Japanese film Why Don't You Play in Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い) at Hollywood Theater in Dormont, November 13 - 16.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont will show the Japanese film Why Don't You Play in Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い) from November 13 through 16. A summary, from The Japan Society:

A tribute to old-school yakuza cinema and shoe-string amateur filmmaking based on a screenplay Sion Sono wrote 17 years ago. The Fuck Bombers, a group of film geeks led by Hirata (Hiroki Hasegawa), try to turn brawler Sasaki (Tak Sakaguchi) into their new Bruce Lee but are nowhere near making their action masterpiece. An ambush set up by a yakuza clan comes to a gory end in the home of boss Muto (Jun Kunimura) with only one man, Ikegami (Shinichi Tsutsumi), surviving. When Mitsuko, the Mutos' young daughter, makes an unexpected entrance, Ikegami is instantly smitten. Ten years later, she has become one sultry mean mess of a girl (Fumi Nikaido). Determined to make Mitsuko a star, her father gives Hirata a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make his movie, with the yakuza as film production crew and the Bombers joining the "real" action--the ultimate sword battle between the Muto and Ikegami clans.

Tickets are $8 for general admission and $6 for students and seniors, and are available online by clicking on the movie calendar on the theater's site. The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont, and is accessible by Pittsburgh's subway/LRT at a block south of Potomac Station. The movie was first in Pittsburgh last spring as part of the 2014 Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival.

Korean Culture Association at Pitt's annual Night Market, November 7.

The Korean Culture Association at the University of Pittsburgh will hold its annual Pojang Macha Night Market tomorrow, November 7, in the William Pitt Ballroom.

Come out to get an authentic experience of what food you would encounter on the modern streets of seoul at night! It will be a time filled with free food and fun people!

Pojang macha (포장마차) are tented street food vendors that are a ubiquitous part of Korean nightlife.

Spring Roll Workshop at Pitt, November 7.

The Vietnamese Student Association at the University of Pittsburgh will host a Spring Roll Workshop on Friday, November 7, at 3:00 pm in room 630 of the William Pitt Union.

Spring rolls are a famous national appetizer made of rice vermicelli, mint leaves, sliced cucumbers, and shrimp/pork/tofu, all rolled up in a rice paper wrapper. It is enjoyed with a sweet and salty hoisin sauce. We'll have all these ingredients for everyone to enjoy for this workshop!

So come out to our event and we'll teach you how to make these delicious spring rolls to eat (for free)!

Shinil Kim named University of Pittsburgh Legacy Laureate.

The 2014 honorees; Kim is third from right.

Former South Korean Minister of Education and longtime professor at Seoul National University Shinil Kim was named a Legacy Laureate by the University of Pittsburgh last month. Kim was one of ten alumni honored at a ceremony during Homecoming Week in October. He earned a Ph.D. from Pitt in 1978, writing his dissertation on "A Cross-National Analysis of the Determinants of Public Efforts in Education", and received a University of Pittsburgh 225th Anniversary Medallion in 2013 as a distinguished alumnus. On October 21, he presented an overview of education in South Korea at a Department of Education colloquium.

"Hawker Stand" temporary restaurant coming to Oakland, bringing Southeast Asian street food.

Spice Island Tea House will be taking a brief hiatus, says its Facebook page, and will be replaced by "Hawker Stand,"

a temporary restaurant featuring classic street foods of South East Asia.

We will serve tasty snacks and curries popularized by Asian food stalls, some of which you may recognize from the original Spice Island Tea House menu. We will post a working menu up as soon as possible. The menu will be posted on www.facebook.com/hawkerstand.

Spice Island Tea House will return in late 2014 or early 2015.

After nearly 20 years, 6 days a week, we think that Spice Island Tea House deserves an extended vacation. But we are excited about exploring this new territory, and hope that you will be too.

The spot is located at 253 Atwood Street in Oakland (map).

"Huun Huur Tu and Alash–A Festival of Khoomei (Tuvan Throat Singing)" in Oakland, November 8.

via Facebook.

Pittsburgh will host two Tuvan throat singing performing groups on Saturday, November 8. The groups, Huun Huur Tu and Alash, will perform at Synod Hall on N. Craig St. in Oakland. The event is free for Pitt undergraduates who register through the PITTArts website, and $30 for the general public ($25 in advance). Doors open at 7:00 pm. For profiles of the two groups, and for ticket information, visit the Calliope website.

Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) at Waterworks Cinemas, November 8.

The Japanese animated film Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) will play at Waterworks Cinema on November 8, the first full day of the Three Rivers Film Festival. A brief summary of the Hayao Miyazaki / Studio Ghibli classic from a 2002 A.V. Club review:

Spirited Away centers on Chihiro, a sullen, fearful Japanese girl whose parents are moving so far out into the country that they predict they'll have to drive to the next town just to shop. While traveling to their new home, they discover an abandoned, disintegrating theme park, which they cheerfully explore in spite of Chihiro's shrill protests. Suddenly, a boy approaches her and commands her to leave before nightfall. But before she can gather her wayward parents and escape, night does fall, in a breathtakingly eerie sequence that almost subsumes Chihiro's danger with its technical achievement. Chihiro is trapped in the spirit world, and in order to save herself, her parents, and eventually her new friend, she has to come to terms with herself and her unwitting captors. Gradually, in a series of almost episodic adventures, she learns to be brave and face up to her responsibilities to herself and the people she loves.

