Chinese movie Goodbye Mr. Loser (夏洛特烦恼) at AMC Loews Waterfront, from October 16.

The 2015 Chinese comedy Goodbye Mr. Loser (夏洛特烦恼) will play at AMC Loews Waterfront from October 16. A summary, from the distributor:

Comedians Shen Teng and Mai Li star in this film adaptation of the very popular Mainland theater play following the story of a middle-aged loser who finds himself magically transported back to his high school years, enabling him to fix all his life’s mistakes.

The movie was released on September 30 in China. Tickets and showtimes are available at the AMC Loews Waterfront website. It will be the third straight week that new Chinese movies have had a timely release in Pittsburgh; Saving Mr. Wu (解救吾先生) and Lost in Hong Kong (港囧) opened on October 2, with the latter playing into next week. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

2014 Zhang Yimou film Coming Home (归来) at Regent Square Theater from October 16.

The 2014 Chinese film Coming Home (归来), directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li, will play at the Regent Square Theater from October 16. A New York Times review from September 8 summarizes a bit:

“Coming Home,” only [Zhang and Li's] second collaboration in the past 20 years, reunites them in an intimate, politically resonant story set in the final years and the immediate aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. Ms. Gong plays Feng Wanyu, a teacher in a provincial city whose husband, Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming), a professor, has been sent to a labor camp in a purge of “rightists.” Feng Wanyu lives with their teenage daughter, Dan Dan (Zhang Huiwen), a dancer who dreams of playing the lead in the ballet “The Red Detachment of Women.” Her father’s pariah status threatens her ambition, and she is eager to denounce him when local officials demand it.

Early in the film, Lu Yanshi has escaped and made his way home in a doomed and desperate effort to see his family again. He receives a mixed welcome. Feng Wanyu is both terrified and eager to be with him, while Dan Dan, who barely remembers her father, is worried about the disruptive effect his presence will have on her life. Her selfishness and shortsightedness, and her inability to sympathize with her parents or put aside her own needs are all perfectly normal. She’s an adolescent, after all. But in a time of political extremity, ordinary feelings and actions can have terrible consequences. Innocent people do not only suffer under a ruthless system; they become agents of its cruelty.

Zhang and Li partnered on several of the most acclaimed Chinese movies of the 1990s, including Ju Dou (菊豆), Raise the Red Lantern (大红灯笼高高挂), The Story of Qiu Ju (秋菊打官司), and To Live (活著).

The movie will be in Mandarin with English subtitles. Showtimes and ticket information are now available at the Pittsburgh Filmmakers website, with the first showing scheduled for Friday at 8 pm. The theater is located at 1035 S. Braddock Ave. (map) in the Regent Square neighborhood, east of Squirrel Hill and Oakland.

Attack on Titan: End of the World (進撃の巨人 エンド オブ ザ ワールド) at Hollywood Theater from October 20.

The second of two recently-released Attack on Titan live action films, Attack on Titan: End of the World (進撃の巨人 エンド オブ ザ ワールド) and will play at the Hollywood Theater on October 20, 22, and 27. A brief summary of the two movies, from Tech Times:

The movies are based on a popular manga and anime series of the same name, where humanity lives behind massive walls to protect themselves against the threat of massive man-eating giants known as Titans. The story revolves around a young group of men and women who enlist in their city's armed forces to drive back the Titans after a never before seen "Colossal Titan" breaches the walls.

Attack on Titan: End of the World was released in the US on September 19. Showtimes and tickets are available on the theater's website. The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont (map), and is accessible by Pittsburgh's subway/LRT at a block south of Potomac Station.

"Musical Fusions: Chinese, Japanese, and American Intersections" concerts and symposia at Pitt, October 16 - 18.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Music will host two "Musical Fusions: Chinese, Japanese, and American Intersections" concerts and two symposia from October 16 through 18 as part of this year's "Music on the Edge" series.

The first concert, on October 16 at 8:00 pm in the Bellefield Hall auditorium (map),

features Ensemble N_JP performing works by Amy Williams and Toshi Hosokawa, traditional pieces for sho and koto, and the premiere of Systole, a music and video collaboration by Gene Coleman and Adam Vidiksis.

Composer Gene Coleman formed Ensemble N_JP in 2001 as a vehicle for his ongoing work with musicians from Japan. Through concert programs, multimedia works and educational projects, the group explores connections between contemporary and traditional forms of art.

The second concert, on October 17 at 8:00 pm in the Bellefield Hall auditorium,

features Music from China performing recently commissioned works by Chen Yi, Eric Moe, Huang Ruo and Wang Guowei. The program features new music for Chinese instruments alone—erhu, pipa, zheng, dizi—or together with cello and percussion.

