

  Creativity isn't always my strong suit when I cook since I tend to stick with meals I've made before. However, I was at the grocery store yesterday evening and had originally intended to buy a frozen skillet dinner (since my wife/daughter had martial arts classes until 8) and, after seeing the price of those, decided to make one from scratch. Cost-wise, there wasn't much difference in price. I would have needed to buy two pre-made skillet dinners since one just isn't enough for everyone and that would have cost me $15. The ingredients were around $16 (and I could have probably come in at less money had I gone with a different brand of shrimp). The ingredients: Frozen shrimp - no tail Elbow pasta 1 jar of Alfredo Sauce 1-pound bag of frozen broccoli. I fried the broccoli and shrimp together until the latter was fully cooked. I then boiled the elbow pasta separately and added about half the 1-pound box to the pan (saving the rest for another time) and mixed them with th...

  The Green Bay Packers finally snapped their losing streak against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday and, in the process, might have found a new offensive star in 2nd-round pick Christian Watson, who scored three touchdowns. In the meantime, second-year receiver Amari Rodgers might have accelerated his departure from the team, following a costly fumble on a punt return that nearly caused another team implosion. Unlike a lot of fans, I tend to be patient when it comes to younger players, especially receivers, because development doesn't always happen at a quick pace. Former Packers' all-pro Davante Adams is a good example of this, struggling with drops his first couple of seasons in the league before becoming one of the best. So, also unlike a lot of fans, I'm not going to demand he get cut. However, it might be time for fans, and the team, to lower their expectations of the former 3rd round pick. There are ultimately a couple things that really stand out for me when looking at Rod...

Synopsis: When Donald Wallace attends an exclusive boarding school following his father's death, he has a hard time fitting in and only stays because he has a crust on fellow student, Clemsie Lawrence. After breaking school rules by visiting a nearby fracking operation and raising concerns about the environmental damage it is doing to school grounds, Don is punished by being forced to stay on campus during the students' break and finds himself rallying the few friends he has when the subterranean monsters Slaughterhouse was built to contain escape through a sinkhole caused by the fracking. Who's in it? The movie stars Finn Cole ,  Hermione Corfield ,  Asa Butterfield , Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Review: We spent most of our day at a city-wide holiday event in Ripon yesterday and, when we got home in the evening, thought about topping the day off with a Christmas movie. However, I wasn't able to decide on one and, after scrolling through our movie channels, came acr...

Synopsis: Georgie ( Montana Jordan ) meets Mandy's ( Emily Osment ) parents ( Will Sasso and Rachel Bay Jones ). While searching for a comic book, Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) comes up with a way to use the internet to make it easier. My Thoughts: Do Missy's ( Raegan Revord ) parents know she has a job?   I am going to assume they do, but the show never really confirmed that. Allowing her to have the job also seems a little out of character for at least Mary ( Zoe Perry ) considering Missy had to lie about her age to get it and is sometimes working until after dark. OK, I'll admit the whole comic book database thing proved to be funnier than expected. I still have a hard time believing Sheldon was the first person to come up with that idea, but it didn't matter because it was kind of fun seeing him get distracted and, instead, trying to re-organize the store with Missy getting annoyed about having to help him, as usual. I would have asked about child labor laws when Mis...

Synopsis: After her successful adventure saving Lord Tewkesbury from assassination, Sherlock Holmes' sister, Enola, starts her own detective agency specializing in finding missing people only to learn people weren't interested in hiring a woman, especially since her brother was given sole credit for her only case. As she is about to give up, Enola is hired by an orphan in search of her missing older "sister," who worked in a match factory and theater. The case becomes more complex than Enola anticipated, seeming to be related to a case her brother is working on and ultimately getting her arrested for murder. Who's in it? The movie stars Millie Bobby Brown , Henry Cavill , Louis Partridge , Helena Bonham Carter and David Thewlis . Review: I enjoyed Enola Holmes more than expected when I watched it last year and, while I did have some doubts about the sequel, decided it was worth taking the time to watch it. I was able to do that yesterday evening and this morn...

