Bong Joon-ho film Snowpiercer (설국열차) online at Pitt, part of Watch Party Wednesday series, September 16.

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The University of Pittsburgh's Office of International Services will present the 2013 Bong Joon-ho film Snowpiercer (설국열차) online on September 16, part of its Watch Party Wednesday series. An introduction, via a review from The Atlantic:

Snowpiercer is set after the onset of an ice age, triggered by humanity’s efforts to solve global warming, and set on a train that runs perpetually around the earth, doing one circuit per year, using some combo of a perpetual motion engine and recycled ice that it’s better not to think too hard about. The glorious advantage of setting the movie entirely on a train is that it’s so easy to make the class stratifications Bong wants to talk about clear. At the back of the train, conditions are grim; everyone’s got soot on their faces, people are missing limbs, they eat black jellied “protein bars” handed out by the military, and once in a while their kids get measured and snatched away for reasons unknown.

The 7:00 pm event is free and open to the Pitt community, though registration is required.

2003 Bong Joon-ho film Memories of Murder (살인의 추억) in Pittsburgh-area theaters, October 19 and 20.

The 2003 Bong Joon-ho film Memories of Murder (살인의 추억) will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters on October 19 and 20. From the distributor:

MEMORIES OF MURDER tells the harrowing true story of the hunt for a sadistic serial rapist and murderer terrorizing a small province in 1980s South Korea. Marking the first of many successful collaborations between four-time Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho and leading man Song Kang Ho, the film follows the paths of three increasingly desperate detectives as they attempt to decipher the violent mind of a killer in a futile effort to solve the case.

Now, seventeen years after its initial release, and a year after the real culprit was identified, this cult classic takes its place as a modern masterpiece.

So far it is scheduled to play at AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark in Robinson and tickets are available online.

Applications for Pitt's Asian Studies Center Language Partner program being accepted.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center is now accepting applicatiosn for its latest Language Partner program.

뭐야? Seen at the Waterworks Party City.

BTS concert film Break the Silence (브레이크 더 사일런스: 더 무비) in Pittsburgh from September 24.

The upcoming BTS concert film Break the Silence (브레이크 더 사일런스: 더 무비) will play in Pittsburgh from September 24.

BTS WORLD TOUR 'LOVE YOURSELF: SPEAK YOURSELF' is now over. The worldwide stadium tour topped the Billboard Boxscore, and marked BTS as the first Korean group to perform at Wembley Stadium. The tour took place across Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, São Paulo, London, Paris, Osaka, Shizuoka, Riyadh, and Seoul. With unprecedented access, BREAK THE SILENCE: THE MOVIE travels with BTS throughout the tour, exploring each band member behind the curtain. Off stage, we see another side of BTS. The seven members begin to candidly tell personal stories they have never voiced before. Facing my other self ‘PERSONA’

It will play locally at the Cinemark in Monroeville and Robinson though more venues may be announced later. Tickets for the Monroeville screenings are available online via Fandango.

Bong Joon-ho film Snowpiercer (설국열차) online at Pitt, part of Watch Party Wednesday series, September 16.

<

The University of Pittsburgh's Office of International Services will present the 2013 Bong Joon-ho film Snowpiercer (설국열차) online on September 16, part of its Watch Party Wednesday series. An introduction, via a review from The Atlantic:

Snowpiercer is set after the onset of an ice age, triggered by humanity’s efforts to solve global warming, and set on a train that runs perpetually around the earth, doing one circuit per year, using some combo of a perpetual motion engine and recycled ice that it’s better not to think too hard about. The glorious advantage of setting the movie entirely on a train is that it’s so easy to make the class stratifications Bong wants to talk about clear. At the back of the train, conditions are grim; everyone’s got soot on their faces, people are missing limbs, they eat black jellied “protein bars” handed out by the military, and once in a while their kids get measured and snatched away for reasons unknown.

The 7:00 pm event is free and open to the Pitt community, though registration is required.

BTS concert film Bring the Soul: The Movie in Pittsburgh, from August 28.

The 2019 BTS concert movie Bring the Soul will play in Pittsburgh from August 28.

On the day following the final concert of their Europe tour, on a rooftop in Paris, BTS tells their very own stories from experiencing new cities to performing in front of thousands of ARMY across the globe. A glimpse into BTS’ world away from the stage, featuring intimate group discussions alongside spectacular concert performances from the tour, this is a cinema event not to be missed.

It enjoyed a lengthy run in local theaters last year. It will play in Pittsburgh at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark in Robinson, and tickets are available online.

"Dance Like a K-pop Star" with Fanxy and Pitt Program Council, August 28.

The University of Pittsburgh's Program Council will host "Dance Like a K-pop Star" on August 28, though tickets are no longer available and sold out quickly.