Well-versed in the classical and folk repertoire, the Music from China ensemble is equally accomplished at interpreting the music of today using traditional instruments. Throughout its history MFC has featured both ancient and contemporary music in its concert seasons.

There are two symposia as well in 132 Music Building (map). The first, on the 17th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm,

will include Naomi Sato (sho) and Naoko Kikuchi (koto) demonstrating their instruments’ uses in traditional and contemporary music, and composer Gene Coleman and video artist Adam Vidiksis discussing the Systole project.

And the second, on the 18th at the same time and place,

includes presentations by Music from China, and Huang Ruo and Eric Moe discussing their compositions.

Advance tickets for the concerts are available online and are $15 each for general admission and $10 for students. At the door, general admission tickets are $20. Pitt students with valid University of Pittsburgh student ID cards are free.

Tibetan Chant Ceremony October 13, talk "Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition" October 15, at Heinz Chapel.

The University of Pittsburgh's Heinz Chapel will host a Tibetan Chant Ceremony on October 13 with the monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery, and a talk on "Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition" with His Eminence Gyalrong Khentrul Rinpoche on October 15. A synopsis of the latter:

Join us for a public talk by his Eminence Gyalrong Khentrul Rinpoche. The subject of death and dying is often thought of in the West as something negative and morbid. In Buddhism it is important life knowledge, enhancing and enriching our lives and bringing about a dramatic inner transformation as the mind moves into a deeper state of subtlety, clarity and fearlessness.

Both talks are open to the public, though a $10 donation is suggested for the chant ceremony.

Pittsburgh should get a lantern festival.

via 경상일보

The 2015 Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival (진주남강유등축제) finishes its 11-day run on October 11. The annual festival in Jinju, South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, draws over a million visitors each year to the Nam River with scores of colorful lanterns, food tents, and fireworks.


via 경상일보

Asia on Screen: Kyoko Omori, October 15 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center will host Kyoko Omori of Hamilton College for the next installment of the Asia on Screen Series. The title is "The Voice of Silent Film: Benshi Performance in Context and in the Classroom". Benshi refers to live narrators of silent films.

The event begins at 3:00 pm at 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

2014 Korean movie The Admiral: Roaring Currents (명량) at Pitt, October 16.

The University of Pittsburgh's Korean Culture Association will show the 2014 movie The Admiral: Roaring Currents (명량) on October 16. Starring Choi Min-sik, the 2014 movie saw limited theatrical release in the US---it make it to Pittsburgh---but is the highest-grossing film of all time in South Korea. A Los Angeles Times review provides a summary:

Choi Min-sik — the actor best known for "Oldboy," the 2003 Cannes winner remade last year by Spike Lee — assumes the role of legendary Korean Adm. Yi Sun-shin in "The Admiral: Roaring Currents."

The film depicts the storied real-life battle of Myeongnyang in 1597, when Yi led 12 ships to fend off a fleet of 330 from Japan near what is today the South Korean island of Jindo.

The event start at 9:00 pm in the William Pitt Union Kurtzman Room (map).

Japan America Society of Pennsylvania's first "Japanese-English Reading Circle", October 17.

The Japan America Society of Pennsylvania will host its first "Japanese-English Reading Circle" in Shadyside on October 17. An overview, from the event's Facebook page:

"Ask Xing Chinese" beginner class at Carnegie Library - Squirrel Hill, from October 12.

The Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill will host "Ask Xing Chinese" on the second and fourth Mondays this fall.

Have you ever wanted to learn a new language? Xing has returned for another season to present beginner level Chinese instructions at the Squirrel Hill Library! Class will be held on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month from 6:30PM -7:45PM.

The next session is October 12.

Also on the 12th, the Squirrel Hill library will host the monthly "Storytime: Chinese and English" program from 1:30 to 2:00 pm in the Children's Room.

Celebrate the city's diverse culture as we explore new words through songs, action rhymes and stories in both English and Chinese. For children birth--5 years and their parents or caregivers.

The library is located at 5801 Forbes Ave. (map) and is accessible by buses 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, 64, and 74.

Boruto: Naruto the Movie at Hollywood Theater, from October 10.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont is the only theater in Pennsylvania showing Boruto: Naruto the Movie upon its US release this month, with screenings on on October 10, 11, and 13. A brief summary from Wikipedia:

It is part of the larger Start of a New Era Project (新時代開幕プロジェクト Shinjidai Kaimaku Purojekuto) to commemorate the series' 15th anniversary. The film, first teased in the post-credits scene of the previous film, The Last: Naruto the Movie, will tell about the next generation of ninja, in particular Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga's son, Boruto, and Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno's daughter, Sarada, both of whom were introduced in the final chapter of the manga series.

