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‘A Real Pain’ – Another outstanding performance by Kieran Culkin, and best work from Jesse Eisenberg as writer, director.

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“A Real Pain” film is written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg is about two cousins with complete polar opposite personalities that come together to take a trip to Poland in memory of their grandmother who recently passed away. While they appear happy to reunite, the journey only rehashes their past conflicts with one another.

The movie beings with the melodramatic music, which sets the tone when we see Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin) sitting at the airport, with the look of no care of the world while waiting for his cousin David Kaplan ( Jesse Eisenberg) to show up. They seem excited to see each other and ready to get on the flight to Poland. However, Benji’s personality begins to emerge and so does the comedy. Benji uses flattery in such a hilarious way to manipulate David, and gets what he wants out of him. When they meet up with other people in their tour, Benji uses his dark raw sense of humor and becomes the popular one in the group. During their sightseeing of the city, Benji coerces David in to taking pictures for everyone on their cellphones and gets treated as the errand boy.

It gets more hysterical with Benji’s continuous satire and deflecting his actions onto David, and even becomes brazen to the tour guide James (Will Sharpe). Benji manages to get his way again, and strangely enough the group is mesmerized. There is a crucial moment where the group visits a concentration camp and are asked to remain silent out of respect… I gasped, along with others in the theater, hoping Benji doesn’t act out… In fact, the visit to the Holocaust allowed him to grieve. But nonetheless, Benji waited for the opportunity to get the group’s attention with his sobbing.

During a group dinner, David lashes out and “over shares” the deep personal family issues involving Benji that results in the group showing sympathy towards Benji – the vanity for more attention. In the hotel room, David finally confronts Benji and they vent out their differences. The point being, Benji needs to get over his emotional hurt and move on. David strikes a chord with Benji when he tells him how he can light up a room, but manages to ruin the moment.

At the end of the movie, the Kaplan cousins are back home at the airport. David politely invites Benji to stay with him in New York for dinner and to meet his family, but Benji kindly declines. Benji tells David he prefers to hang around the airport because, “You meet the craziest people here (airport).” The emotions hit you when you see Benji left sitting alone in a crowded airport. The look in his eyes says it all.

Kieran Culkin has an another outstanding performance portraying an emotionally disturbed young man, Benji, who is unable to overcome his personal complex issues. Culkin’s talent illuminates the screen with is incredible diverse acting that contributes to the story’s depth. He really brings the audience to laughter and leaves them feeling empathy for Benji’s pain.

Jesse Eisenberg did a magnificent job with directing this film. He turned a painful situation into a dramatic comedy in a lighthearted way focusing on the love hate between relatives, something the audience can relate to. In a particular scene, the Kaplan cousins take a car ride to visit the town their deceased grandmother found refuge from the camps, along the way they pass a sign similar to the Pisces in the zodiac. We see this sign again when they leave the town. I saw this as a symbolism of how opposite David and Benji’s characters are from each other. David is the responsible, and successful, family man. Benji is carefree, impulsive, snarky, and unstable. Could the fish also symbolize Benji fishing for attention to comfort his pain, as we see him people watching at the airport?

A Real Pain is truly worthy of some Oscar nominations.

Sabrina - Kiddo is the newest member of Countdown City Geeks and is a contributor of movie and television show reviews. Her passion for film derived from her college days where her rhetoric-writing professor focused on the aspects of screenwriting and music lyrics. She also has a knack for saying movie quotes.

Movie Reviews

Yadang – The Snitch: A Surprisingly Riveting Crime Action Movie (Review)

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When a swift street smart Lee Kang-soo (Kang Ha-neul) finds himself in jail for being unjustly accused as a meth dealer, he encounters an eager prosecutor, Goo Gwan-hee (Yoo Hai-jin), who offers to reduce Lee’s sentence by having him work as a snitch, “Ya-Dang”. However, when it comes to sting operations and using Ya-Dangs, narcotics officer Oh Sang-jae (Park Hae-joon ) becomes suspicious of Goo’s techniques, and it appears he might be involved in a convoluted criminal network.

This South Korean film, Yadang – The Snitch, has a well written storyline with many exiting and unsuspected plot twists, from betrayal, corruption, to settling the score revenge. Director Hwang Byeng-Gug exercised good judgement not implementing exaggerated CGI’s and kept the action scenes interesting and grounded.

