Steven Helmer Publications

I'm still surprised this nest is still in the spot it is but the baby robins inside it are getting really big and should be leaving soon. Here's a photo I got of them earlier today.

Synopsis: Given only one more month to live because of the bone cancer that has left her bedridden, the wealthy Olga Marsdale obtains an ancient Jack in the Box and makes a deal with the demon inside - the lives of six victims in exchange for healing her. Her son reluctantly helps her find victims but the new housekeeper, Amy Proctor, begins to suspect something is going on. Who's in it? The movie stars  Matt McClure , Nicola Wright , James Swanton , Mollie Hindle and  Michaela Longden .  Review: While my wife and I found a lot of things wrong with The Jack in the Box when we watched it earlier this month, we were both interested in seeing if the sequel  The Jack in the Box: Awakening would be any better. After all, the premise wasn't terrible, just the overall execution. We finally got around to doing that last night and, unfortunately, our opinion about the franchise really didn't change. I thought the plot had some good things going for it. The idea of summo...

Synopsis: Sam Lombardo is a popular high school guidance counselor living in an upscale neighborhood in Florida. A bachelor and a lady's man, he is living the good life. However, things soon change when one of his students, Kelly Van Ryan, accuses him of rape and another student, Suzie Toller, makes a similar claim against him. Fortunately for him, attorney Ken Bowden isn't afraid to defend him. Who's in it? The movie stars  Matt Dillon , Kevin Bacon , Neve Campbell , Denise Richards and  Bill Murray. Review: I needed a break after mowing the lawn and it was about to rain again anyway. So, my wife and I looked for a movie to watch and eventually settled on Wild Things . It was a film I had never seen, and she hadn't watched in a long time. It ended up being a good choice. I think the thing I liked best about this movie was the way it strategically kept certain things off screen. For example, it was unclear what happened between Lombardo (Dillon) and Van Ryan (Richar...

Synopsis: A group of Olympic hopefuls arrive at a remote ski resort to train with Dan "Dash" Dashiell, a champion skier whose career was ended by a gruesome injury. What they don't know is a nearby research facility has been experimenting with spiders, causing them to grow to an enormous size, and the six specimens have escaped and are now looking for food. Who's in it? The movie stars Patrick Muldoon , Vanessa Williams , Thomas Calabro , David Millbern and Noah Bastian . Review: It was a dreary and rainy day yesterday and my wife and I wound up on the couch for most of it as a result. We decided to watch a movie yesterday afternoon and Ice Spiders seemed to be the safest choice out of the ones we considered so we gave it a try. Overall, it was about what we expected a made-for-TV movie to be. The overall premise of the film isn't overly unique, scientists splice DNA from a prehistoric spider with modern-day spiders hoping to help humanity (or, in this case, ...

Synopsis: After a shoulder injury causes him to be cut from his team, professional football player Terry Brogan, desperate for money, accepts a job offer from club owner and criminal Jake Wise and travels to Mexico to locate Wise's ex-girlfriend, Jessie Wyler. Things become complicated when Brogan falls in love with Wyler and Wise learns of the love triangle. Who's in it? The movie stars Jeff Bridges , Rachel Ward , James Woods , Alex Karras and Jane Greer . Review: There was nothing on TV a couple days ago, so my wife and I wound up watching music videos from the 1980s. The Phil Collins' song Against All Odds came on and my wife, who had never seen the movie, suggested she'd like to see it. So, we did. Overall, it was good as I remembered. There were times when the movie feels a bit like an advertisement for traveling to Mexico and a couple parts that did seem a bit dragged out, especially toward the end. However, the film offers an interesting love story mixed in ...

Don't worry, I stayed far enough away to avoid making the mother mad at me but managed to get a photo of one of the baby robins as it poked its head up.

I haven't been able to get out the past couple of days because of the rainy weather and when I went today, I spent a lot of my walk trying to get around large quantities of standing water. However, I still managed to get a few photos while I was at it. Here are some of them.

Synopsis: Former Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Ray Waller is adjusting to life without baseball after his body begins to show signs of multiple sclerosis. When he is told water therapy may help slow the progression, he purchases a home for his family because it has a pool. The pool, they learn, is spring-fed and Ray soon discovers the water has healing properties that seem to be curing his disease. However, at the same time, a menacing force within the water seems to be trying to kill his kids. Who's in it? The movie stars Wyatt Russell , Kerry Condon , Amélie Hoeferle , Gavin Warren and Jodi Long. Review: I needed a bit of a break after mowing the lawn in nearly 90-degree weather yesterday and when we sat down for dinner, put on a movie. I had seen trailers for Night Swim and knew it was on Peacock, so my wife and I gave it a try.  After seeing it, my impression was just "meh." The premise was somewhat intriguing. The water seemed to have a mix of good and bad and...

I nearly walked right past this lady today. In fact, when I saw the brown fur, I thought I was imagining things until I zoomed in then found a slightly better angle. Fortunately, she must have thought I couldn't see her at all because she remained perfectly still the whole time.

It was a bit cloudy and a little dark when I got out for a walk today, though I was glad it wasn't raining yet. Here are some of the photos I managed to get.

