Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.This theme is Bloggerized by NewBloggerThemes.com.
Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.This theme is Bloggerized by NewBloggerThemes.com.
Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.This theme is Bloggerized by NewBloggerThemes.com.
Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.This theme is Bloggerized by NewBloggerThemes.com.
Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.This theme is Bloggerized by NewBloggerThemes.com.
As I have grown in press credentials and professional affiliations nationally, I have found myself landing in circles with other film critics of various levels. Recently, I was included in a poll for voting critics for Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel, a fellow Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. His survey was to collect picks for the best movies of 2026 so far from over 100 critics and other industry folk. I was honored to chime in with my top five selections. Enjoy the article and list. Check out your boy!
MY PICKS:
Project Hail Mary, Carolina Caroline, Tuner, Hekla, and The Optimist
One more refractive error is called astigmatism. The main feature of this problem is the distortion of the cornea and lens that leads to poor vision at both near and distance points. While the usage of corrective glasses is considered an effective cure for astigmatism, the majority of people prefer contact lenses. There are plenty of different types of toric lenses available in the market, but Acuvue Oasys Toric lenses definitely deserve attention.
Understanding Astigmatism and Its Challenges
The main feature of astigmatism consists in the fact that patients experience distorted images of various objects since light focuses on multiple spots. This problem takes its origin from the irregular shape of the cornea and/or lens that cannot focus light effectively. People who suffer from astigmatism face difficulties connected with blurry vision and even headache and eye fatigue.
What Makes Acuvue Oasys Toric Lenses Unique?
Specifically, Acuvue Oasys Toric is the type of lenses designed in order to improve eyesight in individuals suffering from astigmatism. Traditional soft contact lenses cannot provide enough stability; meanwhile, the structure of toric contact lenses allows them to remain properly placed on the eye. Secondly, another distinctive characteristic of such lenses lies in the special silicone hydrogel material which enables greater oxygen permeability. This helps maintain good eye condition and improve user's comfort.
Advanced Stabilization Technology
The major challenge posed to astigmatics who wish to wear contact lenses is their stabilization. With Acuvue Oasys lenses, Accelerated Stabilization Design technology has been used for creating them and thereby enabling them to remain stable while the wearer is engaged in any kind of activity. This means that wearers will not need to make any readjustment and will see clearly all the time without experiencing visual fluctuations.
Exceptional Comfort Throughout the Day
The other important reason why people opt for wearing contact lenses is the level of comfort, and Acuvue Oasys Toric offers a high degree of it. These lenses are produced with Hydraclear Plus Technology, which guarantees a higher amount of moisture stored in these lenses along with a smooth surface of these lenses. Consequently, there is no friction between the lens and an eyelid and better comfort when worn by patients. Moreover, patients report less dryness and irritation in their eyes while wearing Acuvue Oasys Toric than other contacts. The lenses fit perfectly for people working in air-conditioned rooms or in front of computer screens, as well as experiencing some degree of dryness of the eye.
Clear and Reliable Vision for Daily Activities
Maintaining stability and reliability of vision during performing all possible activities is crucial for individuals suffering from astigmatism. Due to wearing Acuvue Oasys Toric lenses, patients will enjoy reliable vision that will not change while performing any activity. It means that the lenses allow you to perform your tasks in a more reliable manner and in comfort. In particular, you will have no issues driving your car in the night or reading a book.
Ideal for Active Lifestyles
The lifestyle of people engaged in various kinds of sports or active in their everyday life may require contacts able to withstand all activities. The Acuvue Oasys Toric lenses were specially created in order to provide reliable protection from any lens dislocation while moving around or playing different kinds of sports. The stable position guarantees more safety and lets a wearer concentrate fully on his activity not caring about his eyes and vision at all. This makes them comfortable and suitable for those whose lifestyle is active and sports-oriented.
