Steven Helmer Publications

With Aaron Rodgers' future still undecided and Green Bay Packers' general manager Brian Gutenkunst reporting he has not had any conversations with the face of the franchise, the Packers seem to be heading into 2023 with a potential quarterback controversy. Adding to this were Gutenkunst's comments about 2020 first round draft pick Jordan Love, and how he thought the quarterback was ready to play. Given Rodgers' contract situation, it makes me wonder if Green Bay isn't completely sold on the younger passer, despite those public comments. The Love pick was controversial three years ago, especially with Rodgers under contract and still playing at a high level. The decision to draft a quarterback seemed to mirror the decision to draft Rodgers when the team still had Brett Favre. However, unlike Rodgers, who unexpectedly fell to the Packers, the team traded up to get Love. Despite Gutekunst's recent claim, everything the team has done since drafting him seems to indi...

Synopsis: FBI profiler John Hartley helps Interpol catch a thief looking to steal three gold eggs that once belonged to Cleopatra. However, when he is later framed for stealing one of the eggs, Hartley is imprisoned with the thief, Nolan Booth, and needs to pair up with Booth both to escape a maximum-security prison and catch a thief known as The Bishop, the woman who framed him, so he can prove his innocence. Who's in it? The movie stars Dwayne Johnson , Ryan Reynolds , Gal Gadot , Ritu Arya and  Chris Diamantopoulos. Review: I saw a preview reminding me of this movie on Netflix a few days ago and ended up adding it to my list. I was in the mood to watch something with my wife last night and since I couldn't find a decent horror film, decided to give it a try. Overall, I thought it was a fun movie. Johnson and Reynolds worked pretty well together. There was a good mix of comedy and their characters, Hartley and Booth, seemed to have a good rapport while still being believa...

The NFL is a business. That's something NFL general managers and coaches remind us of whenever they decide to part ways with a popular player to save some money. Yet, when the shoe is on the other foot, fans can sometimes get a little upset when a player doesn't take a "hometown discount" to stick around. Plus, the media can sometimes be a little bit cruel too. This is especially true of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Ever since announcing plans to go on a "darkness retreat" to decide his future plans, Rodgers has been the subject of everything from jokes at his expense to media criticism about him holding the team hostage and putting himself ahead of his team. That is simply not fair. Does Rodgers' indecision hurt the Packers? Yes. Until he makes a decision that lets them know he plans to retire or gives them permission to trade him, they are on the hook for the $50 million in guaranteed money he is owed in 2023. This means they need to pl...

Synopsis: A group of bull sharks dam up a popular river using the body parts of their victims. Meanwhile a group of employees on a business retreat are getting ready for a river race. Who's in it? The movie stars Jason London , Jessica Blackmore , Robert Craighead , Matt Mercer and Kabby Borders . Review: I came across this movie a few days ago and added it to my library for a later time. That ended up being this evening and, while it wasn't the best shark-related movie I've ever seen, it was still pretty good. I think the thing I found I liked most about this film is it wasn't nearly as predictable as it could have been. The sharks themselves behaved as expected but since there were quite a few characters and subplots, it opened to the door to a few twists and turns. In fact, there were quite a few surprises when it came to the shark's victims, including what looked to be a budding love story that gets interrupted by a shark attack. There was a good mix of comed...

My wife and I decided on spaghetti for dinner last night and, while in the breadstick section of the grocery store, I came across this product. It was $6.99, but I had just gotten paid so I figured I would give them a try. Overall, I would have to say it was at least a unique option. The breadsticks were loaded with beef, nacho cheese, jalapenos, tomato and onion. They had a decent flavor with a bit of a kick and not too spicy and were definitely different from the normal garlic bread sticks or cheesy bread we would normally buy. The bread sticks were easy enough to make. I just needed to remove the outer wrapping and put them in the oven for about 30 minutes. They even come in their own baking dish, so you don't need to dirty any pans. The box is a bit misleading about the size of the bread sticks but that wasn't too big of a deal since we ended up just eating them as five bread sticks rather than nine since they were stuck together by the cheese anyway, which made them about...