It was a nice day out today (though a little cool this morning) so I managed to get a couple walks in today with my camera. Here are some of the photos I got.

I didn't have a cooperation when I was out taking photos today, both at lunch and this evening. When my subjects weren't swimming/flying away from me, the lighting just didn't work out. I did manage to get a couple shots though. Here they are.  

Synopsis: Still in mourning over the murder of his fiancée, American Casey Reynolds moves to England and takes a job at a small museum. While sorting through artifacts, he discovers an old Jack in the box toy and turns the handle to make the clown pop out. What Casey doesn't know is the "Jack" in this toy is also a demon and, now that it's been released, will kill six people. Who's in it? The movie stars Ethan Taylor , Robert Strange , Lucy-Jane Quinlan , Philip Ridout and Darrie Gardner . Review: It had been a few days since my wife and I had watched a movie together and I had seen The Jack in the Box  on Amazon Prime. I didn't know a whole lot about this movie, other than it seemed to be popular enough to generate sequels, but I didn't find anything that looked better, so we gave it a try. Overall, I'd say this wasn't a terrible movie. However, it also wasn't one of the better ones we've watched. I think the biggest problem for me was...

We had reasonably decent weather the early part of today and I was able to get a couple walks in before the rain hit this afternoon. I ended up with a few photos, including one of another baby turtle. Here are some of them:

My wife was invited to participate in a photoshoot event down in Milwaukee today, working with nearly a half dozen photographers. I went with her, not as a photographer, but as her chauffer, chaperone and wardrobe carrier.  While I didn't "officially" do a photoshoot with her, didn't have my camera along and was more of a spectator, I did manage to snap some behind-the-scenes photos with my phone . Some of them are below. Model: Cynthia Helmer

Since Young Sheldon is a prequel to The Big Bang Theory , one of the worst-kept secrets on the show was the future of patriarch George Cooper ( Lance Barber ). Being a beloved comedy about to say its final farewells (the series finale is May 16th), I think it is fair to say the show's fans would have been OK had the writers chosen to spare us from the sadness of his death and let it happen sometime between the end of this one and the beginning of the spin-off, Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage . In fact, I thought that was what the show writers were going to do until George went to work at the end of last night's episode,  A New Home and a Traditional Texas Torture, and didn't come back. Honestly, it was something that I probably should have seen coming but, even if I did, I think the shock would have been the same. I've watched enough television to have seen plenty of beloved characters killed off. Sometimes those deaths were telegraphed. Other times they were ...

Synopsis: After 7 years in the United States Navy, navigator Chris Burnett has grown bored with the mundane routine, has decided not to re-enlist and is looking forward to a new career in the commercial airline industry. However, things change when his plane is shot down over Bosnia during a reconnaissance mission, his pilot is executed by the Serbian army, and he finds himself on the run from soldiers looking to destroy all evidence of the illegal activity Burnett caught on camera. Who's in it?   The movie stars Owen Wilson , Gene Hackman , David Keith , Gabriel Macht and Olek Krupa . You can read my review here:  Movie Review: Behind Enemy Lines (2001) (wizzley.com)

Synopsis: The evil scientist Dr. Who has discovered a large deposit of Element X at the North Pole and his excavation is being financed by a rogue nation that is looking to use the element as part of its plan for world domination. In an effort to harvest Element X, Dr. Who builds a robot replica of King Kong. However, when the element's radiation destroys the robot's circuits, he instead captures the real Kong and enslaves the ape. Who's in it?  The movie stars Rhodes Reason , Mie Hama , Linda Miller , Hideyo Amamoto and Akira Takarada. You can read my review here:  Movie Review: King Kong Escapes (1967) (wizzley.com)

It was a little crowded at the park today, and I didn't see as much in terms of wildlife as I normally would. I did, however, manage to get a few photos while I was out and about. Here are some of them:

The apple tree behind my house is flowering, giving the area bees a great place to get a snack and providing a wonderful scent when we open our bedroom window (though they may also be the reason my allergies have been so bad lately). I decided to snap a photo of them yesterday. Here it is.

Synopsis: A group of troubled inner-city teenagers are taken on a wilderness retreat to try to improve their social skills. However, their retreat is quickly interrupted, and their lives are put in danger by a swarm of mutated, giant ticks seeking to suck them dry of their blood. Who's in it? The movie stars Seth Green , Alfonso Ribeiro , Rosalind Alle n, Ami Dolenz and Peter Scolari. Review: I figured yesterday evening was as good as any to watch a horror film so, after searching through a variety of options on four streaming services, I wound up picking Tick s, solely because I was familiar with Seth Green and Alfonso Ribeiro. Based on what seemed like a fairly basic plot, I had lowered expectations watching the movie and it wound up meeting those. As expected, the plot of the movie wasn't overly complex. There's a basic explanation about why the ticks grew to such an enormous size, a clear line between the good guys and the bad guys and no attempt to make things over...

I didn't see any deer or woodchucks on my walk today. However, the turtles are starting to hatch, and I did come across a silver-dollar-sized one on one of the trails. Since it is finally starting to feel like spring, I also got some spring-like shots while I was at it.