Support for Digital Device Users
The modern world is filled with screens of various devices which people are constantly looking at. That means that many people experience the problem of dryness and irritation due to the intensive usage of different gadgets. However, Acuvue Oasys Toric provides its users with high quality comfort and safety as these lenses are made of breathable materials that help to retain the moisture of eyes preventing their irritation when using computers and smartphones.
Why Do Eye Care Professionals Frequently Recommend Them?
It should be emphasized that the use of the Acuvue Oasys Toric lenses is approved by eye care professionals, because the level of comfort provided by this product is high enough, as well as its efficiency. It is also crucial to underline that the large amount of prescription parameters of these lenses can satisfy numerous demands. Additionally, due to the fact that these contact lenses are reliable and consistent, one can say that they are safe for wearing. It is important to point out that the long history of innovations, advanced technologies, and quality makes Acuvue Oasys Toric lenses highly estimated by eye care experts and patients alike.
Choosing the Right Toric Contact Lenses for Your Needs
While the Acuvue Oasys Toric contact lenses have many advantages, one should not neglect the significance of consulting an eye care professional before purchasing the contact lenses. As every person has eyes which are different from those of another one in some features, consultation plays an important role here. While comparing the toric lenses offered by various manufacturers, the following parameters should be considered: comfort, oxygen permeability, moisture retention, and stabilization.
Conclusion
The Acuvue Oasys Toric lenses are one of the most sought after products when it comes to correction of astigmatism due to their efficiency in handling the problem. They combine the best of technologies like stabilization technologies, great comfort, and good visual acuity that makes them superior to other brands. To people who need lenses for their comfort, performance, and overall health, Acuvue Oasys lenses provide an effective way forward. In combination with other features in modern toric contact lenses, these provide efficient correction of vision problems. People can use them in day-to-day activities without much worry.
Watching Adam Carter Rehmeier’s Carolina Caroline calls to mind the many layers of appeal possible in the crime-romance subgenre of movies. On one level, there’s the taboo draw of watching the ethical battles of right and wrong when it comes to decisions and choices. Folks might wish they could break laws, too, or, if not, marvel at the audacity on display beyond their own personal limits. From a heart-quickening standpoint, the craft of shooting and telling a solid crime thriller lends itself to escapist danger, which plays well on the big or small screen.
LESSON #1: WHEN PASSION OVERFLOWS TO OTHER PARTS OF LIFE— Yet, one must look deeper than mere choices and actions to see the true energy that heats a romantic crime film like Carolina Caroline compared to something more cold, calculating, or technical. The answer there is simply, and powerfully, passion. For audiences to get swept up enough to ignore the wrongs and root for the “bad guys,” they must be granted and see a level of intensity within the individuals committing the crimes. When that zealousness is amorous, as it is in Rehmeier’s film and so many other exemplars of the genre, it amplifies everything else. The motives get bolder, and the course of dangers turns more perilous.
The beneficiary of all that escalation is us, the cinematic voyeurs, dazzled, intoxicated, and enthralled by the entire pungent palette. So many of those aforementioned passionate traits radiate in Carolina Caroline like a muscle car’s headlight in front of a roaring engine speeding down a road. While we’ve seen these types of stories since the grand era of film noir eighty-plus years ago, and endlessly since, as the archetypes advance with the times, the appeal has never waned.
Carolina Caroline opens in a moment of a young woman (Samara Weaving of the Ready or Not series) in a short, black-haired wig and narrow sunglasses, leaving a shoddy hotel room solo. She proceeds to carjack a man at gunpoint in broad daylight, before beginning a series of short-change swindles to amass extra cash in tricky exchanges of different bills with unwitting store clerks. In the background, her image appears on the television news as a thief on the run, declared armed and dangerous. All of this is happening through what appears to be a tailspin of emotion for the woman, one that leaves us hanging once a chyron drops a transition to “three months earlier.”