Synopsis: When her sister is killed in a car accident a robotics expert, Gemma, takes custody of her niece, Cady. Gemma is unprepared to be a guardian but makes a connection with her niece when she invents a life-like doll with artificial intelligence. However, M3GAN takes her instructions to protect Cady a little too literally. Who's in it? The movie stars Allison Williams , Violet McGraw , Ronny Chieng , Amie Donald and Jenna Davis . Review: When I first heard about this movie, my first thought was "oh look, another movie about a killer doll." However, the trailers made it seem somewhat intriguing so, when it became available on Peacock, I decided to give it a try. As it turns out, it isn't just another movie about a killer doll. I think the thing I found both intriguing and unexpected about this film is there really isn't a character I would consider the bad guy. Sure, M3GAN (Donald and Davis) does some bad things, but only because she truly cares about Ca...

Synopsis: Louise murders her wealthy but abusive husband, John Haloran and disposes of his body in a lake as part of a plan to steal his family's fortune during an annual memorial for his deceased sister, Kathleen. However, her plan faces obstacles from both a masked axe-carrying killer and Kathleen's ghost. Who's in it? The movie stars Julia Campanelli , Channing Pickett , Marianne Noscheze , Ana Isabelle and Christian Ryan . Review: I watched the 1963 original roughly a year ago and ended up enjoying that Francis Ford Coppola film so much, I was interested in seeing the remake. I finally got around to doing that tonight and enjoyed it more than expected. While I would hesitate to say it was the better of the two films, I did think the modern special effects, especially when it came to Kathleen's ghost, added a little something extra to this version. There were some surprisingly creepy scenes in this movie, ranging from the shadow hand that quietly appears to tho...

Synopsis: Roughly 12 years after witnessing her mother's suicide, 17-year-old Clare Shannon is a depressed, bullied high school student who is embarrassed by her dumpster-diving dad. When her dad brings her home a mysterious music box with ancient Chinese symbols on it, Clare discovers it can grant her seven wishes. However, she soon learns each wish is paid for with the life of someone close to her. Who's in it? The movie stars Joey King , Ryan Phillippe , Ki Hong Lee , Mitchell Slaggert and Shannon Purser. Review: I came across this movie a few weeks ago and added it to my library for a rainy day. It seemed like an OK choice for our family movie night last night, even though I was concerned it would be predictable and dull. Overall, I have to say the movie exceeded expectations. I think the thing I found I liked most about this film was Clare (King). At first, she seemed like a kind person who would want to do the right thing, such as not making a wish if she knew it woul...

Synopsis: Middle-aged Kath agrees to go on a romantic adventure with her younger, slacker boyfriend, Max, to a remote cabin. When they arrive, they discover another couple, Al and Greta, already occupying it and, despite a lot of reluctance, decides to share it with them for a night. When she wakes up the next morning, she finds Al crying in the woods because Max and Greta ran off together. With the help of the cabin's owner, Nicholas, she seeks answers about why Max left her. However, she winds up discovering something sinister. Who's in it? The movie stars Winona Ryder , Dermot Mulroney , John Gallagher Jr. , Owen Teague and Brianne Tju . Review: I picked this movie out at our local library on Saturday both because the plot sounded interesting and because it's been a while since I've seen a movie starring Winona Ryder. We got around to watching this film last night and it proved to be a big disappointment. There were a lot of problems with this movie, starting wit...

Synopsis: Stricken with a disabling blood disease since childhood, Dr. Michael Morbius seeks to cure it by splicing vampire bat and human DNA. His illegal experiment works but also turns him into a living vampire that needs human blood to survive. Who's in it? The movie stars Jared Leto , Matt Smith , Adria Arjona , Jared Harris and Tyrese Gibson . Review: Since my mom's birthday was on Tuesday, we delayed our family movie night until last night and, after scrolling through several options, my daughter and I decided to give this one a try, both from the description and who starred in it. It was an OK film but not quite what I was expecting it to be. I was never into comic books so, while I had heard of Morbius, I didn't really know a whole lot about the Marvel character, including whether he was a hero, villain or anti-hero. Unfortunately, I think this was a movie that really only works if you're already invested in the title character. I think this movie would have...

Synopsis: Desperate for money to pay for his wife's surgery, Marine veteran Will Sharp goes to his adoptive brother, Danny, a career criminal, for help and reluctantly agrees to participate in a bank robbery. When the heist goes awry and Will shoots a police officer, the pair hijack an ambulance with the wounded officer and a paramedic, Cam, inside. They then attempt to elude the Los Angeles Police Department while doing everything they can to keep the officer alive so they can avoid a murder charge too. Who's in it? The movie stars  Jake Gyllenhaal ,  Yahya Abdul-Mateen II , Eiza González ,  Garret Dillahunt and  Cedric Sanders . Review: I've had this movie saved to my library for a few weeks and my wife and I finally had a chance to sit down and watch it yesterday evening. Overall, I thought it was a good choice. There are a couple things I found I really liked about this film. One of the main ones is just how desperate brothers' situation is. They aren't give...