Wikipedia sums up its reception:

When released, Spirited Away became the most successful film in Japanese history, grossing over $274 million worldwide. The film overtook Titanic (at the time the top grossing film worldwide) in the Japanese box office to become the highest-grossing film in Japanese history with a $229,607,878 total. Acclaimed by international critics, the film is often considered one of the greatest animated films of all-time [and it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards, the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival (tied with Bloody Sunday) and is among the top ten in the BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14.

Spirited Away is one of four Japanese movies part of this year's festival, and will also play on November 15 at the Regent Square Theater.

The November 8th show starts at 1:30 pm, and tickets are $9 for general admission and $5 for children 12 and under. The Waterworks Cinema multiplex is part of the Waterworks Mall near Fox Chapel, across the Allegheny River from Highland Park (map).

Tickets still available for Royal Ballet of Cambodia in Pittsburgh, November 7.

A 2010 performance in Paris, by Jean-Pierre Dalbera (Creative Commons).

Tickets are still available for the November 7 performance of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia at the Byham Theater. It is considered an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, and is described thus:

Renowned for its graceful hand gestures and stunning costumes, the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, also known as Khmer Classical Dance, has been closely associated with the Khmer court for over one thousand years. Performances would traditionally accompany royal ceremonies and observances such as coronations, marriages, funerals or Khmer holidays. This art form, which narrowly escaped annihilation in the 1970s, is cherished by many Cambodians.

Infused with a sacred and symbolic role, the dance embodies the traditional values of refinement, respect and spirituality. Its repertory perpetuates the legends associated with the origins of the Khmer people. Consequently, Cambodians have long esteemed this tradition as the emblem of Khmer culture. Four distinct character types exist in the classical repertory: Neang the woman, Neayrong the man, Yeak the giant, and Sva the monkey. Each possesses distinctive colours, costumes, makeup and masks.The gestures and poses, mastered by the dancers only after years of intensive training, evoke the gamut of human emotions, from fear and rage to love and joy. An orchestra accompanies the dance, and a female chorus provides a running commentary on the plot, highlighting the emotions mimed by the dancers, who were considered the kings’ messengers to the gods and to the ancestors.

The Friday night show begins at 8:00 pm, and tickets range from $20 to $45. The Byham Theater is located at 101 6th Street, in the Cultural District downtown (map).

Jin Shan at Carnegie Mellon University School of Art, November 4.

Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art will host Chinese artist Jin Shan on November 4 as part of its Fall 2014 Art Lecture Series. The school, via Brown University, offers a profile:

A leading voice in an emerging generation of socially engaged contemporary artists in China, Shanghai-based Jin Shan is an agent provocateur. Preferring wit and satire to aggression and conflict, his work uses humor and play to draw audiences into a confrontation with the social, cultural and political problems of the modern world. While specifically describing elements of contemporary China, his investigation of human motivation extends beyond national boundaries to the seemingly insatiable desire for power programmed into humanity’s DNA.

The lecture starts at 5:00 pm in Kresge Theater (map), and is free and open to the public.

Taiwanese Film Festival 2014 at CMU, November 12 and 13.

Carnegie Mellon University will host a Taiwanese Film Festival on November 12 and 13, presented by the Taiwanese Scholars Society and featuring the movies Winds of September (九降風), Monga (艋舺), and Kano: Soul of Baseball. Tickets for Winds of September and Monga are $5 a piece, and comprise the "Taiwan Classical Movies" set on the 12th. LoveHKFilm.com summarizes Winds of September:

Tang is one of seven friends of varying high school years. Collectively, the group is known as a bunch of troublemakers, though some of the gang are worse than others. The charismatic assumed leader is Yen , a handsome playboy whose prim girlfriend Yun has to put up with incessant stories of his infidelity. The problem reaches a tipping point when Yen sleeps with another girl and her angry boyfriend comes calling. Tang is mistaken for Yen and assaulted in his place, and the incident ultimately drives a minor wedge in the group. The situation is exacerbated by the other boys' individual conflicts and issues, and Yen and Tang nearly have a falling out. The two do seem to patch things up, but the cracks in the group's camaraderie begin to worsen. Some boys are pressured to drop the group, while others continue to misbehave, ignoring the damage it may have on their future. Ultimately, the boys' aimlessness results in a tragedy that further drives them apart, revealing the anger, cowardice, fear, jealousy, and helplessness that lives within them.

A South China Morning Post review says of Monga:

Set in Taipei’s once notorious Monga (known officially as Wanhua) neighbourhood in 1986-87, the narrative is part history lesson and part mob tale, but primarily an exploration of the ties that bind a group of sworn brothers.

Tickets for Kano: Soul of Baseball are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. The screening of Kona on the 13th will be accompanied by director Umin Boya. The TSS summarizes the 2014 film:

This movie based on an inspiring Taiwanese history in 1931 when Taiwan was ruled by Japan. A high school in southern Taiwan overcame all the odds and obstacles to form a baseball team. The team presented Taiwan to compete at Japanese High School Baseball Championship at Koshien Stadium. The underdog team advanced to the championship game in the tournament beyond all expectation.

The movies on the 12th will be shown in Doherty Hall 2210 from 6:00 pm, and Kano in University Center McConomy Auditorium from 6 (campus map). Tickets may be purchased in advance online with Paypal; to purchase tickets or to read more about the film festival, visit the event's website.