Seen now without the sable wig, this woman is named Caroline, and she’s working at a Texas gas station, stocking shelves and watching the more exciting world go by. One day, in walks the denim-jacketed and goateed smolder of Oliver (Kyle Gallner, Rehmeier’s lead from his celebrated third film Dinner in America). We see him pull the same cash exchange switcheroo shown in the introduction of the movie (something that deserves its own lesson in this review or a devious YouTube tutorial), answering one planted seed with more to follow.
When Caroline fliratiously follows and confronts Oliver on his scheme, he invites her (more like she invites herself) to spend the day with him, “just passing through.” She’s all for catching his eye and demonstrating her own cleverness, even when Oliver is clearly not a squeaky-clean fellow. Her cling to him lasts all day, from bouncing down backroads in his Chevelle SS and sharing a barroom slow dance to Jason Isbell’s haunting ballad “Cover Me Up” to a steamy late-night swimming hole excursion.
LESSON #2: ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS— All along the way, Caroline cannot stop asking Oliver questions. She’s a sponge for wanting to understand his methods. Amused and smitten, Oliver obliges her with every answer, creating a wonderfully dialogue-driven intimacy within Carolina Caroline. Her questions reveal her enthusiasm and perceptive fervor, and the extreme lucidity and wisdom of his replies are higher than those of a podunk simpleton trying to get his kicks. In what might be the best one of the bunch, Oliver asks Caroline what she is still doing here after their day of dalliance and deceit. Her revelatory response is a self-description of a woman staying with someone or something that’s no good for them because, through her less-than-rich life as a kid abandoned by her mother at a young age, “no good” is what they know and all they know.
Case in point, there’s a dynamite scene later in Carolina Caroline where Caroline, who’s been heartset on finding her biological mother, Deborah, finally tracks the mysterious woman down at a seedy bar in South Carolina. Thinking or even fearing the apple might not fall far from the tree, Deborah is revealed to be a chain-smoking and screwdriver-slaming loudmouth, played by the incomparable Kyra Sedgwick. A sunnier version of this scene would lead to lofty answers, tearful apologies, and either a renewed bond or karmic comeuppance. Sedgwick and the trajectory honed by Rehmeier make some, or even none, of those expectations come easily, or at all, in one of the most powerful scenes of the film.
Normally, especially in these con-man situations in crime films, we’re waiting for Caroline to be the unwitting mark, the girl lured by the influx of cash and the doting attention of a dashing stranger. In watching Oliver’s smooth charisma lubricate his every success, we predict that he’s scooped up a hit-it-and-quit-it conquest or two before throughout his ambling south of the Mason-Dixon Line. After a while, one realizes Kyle Gallner’s rogue was nowhere to be seen in the introduction reel of the movie. We prepare for future double-crosses or abandonment as the two—the veteran and the newbie—go from small thefts to full-on bank robberies.
LESSON #3: THE PASSIONS OF THE BRAZENAND DESPERATE— This is where the increased embedded passion of Carolina Caroline elevates the fable. Oliver’s politically-charged big picture motive for committing the crimes he chooses carries no greed or anger, only “the angle” to exploit the flaws of the larger economic or corporate system above their lot in life. His lack of remorse isn’t evil. It’s existential and extends to understanding the checks and triggers of human behavior, creating a confident dedication to the endeavor that is stronger than petty foolishness, hellbent on plain money. Moreover, their hot-and-heavy companionship becomes the genuine article. They truly become bonded and inseparable, even in the face of desperation, when, like so many crime movies, they didn’t quit while they were ahead, or the inevitable fall must be taken.
For the Carolina Caroline screenplay, written by Tom Dean (Charlie Harper) and the debuting William Thomas Dean IV, to even entertain these more mature themes is a testament to its quality and uniqueness amid the sea of film noir and neo-noir mirrors and imitators. Anyone can put a hot girl and a studly man together with a couple of guns and fire off some ill-advised bullets and Cupid’s arrows. Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner, like their characters, forge something stronger than a fleeting fling, and that weight means the world. Echoing one more of those questions from Lesson #2, at a tipping point, Caroline asks Oliver, “Are we good people pretending to be bad, or bad ones pretending to be good?” He doesn’t answer, and that enigma and shade of doubt permeate the picture. Because Carolina Caroline exudes how risks can either add to and take away vivacity, the experience sticks with you in a spellbinding way.
