Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Fort Worth this weekend

Thursday is the official first day of fall, and two events celebrating fall holidays will assist in bringing that feeling into the air. Other choices include a new Cirque du Soleil production, NASCAR racing, a trio of country concerts (including a big new local voice), a well-known comedian, and art exhibitions beginning and ending.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, September 22

Fort Worth Oktoberfest
Fort Worth Oktoberfest is a three-day Munich-style celebration of German culture where guests can enjoy traditional German food, bier, live music, dancing, vendors, and more. The festival, taking place at Trinity Park through Saturday, features carnival rides, dachshund races, bier barrel rolling, stein hoist competitions, the Oktoberfest Run und Ride, and more.

Howell Farms presents Pumpkin Nights
Halloween season kicks off with Pumpkin Nights at Howell Family Farms in Arlington. Guests can venture along a half-mile walking path, where they’ll discover the Forbidden City, a Pirate’s Cove, and more fantastical lands built using over 5,000 hand-carved real and artificial pumpkins. The celebration continues with entertainment and games in The Village, the festival area. The event takes place through October 30.

Darryl Worley in concert
Country singer Darryl Worley started his career in 2000, but his career reached its high point with his sophomore release, 2002's I Miss My Friend, which contained the title track and the 9/11 anthem "Have You Forgotten?," both of which went to No. 1 on the Country charts. Though his last official album was 2009's Sounds Like Life, he's continued to release the occasional song in the intervening years. He'll play at Downtown Cowtown at the Isis.

Cirque du Soleil: OVO
More than two years after it was supposed to make its regional debut in Fort Worth, Cirque du Soleil's show OVO will finally come to Dickies Arena. When a mysterious egg appears in their midst, the insects are awestruck and intensely curious about this iconic object that represents the enigma and cycles of their lives. It is love at first sight when a gawky, quirky insect arrives in this bustling community and a fabulous ladybug catches his eye — and the feeling is mutual. Comprised of 50 performing artists from 12 countries specializing in many acrobatic acts, the event takes place through Sunday.

Friday, September 23

Improv Arlington presents Paul Rodriguez
Longtime comedian Paul Rodriguez has been making audiences laugh all over the world (in Spanish and English) for nearly three decades with his unique brand of humor that is a perfect blend of his Latin heritage, the American dream and his undeniable universal appeal. As an actor and comedian, Rodriguez’s multi-faceted career includes starring roles and featured appearances in over 45 films and countless television series and comedy specials. He'll perform five times through Sunday at Improv Arlington.

Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 NASCAR Cup Series Race Weekend
The final 12 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs will go head-to-head in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500, taking place on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Race weekend includes events on both Friday and Saturday leading up to the showcase race on Sunday, including C. Bell Micro Mania Heat Races, practices, qualifying, and the Andy's Frozen Custard 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series Race. Daughtry will perform a pre-race concert before the Sunday race.

Drake Milligan in concert
Viewers of the most recent season of America's Got Talent are already intimately familiar with country singer Drake Milligan, as he came in third place after being dubbed "the new Elvis of country" by judge Howie Mandel. His audition song, "Sounds Like Something I'd Do," is off his debut album, Dallas/Fort Worth, showing the Arlington native hasn't forgotten where he came from. He'll play at Billy Bob's Texas.

Saturday, September 24

Sid Richardson Museum presents "Night & Day: Frederic Remington's Final Decade"
The new exhibition at Sid Richardson Museum, "Night & Day: Frederic Remington's Final Decade," explores works made in the final decade of Remington’s life, when the artist alternated his canvases between the color dominant palettes of blue-green and yellow-orange. In these final years Remington was working to distance himself from his long-established reputation as an illustrator, to become accepted by the New York art world as a fine artist, as he embraced the painting style of the American Impressionists. The exhibition will remain on display through April 23, 2023.

Cole Swindell in concert
Rising country music star Cole Swindell is just now getting rolling on his own career after years of writing for other singers like Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett, and Scotty McCreery. Swindell's first three albums were very well-received, culminating in 2018's All of It landing at No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts. He'll play at Billy Bob's Texas in support of his new album, Stereotype.

Sunday, September 25

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents "Women Painting Women"
Sunday is the final day to view "Women Painting Women" at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. The thematic exhibition features more than 30 female artists who choose women as subject matter in their works. This presentation is the first of its kind and includes approximately 50 evocative portraits that span the 1940s to the present from artists like Frida Kahlo, Alice Neel, Emma Amos, Jordan Casteel, Jennifer Packer, and Apolonia Sokol.

Photo courtesy of Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil: OVO will be at Dickies Arena through September 25.

concerts festivals holidays sports-fitness celebrities museums event-planner

Movie Review

Jesse Eisenberg delves into personal family ties in A Real Pain

Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in A Real Pain.

Comedy film duos have a long history, from Laurel and Hardy in the 1920s and ‘30s to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in movies like Baby Mama. But the majority of duos have either been friends or work partners, relationships that can be close, but not as close as family. The new film A Real Pain aims for the comedy that a great duo can bring, but hits deeper because the two lead characters are related to each other.

Benji (Kieran Culkin) and David (Jesse Eisenberg) are first cousins who decide to take a trip to Poland to visit the childhood home of their grandmother, who has recently passed. Their personalities could not be more different, with David buttoned-down and reserved and Benji extremely social, if a little wild. This contrast is on display from the moment they leave on their trip, affecting almost every aspect of their journey.

The two meet up with a diverse tour group in Poland, including guide James (Will Sharpe), recently divorced Marcia (Jennifer Grey), married couple Mark (Daniel Oreskes) and Diane (Liza Sadovy), and Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan), an African man who has converted to Judaism. As the group visits various historical sites, David confronts contrasting feelings about Benji, who goes from charming to abrasive seemingly at the drop of a hat.

Written and directed by Eisenberg, the film is about both the family we have and the history of those who came before us. With Benji and David being Jewish and their grandmother having escaped from the Nazis in World War II, the themes hit harder than they might in other situations. Eisenberg takes care to honor his Jewish ancestors both in the way he has Benji and David talk about their grandmother and the places they visit.

But even though emotions are heightened due to the significance of the trip, the film is far from a dour affair. Benji keeps things interesting at almost all times with a series of impulsive decisions, many that are entertaining for both the tour group and the audience watching the film. He is one of those film characters that is great to watch on screen, but would likely be too much to handle if you were confronted with him in real life.

The relationship between Benji and David is a complicated one; the two obviously have love for each other, but they rarely see eye-to-eye on the best way to approach certain situations. This tension keeps the film grounded, and Eisenberg does a great job at showing the push-and-pull the two cousins have with each other. The little moments, especially when Benji and David go their separate ways, say a lot as the characters try to reconcile where each is at in their respective lives.

Eisenberg has always been an understated performer, so this role is almost perfect for him. Culkin, fresh off his Emmy-winning role in HBO’s Succession, is an ideal foil for Eisenberg, as he has a manic energy that he can control or not control at will. It’s also nice to see Grey in action again, as she brings just the right touch to her supporting role.

The drama in A Real Pain comes from the life experiences of its two main characters, which are on full display despite the story only doling out details in small doses. The film is subtle yet powerful, a testament to Eisenberg’s filmmaking ability and the actors never trying to make too much of their scenes.

---

A Real Pain opens in theaters on November 15.

movies film

Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Fort Worth this weekend

Movie Review

Jesse Eisenberg delves into personal family ties in A Real Pain

Ghost Food Park brings food truck fare and culture to Arlington

Downtown Fort Worth pop-up Anna's Table serves tacos and tasty bites

Mediterranean chain Cava brings healthy bowls to Saginaw