Join the Pitt Program Council as we invite South Korean Dance Team Fanxy in an hour-long k-pop dance class! Students will feel like they're a part of BTS of Blackpink after learning dance routines and basic moves that are a huge part of making the iconic K-Pop stars shine, all from the comfort of their apartments or dorm rooms! Join us virtually via Zoom for a dancing experience like no other - no prior experience required. Students will be admitted from the Zoom waiting room starting at 9:45 pm, and no students will be admitted to the event after 10:05 pm. Tickets are available starting August 22, 2020 and will remain available for reservation until August 26, 2020.

Those interested in working with Fanxy can still book an online class through its website.

The Korean Peninsula and the U.S. Commitment to the Region, September 30 with World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh.

The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will host "The Korean Peninsula and the U.S. Commitment to the Region" online on September 30.

Is North Korea the nation posing the greatest threat to the U.S.? Why do we need to pay attention to what’s happening in the Korean Peninsula? Amidst COVID-19 and its fallout, policymakers are confronted with newly emergent issues alongside pre-existing ones. As the pandemic spreads, US-North Korea talks remain stalled, inter-Korean relations persist as mostly one-sided, and North Korea has continued to test and refine its military capabilities as well as ratchet up its rhetoric, and COVID-19 has intensified a growing US-China strategic competition. From a decades-old military alliance to deep economic ties and a large and vibrant Korean-American community, the linkages between the United States and the Korean Peninsula remain as important as ever.

The Stimson Center and Stimson’s 38 North program, working with the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, presents a dialogue to discuss the importance of the US commitment to the Korean Peninsula. Speakers include: (Ret.) Walter Sharp, former Commander, US Forces Korea (2008-2011) and former President of the Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA), Jenny Town, Stimson Fellow & Deputy Director of Stimson’s 38 North, and moderated by Clint Work, Stimson Fellow & Security for a New Century & 38 North.

The talk runs from 2:00 to 3:00 pm online and is free and open to the public. Registration can be completed online.

BTS concert film Bring the Soul: The Movie back in Pittsburgh, from August 28.

The 2019 BTS concert movie Bring the Soul will play in Pittsburgh from August 28.

On the day following the final concert of their Europe tour, on a rooftop in Paris, BTS tells their very own stories from experiencing new cities to performing in front of thousands of ARMY across the globe. A glimpse into BTS’ world away from the stage, featuring intimate group discussions alongside spectacular concert performances from the tour, this is a cinema event not to be missed.

It enjoyed a lengthy run in local theaters last year. It will play in Pittsburgh at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark in Robinson, and tickets are available online.

Pitt's Daehwa Korean Conversation Club (한국어 대화 동아리) to resume online, from September 4.

The University of Pittsburgh's Daehwa Korean Conversation Club will hold its meetings and activities online for the fall 2020 semester. THe first meeting of the term is September 4.

Authors Caroline Kim & Alexander Chee (online) with Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, October 7.

Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures will host authors Caroline Kim & Alexander Chee for a virtual discussion on October 7.

2020 Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner Caroline Kim in conversation with author and guest judge Alexander Chee

Exploring what it means to be human through the Korean diaspora, Caroline Kim’s The Prince of Mournful Thoughts and Other Stories feature many voices. From a teenage girl in 1980’s America, to a boy growing up in the middle of the Korean War, to an immigrant father struggling to be closer to his adult daughter, or to a suburban housewife whose equilibrium depends upon a therapy robot, each character must face their less-than-ideal circumstances and find a way to overcome them without losing themselves. Language often acts as a barrier as characters try, fail, and momentarily succeed in connecting with each other. With humor, insight, and curiosity, Kim’s wide-ranging stories explore themes of culture, communication, travel, and family. Ultimately, what unites these characters across time and distance is their longing for human connection and a search for the place—or people—that will feel like home.

Of the collection, Wendy Hinman for Foreword Reviews writes, “Worth savoring, the stories of The Prince of Mournful Thoughts are intimate, often wistful portraits set amid the stifling and conflicting expectations of families and cultures.”

The free event starts at 6:00 pm and tickets are now available.

August Book Club: Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, August 27 at Maridon Museum.

Butler County's Maridon Museum will read and discuss Miracle Creek by Angie Kim in its August Book Club meeting on August 27. A brief synospis, from the author's site:

In the rural Virginia town of Miracle Creek, Young and Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment device known as the Miracle Submarine—a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for therapeutic “dives” with the hopes of curing issues like autism or infertility. But when the chamber mysteriously explodes, killing two people, a dramatic murder trial upends the Yoos’ small community.

The meetings will be held in person from 3:00 to 4:00 pm but will also have a Zoom component for people not comfortable gathering at this time. Those interested in registering should call 724-282-0123 or email info@maridon.org. The Maridon Museum is an Asian art museum in Butler County that holds frequent movie screenings, classes, and book club meetings, in addition to the art exhibitions that take place when there isn't a pandemic.

