Steven Helmer Publications

  Photo courtesy of Pixabay We walk into a crowd, And she’s immediately the center of attention. Within only a few moments, I am invisible, all but forgotten. What can I do?  She lights up a room. While I am the kind of guy who prefers a dark corner. Not unlike a mushroom. There’s no denying it, We’re two different souls. Opposites may attract, But we are definitely on distant poles. . While I can’t explain it, One thing is certain. She’s the star of the show, And I’m just the guy waiting for her behind the curtain. I don’t mind it. I’m serious about that, really. I get to see what they don’t get to see, Her human side, her vulnerability. Needing me to hold her close, When she’s had a bad day. Knowing I can still make her laugh and smile, Makes me feel happy and gay. They are the things that make us closer, And make us feel much more like a duet. Though perhaps they just make me love her a bit too much,  Make me worship her, like I’m her pet. I don’t know if she realizes ...

Synopsis: At his classmate, Meg Morgan's suggestion, Nath Turner gets a job as a farm hand for her adoptive parents, Pete and Ellen. Even though they have developed a reputation as recluses, they take him in with welcome arms. However, when Nath suggests taking a shortcut through a nearby woods, Pete's reaction makes Pete suspicious and, with Meg, he begins searching for the supposedly haunted "red house" Pete refers to. This leads to an increasingly paranoid and possibly jealous Pete going to extremes to discourage it because of a horrible secret the farmer has been keeping. Who's in it? The movie stars Edward G. Robinson , Lon McAllister , Judith Anderson , Allene Roberts and Rory Calhoun . Review: It's a somewhat quiet Sunday and since there's only so much I can do outside until the snow melts, I decided to watch a movie. This one has been on my list for a while, so I decided to give it a try. Overall, I enjoyed it. The movie lets the cat out of the...

Synopsis: Teenagers Abby Rivers and Gretchen Lang are best friends in 1988, with Gretchen being the one person who makes the strict Catholic school they attend bearable for the Jewish Abby. When they go on a trip to a lake house with two other friends, they are introduced to acid for the first time and, while on the drug, explore an abandoned house, where they both get spooked by something and become separated for several minutes. When Gretchen begins acting strangely at school the following week, Abby assumes it is from the drugs. She then suspects her friend was raped. The truth about what happened to her friend, however, is much more complicated. Gretchen is possessed by a demon. Who's in it? The movie stars Elsie Fisher , Amiah Miller ,  Rachel Ogechi Kanu ,  Cathy Ang and  Clayton Royal Johnson. Review: This movie has been on my list for several weeks, but I wasn't really sure if it would be worth watching. My wife and I finally did just that yesterday evening and...

Synopsis: After his colleague commits suicide, psychiatrist Dr. James Martin is assigned to perform a final psychological evaluation of convicted killer, Edward Wayne Brady to confirm he is of sound mind and can be executed at 11 p.m. that night. Brady claims to be possessed by a demon, Nefarious, leading Martin to believe the killer might have dissociative identity disorder with the demon being one of his personalities. However, as the interview progresses, the atheist psychiatrist isn't so sure the demon isn't real. Even more unnerving is Nefarious claims Martin will be responsible for three murders by the time he leaves the prison. Who's in it? The movie stars Sean Patrick Flanery , Jordan Belfi and Tom Ohmer . Review: I came across this and another film on Amazon Prime that looked interesting and wound up picking this one last night. I wasn't sure what to expect from the movie, so I started watching it with no expectations. By the time it was done, I could hones...

Synopsis: After a failed joint business venture results in Anna Vasquez breaking things off with her fiancé, Elliot Barnes, and going to work for her dad as a real estate agent, she is given the task of staging and selling a long-vacant property as her first assignment. Anna quickly discovers the house is still occupied by Ruby Baker, a 1920s socialite who died in a car crash the night of her 25th birthday 100 years earlier. Ruby, who has been unable to crossover and join the man she secretly loved, is determined to keep Anna from selling her home and, even when she starts to warm to the idea, continues to complicate things. Meanwhile, Anna realizes she still has feelings for Elliott, who plans to move away to Boston.  Who's in it? The movie stars  Julie Gonzalo ,  Chris McNally ,  Madeleine Arthur ,  Xavier Sotelo and William Vaughn . Review: I was getting bored with watching reruns of Worst Cooks in America and convinced my wife to watch a movie with me in...

Here are my thoughts from the Green Bay Packers' 24-21 playoff loss at the San Francisco 49ers last night: I am really sick of losing to those guys. Green Bay has now lost five in a row against the 49ers, but this one felt especially heartbreaking because for around 55 minutes or so of the game, it really felt like they would pull off the upset. It reminded me a little bit of when Green Bay had the lead against the Seattle Seahawks late in the game a few years ago and collapsed to lose it. This was a game that came down to missed opportunities. Another Anders Carlson field goal miss allowed for the 49ers' go-ahead score late in the game. The failed 4th-and-1 early on (which I agree with Matt LaFleur, it was a bad ball spot by the refs) stopped the team's early momentum and kept at least three points off the board. Two dropped interceptions by the defense could have been game-changers. You just can't let the top-seeded team stay in the game like that. They had the 49ers...

Synopsis: During the pandemic, high school history teacher, John Dunbar, attempts to educate his student via zoom while coping with a divorce and rage issues that have put his job at risk. Feeling burned out with his job and life, Dunbar's one bright spot is his student, Sadie, who he encourages to come out of her shell. However, when he overhears Sadie and three other students making fun of him, talking about getting him fired and breaking into the currently empty school for a game of paint ball, he decides to join them and soon trades his paintball gun for a real one. Who's in it? The movie stars Brian Austin Green ,  Makena Taylor ,  Acoryé White ,  David Valdes and  Julia Quang . Review: We're still under windchill advisories plus my wife was feeling exhausted after a long day of work so we watched a movie Friday night rather than going out. I had another one in mind but saw this one on Amazon Prime and thought it sounded interesting. After watching it, I can...