Images: Nordisk Film Production and Samuel Goldwyn Films
KRAKEN— 3 STARS
In the cult-beholden genre of monster movies, the market has largely been cornered by two countries: The United States and Japan. Thanks to 1925’s The Lost World and the seminal King Kong eight years later, the U.S. of A. can call itself the originator and has kept up a steady output of cheesy wonders for decades. However, since the 1950s and the Showa era debut of the Godzilla franchise, the Land of the Rising Sun has expanded and improved the monster movie with its kaiju variety. Other than a few B-movies a half-century ago, like Denmark’s Reptilicus in 1961, not many other countries have dared to dabble. This month, Norway musters the courage to enter the big screen conversation with Kraken.
LESSON #1: LEARN YOUR HISTORY— Now, if all you know about the name “kraken” is the vague giant sea monster seen in two generations of Clash of the Titans movies, similar appearances in the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean series, and being the intimidating namesake of the newish NHL hockey team hailing from Seattle, you should do a little homework. Point of fact, the kraken is a myth of Norwegian origin dating back to the 13th century, meaning, unlike the borrowing and bastardization done elsewhere, Kraken gets to depict the giant cephalopod in its native waters.
Directed by Pål Øie, the film is set in the oceanside harbors of Vangsnes, Norway, of the Sognefjord, an area teeming with recreational water sports, steady tourism, and jaw-dropping glacial topography. While prosperity is riding high in the community, the gray-bearded elders (embodied by Hans Morten Hansen’s Hallvard) remember an unexplained appearance of some sort of enormous, shadowed creature from 1972. Forgotten by most, they took the sighting as an omen and a warning that has gone unheeded.
At present, a local salmon farm has employed a special Sonic Lice technology that has enabled their shoals to grow and thrive free of waterborne lice parasites. The company’s top executive, Jostein Avaldsnes (Øyvind Brandtzæg of Gold Run), is pitching the superiority of the finished product and its earning potential to visiting Japanese investors, hoping to land a lucrative deal to expand the operation. Alas, rumors are swirling, thanks to Jostein’s own whistleblowing activist daughter, Maria (TV actress Jenny Evensen), that something is ecologically wrong with their methods, as large groups of wild salmon have been filmed leaping out of the water for their safety.
What could possibly cause that? The unproven sonar technology radiating through the entire fjord, or something far worse? Tasked with finding out in Kraken is Johanne (Troll 2’s Sara Khorami, stalwart as the smartest person in the room) of the Institute of Marine Research. She is the former co-inventor of the Sonic Lice technology with her old beau and the farm’s chief engineer, Erick (Mikkel Bratt Silset of Netflix’s Norseman). Thrust back together with what begins as a cursory inspection, a larger mystery grows, just as the body count does of reported missing people or mangled remains found on the water.
Leave it to a thriller specialist like Pål Øie (The Tunnel) to put forth a proper Creature Feature with Kraken. Ever since the opening scene of the movie, showing two young jet skiers pulled under the dark surf to their presumed demises, a fan or student of the game knows exactly where the film is going. When done right, the predictability becomes a strength for creating tingling suspense and the type of exotic excitement movies like Kraken are supposed to promise.
To that end, Kraken, conceived by a combined team of five writers with story or screenplay credit, including Øie, hits its marks. Hallvard’s old urban legend kickstarts the story, reminds mankind they shouldn't interfere with nature, and dangles the plot's clues while the assigned human menu options are given the room to flex their expertise or build their future flaws, which will likely match their chances for eventual survival. Glimpses here and there demonstrate the danger, punch the senses, and keep the audience's attention. Thanks to Steven Spielberg, Rule #1 is to hide your monster as long as you can. For 55 minutes of 100, the movie does just that. Once that door is opened, right on time, all the pre-climactic effort has done enough to deliver the spectacle.