Synopsis: As part of Hotel Transylvania's 125th anniversary celebration, Dracula plans to announce his retirement and give the hotel to Mavis and Jonathan. However, Jonathan's overreaction to the news causes Dracula to have second thoughts and when he lies about the reason, claiming he can't leave the hotel to a non-monster, Jonathan gets help from Van Helsing to turn himself into one. This backfires when Dracula and his friends are accidentally turned human and the only way to reverse it is with a trip to the jungles of South America for a special crystal. Who's in it? The animated movie uses the voices of Andy Samberg , Selena Gomez , David Spade , Keegan-Michael Key and Brian Hull . Review: It was our family movie night and, since I came across this film on Amazon Prime a few days ago, decided to watch it. I wasn't too huge of a fan of the other Hotel Transylvania sequels and had quite a few doubts about this choice. However, it did turn out to be better than...

Following the blow out in the NFL Title Game, which saw the San Francisco 49ers forced to play an injured Brock Purdy at quarterback in the second half, a lot of media outlets are suggesting reinstating the 3rd-quarterback rule. I disagree with that suggestion. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the rule, from 1991 through 2010 NFL teams were allowed to dress a third quarterback at games. That quarterback would not count against the 45-man gameday roster limit but could be activated during the course of the game as an injury replacement. There were some restrictions as part of that rule, including the first- and second-string quarterbacks not being allowed back in the game if the third-string player was substituted before the fourth quarter. While the situation that unfolded in the NFC Title Game may seem to make this rule relevant again, those who are asking for it are forgetting a very important detail - the NFL technically didn't get rid of it to begin with. The original r...

Truthfully, there are a lot of things I'm not a fan of when it comes to this series lately. For example, Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) and Missy ( Raegan Revord ) are starting to look way older than their characters are supposed to be, and I've already mentioned the George/Brenda ( Lance Barber and Melissa Peterman ) affair thing that just doesn't seem to want to go away. However, this season's storyline involving Sheldon's idea for a database is topping that list. To summarize: Sheldon came up with an idea to build a computer database involving grant money but doesn't want to work with the university because they are doing it for profit, and he wouldn't be the one in charge. The problem is that disagreement, which escalated to a confrontation in this week's episode, just never made sense. First, I've never seen any indication the college didn't want him to be in charge of the project. The university's only concern (and it was a valid one) was t...

Even though the jury is still out regarding the Melissa Rauch -led Night Court reboot I do think the fledgling series has shown potential by modernizing the stories while still honoring the original that went off the air in 1992. So far, the show has focused solely on Abby Stone's (Rauch) relationship with her deceased father, Harry ( Harry Anderson ) and a now-elderly Dan Fielding ( John Larroquette ) and it still needs to give the supporting cast a little more depth. However, there is an opportunity for the reboot to bring closure to a few storylines from the original series: What happened to Bob and June Wheeler? Bob and June ( Brent Spiner and Annie O'Donnell ) were frequent and popular guest characters on the series and their hard-luck stories were some of the funniest moments on the show. Their last appearance was in Season 4, when they purchased the courthouse concession stand for $250,000 only to watch it fail because they had to raise the prices to obscene amounts. Th...

Synopsis: A group of vicious aliens know as Crites escape a prison and crash land on a Kansas farm. They are stalked by two alien bounty hunters who cause just as much damage. Who's in it? The movie stars Dee Wallace , M Emmet Walsh , Billy Green Bush , Scott Grimes and Nadine Van der Velde . Review: We started having a family movie night on Tuesdays, mostly as a way to convince our daughter she doesn't need to go to martial arts classes five nights per week. She's 13 and gaining an interest in horror movies so I picked this one out. Describing this as a horror film might be a little inaccurate. I would say it is much more of a science fiction comedy than anything else. However, it had been a while since I had seen this movie myself and it was as good as I remembered. I think the thing I liked most about this was how the Crites were able to keep a relatively low profile, stalking a single family and keeping them isolated from the rest of the town. In fact, I'm not so...