Screenings will be in Japanese with English subtitles. Showtimes and ticket information are available online.

The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont (map), and is accessible by Pittsburgh's subway/LRT at a block south of Potomac Station.

Hair Lin's (名髮廊) coming to Squirrel Hill.

Signage went up recently for Hair Lin's (名髮廊) at 2214 Murray Ave. (map), in what was most recently the Eyetique Lens Lab. It's under the same ownership of Lin's Hair Studio in the Strip District. It will be one of only a few Asian hair salons in the area, besides Min's Jazz Cuts in Oakland and the original Lin's.



Update (10/21/2015, 20:01): Now open.

Taiwanese film Baby Steps (滿月酒) at ReelQ Film Festival, October 15.

The 2014 Taiwanese film Baby Steps (滿月酒) will play at the Harris Theater on October 15 as part of the ReelQ: Pittsburgh Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. The film's official site tells more about the movie:

Baby Steps is a Taiwan-US co-production, produced by Oscar-winning producer Li-Kong Hsu (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman) and Stephen Israel (Swimming With Sharks, G.B.F., I Do). Baby Steps received Tribeca Film Institute’s All Access production grant in 2014 as well as support from Taiwan Ministry of Culture and the City of Taipei.

Logline: Danny, a Taiwanese-American man, and his boyfriend Tate, long to have a baby, but the journey becomes more complicated by Danny’s well-intentioned but meddlesome mother who wants to control every aspect of the process from Taipei.

The movie starts at 7:30 and will be in English and Mandarin with occasional English subtitles. Tickets are $9 for general admission and $6 for students, and can be purchased online. The ReelQ Film Festival runs from October 9 through 17 at the Harris Theater in Pittsburgh's Cultural District (map).

"Understanding the Global Appeal of Japanese Popular Culture" at Pitt, October 9.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Hendrix College President William M. Tsutsui and his lecture "Understanding the Global Appeal of Japanese Popular Culture" on Friday, October 9.

The rising international prominence of Japanese popular culture—from manga and anime to sushi and Hello Kitty—is something that has been hard to ignore over the past quarter century. But why have global audiences responded so enthusiastically to Japanese entertainment products, and what cultural, social, and economic factors have contributed to the riotous creativity of Japanese pop since World War II?

It is the first event in the Mid-Atlantic Region Association for Asian Studies Conference at the University of Pittsburgh from October 9 through 11. The event is free and open to the public, and guests do not have to be registered for the conference to attend. The lecture runs from 2:00 to 3:30 pm in 1500 Posvar Hall (map).

OCA Free Medical Clinic (with Chinese language interpretation) at UPMC Montefiore Hospital, October 12.

The Pittsburgh branch of the OCA, formerly known as the Organization of Chinese Americans, is hosting a free medical clinic at UPMC Montefiore Hospital in Oakland (map) on Monday, October 12. According to the event's Facebook page: "The OCA Free Medical Clinic is a screening clinic. We provide free medical consultation and Chinese language interpretation."

"Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language Workshop: Chinese Language Teacher Preparation for the Global Era" at Pitt, October 9.

The University of Pittsburgh's School of Education will host Sue-mei Wu and her workshop "Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language Workshop: Chinese Language Teacher Preparation for the Global Era" on Friday, October 9. Dr. Wu is a Teaching Professor of Chinese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University. The event is free and open to the public in 5130 Posvar Hall (map) from 3:30 to 5:00 pm.

"Enhancing Chinese EFL Learners’ Awareness of Lexical Style" colloquium at Pitt, October 2.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Linguistics will host Dr. Guangwei Chen and his talk "Enhancing Chinese EFL Learners’ Awareness of Lexical Style" on October 2. The talk is free and open to the public in room G-13 of the Cathedral of Learning (map) from 3:00 pm.

New Hong Kong movies Saving Mr. Wu (解救吾先生), Lost in Hong Kong (港囧) at AMC Loews Waterfront, from October 2.

Two new Hong Kong movies---Saving Mr. Wu (解救吾先生) and Lost in Hong Kong (港囧)---will play at AMC Loews Waterfront from October 2.