The trio of main characters had great development, with outstanding cast members giving flawless performances.

Promising actor Kang Ha-neul, best known for Squid Game 2, knows how to deliver a combination of dynamic action with humor. Kang was well-suited to portray the sharp dressed, charismatic Lee Kang-soo.

Yoo Hai-jin was impressive transforming his role and building the underlying forces, while Park Hae-joon maintained a well balanced role that rises to the occasion.

Besides the entertaining action, the traditional South Korean food culture was incorporated throughout many of the scenes giving it a delicious element – It left me craving those noodles! Also, the post credits were a nice dessert of laughter.

With absolute certainty this movie is fantastic, and I am hopeful for a sequel.

Yadang – The Snitch will be in theaters April 25, 2025, in the US and Canada.

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Movie Reviews

‘Good Boy’: An exceptional haunting film from a dog’s perception. – Review

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Have you ever wondered why your furry companion stares at the wall or barks when there is nothing around? In this independent horror film, it presents a possible explanation to why your dog behaves in a peculiar manner. Good Boy is a unique take on creating a horror film where the main character is Indy, an adorable loyal dog that will do what it takes to protect his human friend and not leave his side.

Indy made his grand entrance at the 2025 SXSW in Austin, Texas and captivated the audience with his handsome furry coat and charming face. Indy was trained by his owners Kari Fischer and Ben Leonberg, along with the help of a professional trainer. It took more than 400 days (over the course of a couple of years) to complete filming due to the specific commands and desired behaviors that Indy had to learn, but most importantly ensuring his comfort and safety.

You can watch the video here of Indy showing off his impressive skills during the Q&A with Ben Leonberg and Kari Fischer (aka dog parents).

The screenplay was written by Alex Cannon and Ben Leonberg, who also directed the film. They created a unique perspective of a horror film by developing the storyline from a dog’s point of view.

The film begins with Todd in his apartment looking catatonic with indications that he might be suffering from an illness. Indy is by his side and appears to be uncomfortable and restless witnessing Todd being lethargic. Todd decides to move out of the city to the family’s countryside home and takes his loyal dog, Indy, with him. It is here where the supernatural forces lurk in the shadows and Indy feels its strange presence.

The scenes have all those spooky elements a horror, suspense film should have – the dark rooms, chilling sounds, creepy shadows, and thunderous storms. There is even a mysterious cemetery that is part of the property. It is said that dogs have a sixth sense, and this film depicts the fear and concern from Indy that death may be lurking around.

If you are a dog owner or an avid dog lover, Good Boy will touch your emotions as you observe Indy’s faithfulness and courage to save his owner, Todd, from whatever entity haunting them.

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Movie Reviews

Dreambreaker: A Pickleball Story – Review

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This documentary film shines light on the sport of pickleball and the competition against leagues to cash in on the now popular sport. Two wealthy Texas entrepreneurs form rivals in professional pickleball leagues and feud over obtaining contracts on the world’s top players.

Austin billionaire Steve Kuhn, a hedge fund manager turned philanthropist, and sports mogul built Dreamland, an outdoor entertainment and arts venue in Dripping Springs, Texas located in the Hill Country. The site features 16 dedicated pickleball courses, miniature golf courses, and one state of the art music stage.

In 2021, Kuhn co-founded Major League Pickleball (MLP) and held tournaments in Dreamland. I was surprised to learn how this sport evolved into a franchise and attracted investors like Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, and elite athletes like LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes, and even Drew Brees.

Like in all investments and in sports there is always a competitor – here is where Connor Pardoe steps onto the court. Pardoe formed the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) back in 2018, which required the players to sign a one year exclusive contract and transformed the industry from a recreational activity to a burgeoning sports powerhouse. The PPA then gets a new player, investor Thomas Dundon a chairman and managing partner of Dundon Capital Partners in Dallas, Texas. Dundon extended the exclusivity contracts to 3 years.

This sporty film has the tournament founders going head to head, evolving the sport into social media influencers, and chasing the gold. It also stars John McEnroe, no stranger to sport action drama.

Pickleball fanatics and those curious about the sport will find this documentary interesting, maybe even have more people interested in participating in playing pickleball or as a spectator.

The documentary is produced and directed by Ashley Underwood and written and produced by Craig Coyne is set to premiere Friday, April 11 on truTV and also will be streaming afterwards on the Max platform.

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