My thoughts from the Green Bay Packers' 48-32 playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys this evening. I think the Packers' offense might be almost unstoppable. I say that with some apprehension since the San Franciso 49ers have proven to be their kryptonite, but that side of the ball seems to have just too many emerging weapons to defend against. Honestly, the only thing that may be able to slow it down is the Packers' making youthful errors. I just wish I could say the same about the defense. I want to be able to defend defensive coordinator Joe Barry and there were moments in this game where that would have been easy. Then everything seemed to fall apart for that unit toward the end. Yes, the game was out of reach, at least on paper, and the Packers were starting to play some of their backups, but they certainly turned a sure win into something that might not be. If Dallas would have won this game in the final minutes, I would expect to see Barry fired before they were even o...

Synopsis: Hoping to add a little spice to their marriage, Dave and Emma Brackett take a break from their kids, check into a fancy Manhattan hotel and, using made-up names, pretend to be strangers meeting at the hotel bar. However, what Dave doesn't know is Emma is secretly an international assassin with a bounty on her head, something that throws their romantic evening and marriage into jeopardy when she is recognized by another assassin and his attempted blackmail ends in his death and her being exposed. Who's in it? The movie stars Kaley Cuoco ,  David Oyelowo , Bill Nighy ,  Connie Nielsen and  Rudi Dharmalingam. Review: It was way too cold out for my wife and I to have our own date night last night, so I figured "why not at least watch a movie about one." At first, I expected this to be a movie that was similar to other comedies like Date Night and Game Night . As it turns out, it was nothing like those and wound up being surprisingly entertaining as a result...

Synopsis: Sent to Mexico to inspect an oil rig, Paul Sturges decides to make a family trip of it and brings his wife and two kids. However, when they arrive, they discover the once bustling community is now in poverty, the oil rig is leaking oil and only two of its crew members remain. Oh, and there is a giant megalodon shark circling the rig, trapping Paul and his family, a demon that is looking to get revenge on Paul for his role in the environmental disaster. Who's in it? The movie stars Josh Lucas ,  Fernanda Urrejola ,  Venus Ariel ,  Julio Cesar Cedillo and Carlos Solórzano. Review: My wife added this to our Amazon Prime list and chose it for a movie night last night. I admittedly had some doubts about it, mostly because our choices in shark movies haven't exactly been paying off lately. However, I gave it a chance. As it turns out, it was about what I expected it to be. I think, in addition to being a rip-off of the film The Meg , this movie makes a cardinal mis...

 My thoughts from today's 17-9 Green Bay Packers' win over the Chicago Bears. Playoffs, baby! Let's just take a moment to reflect on what this team has accomplished, regardless of what happens in the post season. This was supposed to be a transition year with a first-year starter at quarterback and the youngest roster in the league. Plus, the guy they were counting on to help with that transition, veteran running back Aaron Jones, missed seven games. A six-or-seven-win season would have been a reasonable expectation. 9-8 and the playoffs is bonus and there's no reason to believe they don't have a chance of pulling an upset next weekend. The most amazing part of their accomplishment is the offense still isn't at full power. I've seen the difference Jones can make when he's healthy. I've also seen how wide receiver Christian Watson forces defenses to play the offense differently because of his speed and playmaking potential. We have yet to see both o...

I decided to retire my series It Happened on Hump Day after 275 episodes. There were a number of reasons for that, but the main one was I wanted to be able to focus on my newest series. Heroes, Villains and People You May Never Heard About is now live on Kindle Vella. This is a history/biography series focusing on people who had some sort of impact on the world, whether it was a large impact or a small one.  There are currently four live episodes, the first three are free to read. So far, I have discussed the man who invented microwave popcorn, the founder of the world's first empire, a professional wrestler who inspired a popular Halloween mask and the first person to be paid to play American football. Please feel free to visit, like and subscribe. And, if you haven't checked it out before, It Happened on Hump Day is still available to read as well as my first Kindle Vella series, Life Lessons from Horror Movies.

Synopsis: As college students, Andy and Vicky McGee took part in a research project involving a special chemical designed to enhance their psychic abilities and the experiment had powerful results, both for them and their daughter, Charlie, who is able to set things on fire with her mind, often as a result of impulse because of her young age and her powers still have the potential to grow. Already hiding from DSI, the company that gave them their abilities, the family finds itself in danger when Charlie accidentally sets off an explosion at school and draws attention to their whereabouts. Who's in it? The movie stars Zac Efron , Ryan Kiera Armstrong ,  Sydney Lemmon ,  Michael Greyeyes and  Gloria Reuben . Review: As I have gotten older, I have grown less interested in watching remakes of popular movies from my childhood, especially movies that are basically the same plot with different actors. However, it has been a long time since I saw the 1984 version of this mov...

 My thoughts from last night's 33-10 Green Bay Packers victory over the Minnesota Vikings last night. Happy New Year Wisconsin. The Packers aren't in the playoffs yet and I'd be wary of assuming the Chicago Bears will be an easy victory next week. However, after a late-season slip made the postseason seem like a pipe dream, they once again control their own destiny. Win next week and they are in. Once again, why isn't Jordan Love mentioned in the MVP conversation? To be clear, I don't think any quarterback deserves it this year, even though that likely will wind up being the case anyway. And I'm not going to say Love should win it. However, despite having a young team and throwing passes to practice squad players because of injuries, he has more passing yards than Jalen Hurts, has just two less touchdown passes than Dak Prescott and less interceptions than Patrick Maholmes. Considering this was written off as a rebuild year, he should at least be considered. Spe...