  I consider myself a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan. And as a fan, I know I can complain when my team isn't performing up to my expectations without losing that fan status, whether it is complaining about an underperforming player or the style of offense/defense the team is running. In other words, even if I'm unhappy about my team, it doesn't make me a Chicago Bears fan. As I watch the results of yesterday's midterm elections which, as of the time I am writing this, are largely still undecided, I feel this philosophy can be applied to American politics. If you consider yourself a Republican or Democrat, you are essentially rooting for a "team." Your team even has a mascot. The primary difference is, when your team underperforms, there seems to be hesitation and reluctance to discuss what needs to be done to correct the problem out of fear of not being considered a "fan." And I'm not even going to get into the whole unfounded election fraud excu...

  Roughly 11 years ago, thousands of ex-NFL players filed a lawsuit against the National Football League over the life-altering head injuries they received and alleging the league withheld and suppressed information about head injuries. The case was settled and, in addition to financial compensation, the NFL changed the way it viewed head injuries, including implementing a concussion protocol that involves independent observers. Is a similar lawsuit on the horizon? While head injuries are obviously a much bigger concern, torn ACLs and various other injuries caused by the artificial turf in 14 NFL stadium are arguably a close second. Injuries happen in football, but many artificial turf-related injuries happen without the player receiving any sort of contact. This includes the torn ACL sustained by St. Louis Rams' receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. during the Super Bowl in February, when he was wide open on a pass and dropped to the ground injured. Even if an injury isn't career-ending...

  There was a time on Sunday when the Green Bay Packers seemed to finally be figuring things out on offense. Aaron Rodgers was completing tough passes and the team was moving the ball on the road against the Detroit Lions. Then, following two red zone interceptions, both the result of bad throws by the future hall of fame quarterback, the team showed the trainwreck it had become. If there is any defense in the league that could make the Packers' offense look functional, it would be the last-ranked Lions' D. Instead, the dysfunction that has shown all season reared its ugly head and fans were forced to accept the truth, this Packers team isn't very good and doesn't seem to have any idea about how to get better. Technically, the team isn't eliminated from post season contention just yet and, with 8 games left in the season, a lot could still happen. However, optimism aside, that doesn't seem likely. The Packers have two very big things working against them in addi...

Synopsis: When Agatha Raisin tries a new hairdresser, Mr. John, she both enjoys how he styled her hair and the way the handsome man flirts with her. However, while out on a date with him, she notices the fearful way one of the village women looks at him and begins to suspect he is a blackmailer. With the help of Sir Charles, she comes up with an elaborate plan to investigate the hairdresser by pretending to be his next mark, but things become more complicated when John is poisoned, and someone tries to burn down his house while Agatha is in it. When John dies, Agatha becomes one of the primary suspects. Review: It's been a while since I've tried an Agatha Raisin book, mostly because I wasn't too thrilled with the series. However, I was looking for something to read while at the library and, since I was familiar with the character, decided to give her another try and, overall, didn't hate the book. I think the thing I liked best about this mystery is how the book doesn...

Synopsis: Orphan Nate Drake is working as a bartender and pickpocket when he meets Victor "Sully" Sullivan, a fortune hunter who claims to have worked with his long-lost brother, Sam, searching for roughly $5 billion in gold hidden by Ferdinand Magellan. Hoping to reunite with Sam, Nate agrees to help Sully steal a jeweled cross that is also one of two keys needed to find the treasure and join in the search. However, he quickly learns he can't trust anyone. Who's in it? The movie stars Tom Holland , Mark Wahlberg , Sophia Ali , Tati Gabrielle and Antonio Banderas. Review: I'm not a huge fan of the Uncharted video game series and, because of that, had some doubts about watching this movie. However, the weather was kind of crappy today and this was available on Netflix, so my wife and I gave it a try. It more than exceeded my expectations. I think the best way I could describe this movie is it is a combination of Raiders of the Lost Ark , National Treasure and G...