The Hollywood Reporter provides a synopsis of the former, starring Andy Lau and Liu Ye and based on the 2004 kidnapping of actor Wu Ruofu:

On a Lunar New Year holiday evening in Beijing, Hong Kong actor referred to only as Mr. Wu (Andy Lau) is rousted by police outside a Chaoyang district restaurant. He’s just finished celebrating a deal for his next movie when an unidentified squad tells him his car has been connected to a hit and run, and would he please come to the station. Unconvinced of their legitimacy Wu "resists" arrest, gets hustled into a car and whisked away. He’s been kidnapped. His captors, led by the sometimes cackling, probably unstable Zhang Hua (Wang Qingyuan, The Crossing) and who have a second hostage, anonymous and — worse for him, working class — Xiao Dou (Cai Lu), are collecting ransoms in order to fund a much larger, more ambitious robbery. While awaiting their 3 million yuan (about $450,000 U.S.) payout, Zhang slips up when he goes to see his girlfriend Chenchen (Li Meng, The Golden Era, the only woman with a speaking part) and promptly gets scooped up by the cops investigating the abduction, Xing Feng (Ding regular Liu Ye, The Last Supper) and Cao Gang (Wu Ruofu, the real victim from 2004). Cue the cat and mouse word games between Xing and Zhang as the police scour the city looking for Wu.

And a September 24 Los Angeles Times review on the latter, which opened in China on September 25 and became the highest-grossing Chinese movie of all time there.:

"Lost in Hong Kong" follows 2010's "Lost on Journey" and 2012's "Lost in Thailand," one of the all-time top-grossing blockbusters in its native China. Connected to its predecessors only thematically, the new film has director-star Xu Zheng embarking on yet another action-packed misadventure. Only this time, Xu's character must babysit an exasperating man-child — a Looney Tunes character personified —played by Bao Bei'er instead of Wang Baoqiang from the previous installments.

Xu plays Xu Lai, a henpecked brassiere designer who's barely putting up with the overbearing clan of wife Cai Bo (Vicki Zhao) on family vacation in Hong Kong. His ulterior motive is to reunite with the one that got away: college sweetheart Yang Yi (Du Juan), an accomplished artist who is set to open a solo show in Hong Kong. Problem is, Xu's aspiring documentarian brother-in-law, Cai Lala (Bao), insists on tagging along everywhere he goes to record his every move.

Tickets and showtimes are available at the AMC Loews Waterfront website. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again (a.k.a., Tora-san's Rise and Fall, 男はつらいよ 寅次郎相合い傘) at Maridon Museum, October 1.

The Maridon Museum wll show the 1975 comedy Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again (a.k.a., Tora-san's Rise and Fall, 男はつらいよ 寅次郎相合い傘) as the second installment in this fall's Japanese film series.

Hong Kong, Miyazaki films coming to Row House Cinema in December.

The Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville has announced two film series in December: "France vs Hong Kong New Wave" from the 4th through 10th, and "Hayao Miyazaki" from the 11th through 17th. The former will include The Killer (喋血雙雄) and Fallen Angels (墮落天使), in addition to two French films. The latter, four Miyazaki films: My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind< (風の谷のナウシカ), Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫), and Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し). Showtimes and ticket information will come later.

The theater is located at 4115 Butler Street (map).

"Voyage to Vietnam: Celebrating the Tet Festival" at Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, October 17.

The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh will host "Celebrating the Tet Festival" on Sunday, October 17, as the opening day in its Voyage to Vietnam exhibit.

Discover the beauty, sights, and sounds of Vietnam through the lens of Tet, the most important celebration of the year, in this interactive exhibition. Dress up in customaryAo Daiand pose for an interactive family photo. Try on a giant lion head and make and launch a fireworks display to signal the culmination of the celebration. Visitors will gain appreciation for the traditions, values, and daily experiences of people who live in Vietnam, and discover similarities and differences among the lives of children in the U.S. and in Vietnam

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The touring exhibit, currently in San Jose, will be in Pittsburgh from October 17 through January 17, 2016. The Freeman Foundation Asian Culture Exhibit Series website provides an overview:

Through the interactive experiences and programming of Voyage to Vietnam, children soak up the essence of Tết—its sights, sounds, stories, textures and experiences. Providing multiple entry points for visitors of all ages to engage personally in authentic Vietnamese culture, Voyage to Vietnam will be scalable from 924 sq.ft. to1,500 sq.ft. to accommodate venues with varying capacity. The exhibit will incorporate Vietnamese-inspired materials, color palette, and an immersive marketplace experience with elements such as bamboo, fabric, umbrellas, plank bed and scripts and fonts that evoke modern Vietnamese calligraphy. Fabrication strategies include using banners rather than painted walls; video backdrops as set-pieces, digital narratives demonstrating cultural practices, and collapsible steel “carts” for shipping the exhibit, reducing the crate storage for the exhibit’s square footage.

"Celebrating the Tet Festival" runs from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh is located at 10 Children's Way on the North Side (map). Admission is $14 for adults and $13 for seniors and for children aged 2 to 18.