Work on new restaurant Oishii Donburi still continues in Lawrenceville.

Oishii Donburi, a new restaurant coming from the team behind Oakland's Oishii Bento, is still under construction in Lawrenceville. The team with the self-titled company name purchased the former Design Island and Artisan Harvest spot at 5227 Butler St. (map) in May 2018.

Below are a few images released by Margittai Architects last July:

Soon-Mi Yoo's Songs from the North (북녘에서 온 노래) online with Pitt's Asian Studies Center, July 22.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present the 2014 Soon-Mi Yoo documentary Songs from the North (북녘에서 온 노래) on July 22, as the second installment of its online Summer Screenshots: Hot Nights And Cold War series. (Please note the date change from the original announcement.) From a New York Times review:

More art-video installation than typical documentary, “Songs From the North” is mostly nonnarrative, drawing on North Korean film and TV clips to sketch a sensibility that — however stoked by propaganda — prizes family above all and melds that with a zealous commitment to the fatherland. Song and music invoke shared ideals of sacrifice, honor and patriotism; one televised event that features a young boy crying as he sings of his love of country — as an audience of dignitaries also sobs — is moving and disturbing.

. . .

Scattering history lessons and ambiguous imagery amid Ms. Yoo’s engagement with North Koreans, her film implicitly asks: What must they think of us?

The presentation runs from 4:00 to 7:00 pm and registration is required.

Bong Joon-ho film Okja watch party with Pitt's Asian Studies Center and OIS, July 15.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center and Office of International Services will host a Netflix watch party of the 2017 Bong Joon-ho film Okja on July 15. A June 2017 Atlantic review introduces the film:

Okja begins with a splendiferous introduction to its title character. Who is Okja? The ecstatic businesswoman Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) is thrilled to tell us, via multimedia presentation, by revealing to the press and her investors a new kind of “super-pig” her global corporation has discovered. A giant, lumbering beast resembling a hippo (though with a more baleful face), this creature is the future of cuisine, Lucy explains, and Okja is a prized calf sent to a farm in South Korea as part of a worldwide competition to find the best environment for her species. There she’ll roam around the mountains for 10 years, munch on the grass, and becoming a loving companion to young Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), the farmer’s granddaughter.

The movie starts at 7:00 pm and registration is required.

Soon-Mi Yoo's Songs from the North (북녘에서 온 노래) online with Pitt's Asian Studies Center, July 27.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present the 2014 Soon-Mi Yoo documentary Songs from the North (북녘에서 온 노래) on July 27, as the second installment of its online Summer Screenshots: Hot Nights And Cold War series. From a New York Times review:

More art-video installation than typical documentary, “Songs From the North” is mostly nonnarrative, drawing on North Korean film and TV clips to sketch a sensibility that — however stoked by propaganda — prizes family above all and melds that with a zealous commitment to the fatherland. Song and music invoke shared ideals of sacrifice, honor and patriotism; one televised event that features a young boy crying as he sings of his love of country — as an audience of dignitaries also sobs — is moving and disturbing.

. . .

Scattering history lessons and ambiguous imagery amid Ms. Yoo’s engagement with North Koreans, her film implicitly asks: What must they think of us?

The presentation runs from 4:00 to 7:00 pm; registration will be required, though the registration link does not yet show the July installment.

Garfield's Soju to reopen for take-out orders on May 14.

Soju, the Korean fusion restaurant in Garfield, will reopen for take-out orders on Thursday, May 14.

Takeout starting Thursday! Pickup available between 4pm-8pm. Call 412-956-7699 to order.

Soju closed temporarily on March 16. It is located at 4923 Penn Ave. (map).

Sumi's Cakery reopens for pick-up orders.

Sumi's Cakery, a Korean bakery in Squirrel Hill, as reopened for pick-up orders after temporarily closing due to the public health crisis. Says the new sign on the door:

Mask Required!
Max. 2 customers.
Please DO NOT touch pastries!
Kindly let us know and We will get them for you!  Thank you

Sumi's Cakery is located at 2119 Murray Ave. in Squirrel Hill (map). It is open 11:00 am to 7:00 pm Tuesday through Friday, 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Saturdays, and 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Sundays.

2016 Korean film Train to Busan (부산행) watch party with Pitt's Asian Studies Center, May 13.

The next Wednesday Watch Party with Pitt's Asian Studies Center is the 2016 film Train to Busan (부산행) on May 13. From the Korean Movie Database:

A mysterious viral outbreak pushes Korea into a state of emergency! As an unidentified virus sweeps the country, Korean government declares martial law. Those on an express train to Busan, a city that has successfully fended off the viral outbreak, must fight for their own survival… 453 km from Seoul to Busan. The struggle to survive by those who have others to protect! Get on board to stay alive!

Those interested should register online and should have Netflix and the Netflix Party Google Chrome Extension.