LESSON #2: THE FORMULA WORKS FOR A REASON— Reinvention isn’t always necessary when the decades-old formula is sound. The creativity in something like Kraken comes from keenly delivering the monster movie checklist with savvy filmmaking and a temperance to limit overindulgence as a way to balance the fantasy with the realism. Pål Øie demonstrated how to do this effectively with the rescue movie tropes in 2019’s The Tunnel by keeping the cast small and the drama taut and relatable. Taking a page from Deep Rising of all places, Øie sticks to our handful of characters and their plight to get off the facility, dodging one pursuing tentacle at a time.
Matching Godzilla Minus One, Øie is working with a tidy budget on Kraken, meaning less needs to be more in the effort to look and sound scary. The topside and underwater cinematography from Sjur Aarthun and Amund Lie make every dive and surfacing scene carry the hint that something is just off frame or under the water line, waiting to pounce. Likewise, the combination of an alarming musical score by Roy Westad (The Riot) mixed with the sound design to muffle noises and cries inside the churning brine adds to the created tension, especially for a creature that preys on noise.
While there are certainly bolder, more emotional, and more bloodthirsty Creature Feature entries out there, Kraken does enough to scratch the entertainment itch for this genre. For this movie, the foreboding existence of a big, bad sea monster capable of thorough destruction is enough. There’s no need to channel Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich and blow every cinematic wad in the world. No massive crowds are running for their lives ahead of massive property damage. No one is screaming, “It’s the Kraken!” That’s improved patience and confidence to make your own thrills count.
For their 235th episode, two film critics, two dads, and two school teachers who definitely have the power, Will Johnson and Don Shanahan, are starting to scratch a sword-and-sandal itch. Semi-included in that subgenre, and just in time for the remake/reboot, is 1987's Masters of the Universe from Cannon Films. Starring the beloved and out-of-his element Dolph Lundgren, one of our hosts was absolutely the target audience for this nearly 40 years ago, and the other is watching it for the first time in 2026. Come learn more and stay for the mutual love and respect that fun movies encapsulate. Enjoy our podcast! Enjoy our podcast!
Cinephile Hissy Fit is an Astra Award-losing Film Obsessive media podcast, brought to you by the Ruminations Radio Network, and a member of the Critics Choice Podcast Network. Please visit, rate, review and subscribe. If you enjoyed this show, we have more where that came from, with interesting hosts, and wonderful guests. All are available on iTunes, Spotify, and anywhere you find your favorite shows. Follow the show on Twitter at @CinephileFit and on Facebook. Also, find both Will Johnson and Don Shanahan on Letterboxd as they accumulate their viewings and build their ranks and lists. Lastly, check out their TeePublic store for merchandise options from stickers to t-shirts!
Thank you so much for your captive audience and social media participation! Enjoy our new podcast episode!
Silver screen magic has always influenced style and habits. Characters lighting up on screen used to define cinematic cool for decades. That classic image has shifted into something completely different now. Directors use smoking differently now to show character traits or historical settings.
The Golden Age Silhouette
Classic cinema used cigarettes to signal sophistication or mystery. Main characters often held a cigarette to look tough or wealthy. This visual cue spoke louder than dialogue in old black-and-white films.
Old Hollywood studios had financial agreements with big tobacco brands. Stars received payments to puff on specific brands during close-up shots. This corporate backing filled the theater screens with constant smoke clouds. Moviegoers viewed their favorite actors as style icons and copied their habits immediately.
The Rise of Modern Alternatives
Vaporizers and electronic devices now frequently appear in contemporary Hollywood scripts to reflect real-world habits. Production crews often click here to source empty oil cartridges that look authentic on camera without using actual tobacco products. These reliable wholesale supplies provide film sets with full control over the liquids used during long production hours.