Synopsis: Two couples go on a camping trip together and, while telling ghost stories by their campfire accidentally summon an Amazonian spirit that hunts down and punishes people who cheat on their partner. Who's in it? The movie stars  Najah Bradley , Patrick Walker ,  Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer ,  Luciana Faulhaber , AJ Jones and Gillie Jones . Review: A lot of times I will pick out a movie based solely on the length because I want to watch a film but might be too tired to concentrate for more than 90 minutes. That was the case with this horror movie, which I had in my library. While I wasn't expecting it to be anything overly great, the film completely missed the mark with me. I think the best way I could describe this movie is it reminded me of a bad soap opera that attempted to mix in some horror movie elements. The dialog seemed both forced and a bit over the top with one of the characters, Daniel (Jones) seeming to go out of his way to be an ass with anti-feminist vi...

  On October 9th, the Green Bay Packers traveled to London for the first time and took on the New York Giants. Their 22-27 loss was the start of a 4-game losing streak that now has the defending NFC North champs reeling at 3-5 and in a must-win situation heading into Detroit on Sunday. Hindsight is always 20/20 but their recent misfortune has me wondering if they made a mistake by not having their bye week earlier in the season. Normally, the NFL schedule maker decides when teams have their bye weeks. However, the lone exception to that is teams playing overseas have the option to take their bye week immediately following the international game. While I can understand the Packers' reluctance to have their bye week so early in the season, especially since it is hard to predict what might happen, the decision to do so might have turned their fortunes around. It's obvious the Packers have a lot of things to work out, especially on an offense that has struggled both with inexperien...

Synopsis: George ( Lance Barber ) is asked to help Wayne Wilkins ( Doc Farrow ) with the football team after Wilkins' wife cheats on him. Mandy ( Emily Osment ) starts to see Georgie ( Montana Jordan ) in a different light after he buys an "ugly" but baby-friendly car, and she learns about the secret business he runs with Connie ( Annie Potts ). My Thoughts: Who was this "best friend" Wayne was referring to? I honestly always thought his best friend was George, considering it always seemed to be George and Tom Peterson ( Rex Linn ) with him whenever he went out to the bar. Is it another teacher at the school? I kind of want to know. I'm undecided about Mandy's change in attitude toward Georgie. It's not as though he hasn't been going out of his way to prove he's a good guy yet, suddenly, she seems to be falling in love with him because he bought a car and because he's running an illegal gambling operation. I'm now wondering if mayb...

Synopsis: Even though Marguerite (Meg) Steinheil didn't consider herself a prostitute, she rose to prominence in 19th century France by performing sexual favors for prominent men in exchange for them purchasing her husband's paintings and even entered a love affair with France's president. When her husband and mother were murdered, and she was found tied to a bed, authorities suspected she was lying about what happened and was possibly involved. However, proving that would result in a scandal that could potentially embarrass the country. Review: This was a book I randomly checked out the last time I was at our local library. It wasn't anything I had heard about previously but looked somewhat interesting, so I figured I'd give it a try. It ended up being an entertaining read. There were a couple things that I found interesting about this book. One of the main ones was how Meg was put in a position where she effectively needed to be the breadwinner because her artis...

My oldest daughter started her first semester of college back in September. It was a new experience, both for her and for us as parents, and we weren't really sure what to expect. Roughly two months later, I've learned a few things. Image courtesy of Pixabay 1. Kids can be surprisingly independent. OK, so technically my daughter is considered an adult now. However, there were plenty of reasons for us to worry about an 18-year-old who had never lived on her own before and would now be 250 miles away. To say she exceeded our expectations is an understatement. She's been there roughly 9 weeks. In that time, she has managed to get to class, do her homework, make new friends, remember to eat, go grocery shopping, shower and do her laundry without a constant reminder from us. She even found a part-time job on her own. I'm not going to say she doesn't need us at all, but she proved she doesn't need us looking over her shoulder anymore. 2. The independence comes with a ...