Cultural Shifts in Scriptwriting
Writers do not just throw in smoking scenes for cheap thrills anymore. Characters who smoke are often portrayed as stressed, flawed, or villainous. The hero is much more likely to choose a clean lifestyle or look for modern alternatives.
Modern scripts treat traditional cigarettes as a sign of decay or poor choices. Characters going through a personal crisis might turn to tobacco to show their lack of control. This contrasts sharply with the confident heroes of the past who smoked while saving the day. The modern protagonist prefers wellness and mental clarity over old habits.
Shifting Visual Norms on Screen
Modern screens show a complicated picture when it comes to tobacco habits. A research paper from a few years ago revealed that 60 percent of the 15 most popular television shows among young adults depicted tobacco use. This statistic surprises people who expect modern media to be completely smoke-free. Directors choose to include these elements to create a sense of gritty realism.
The choice to show tobacco usage often relates to the genre of the project - crime dramas and period pieces rely heavily on historical accuracy to satisfy viewers. Writers believe that omitting these habits would make the story feel dishonest. They want to show the world exactly as it was during those specific decades.
Public Health Perspectives and Viewer Intentions
Onscreen imagery directly impacts how people think about nicotine products. Data published in a medical journal showed that high exposure to tobacco imagery correlates with a 176 percent increase in the intention to use e-cigarettes. The same study noted a 168 percent increase in intentions to smoke traditional cigarettes for those with high exposure. Media creators face growing pressure to manage these representations carefully.
Advocacy groups monitor screen time for all types of smoking devices. They track how often main characters use these items compared to minor characters. Their reports aim to educate parents about the subtle messages hidden in popular entertainment. Many advocacy programs argue that onscreen behavior shapes youth culture faster than traditional advertising.
Regulations and Content Ratings
Content rating boards look closely at how characters use nicotine on screen. Certain standards push movies with heavy smoking toward higher age ratings. Producers follow specific guidelines to keep their ratings low:
Streaming platforms monitor nicotine use in original series.
Independent films use herbal alternatives to protect actors.
Historical dramas receive special exceptions for accuracy.
These methods help studios balance artistic freedom with public health concerns.
The classification process varies heavily between different countries. A film rated for general audiences in one country might get a strict teenage rating elsewhere. Studios navigate these rules during the editing phase to avoid losing massive audiences. They want to maximize ticket sales while respecting local cultural boundaries.
Behind the Scenes Choices
Actors do not usually smoke real tobacco on set anymore. Prop masters provide herbal options that look exactly like the real thing without the toxic chemicals. This change protects the health of the crew during long shooting days. Camera tricks and lighting make the fake smoke look realistic on camera as well.
The development of safe prop cigarettes required significant innovation. Early versions smelled terrible and tasted even worse for the performers. Modern prop houses create blends using rose petals, clover, and tea leaves to improve the experience. Actors can perform multiple takes without suffering from throat irritation or nicotine dizziness.
Global Distribution Realities
International markets influence how American movies handle this topic. Some countries have strict bans on showing tobacco logos or products in the media. Studios edit scenes or blur out packages to sell their films overseas. This financial reality shapes what ends up on screen before filming even starts.
Global box office numbers dictate many creative decisions in modern cinema. A movie might fail domestically but become a massive hit in Asian or European markets. Filmmakers keep these international preferences in mind during the script stage. They avoid elements that could lead to censorship or outright bans in profitable territories.
Cinema will always reflect the habits of society. As real-world preferences move toward cleaner alternatives, movie screens will follow that path. The imagery creates a lasting impression on how society views old and new habits. Directors will keep balancing history, character design, and public health in future projects.
Europe’s largest South Asian film festival, London Indian Film Festival (LIFF), with editions across the UK including the Birmingham Indian Film Festival and Manchester Indian Film Festival, celebrates its 17th year with a power-packed programme of rare major celebrity talks (Aamir Khan In Conversation, Goodness Gracious Me Reunion); Europe’s first Indian AI & Film Showcase […]
