Thursday, September 15, 2016

Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu (傷物語II 熱血篇) at Hollywood Theater, from October 22.



The Hollywood Theater in Dormont announced on Monday that it will have three screenings of the 2016 Japanese animated movie Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu (傷物語II 熱血篇) on October 22, 23, and 25.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

2016 Korean zombie movie Train to Busan (부산행) in Pittsburgh, September 30 to October 6.



The 2016 Korean hit zombie movie Train to Busan (부산행) will play at the Parkway Theater in McKees Rocks from September 30 to October 6. A July 21 New York Times review summarizes:
The setup is lean and clean. A flattened deer, mowed down in a quarantine zone in Seoul where some kind of chemical spill has occurred (echoes of Bong Joon-ho’s 2007 enviro-horror film, “The Host”), springs back to life. Then, in just a few swiftly efficient scenes, we meet a harried hedge-fund manager and his small, sad daughter (Gong Yoo and an amazing Kim Su-ahn), see them settled on the titular locomotive and watch in dismay as a vividly unwell last-minute passenger lurches onboard. And we’re off!

Sprinting right out of the gate, the director, Yeon Sang-ho, dives gleefully into a sandbox of spilled brains and smug entitlement. (“In the old days, they’d be re-educated,” one biddy remarks upon spying an undesirable fellow traveler.) As zombies chomp and multiply, an assortment of regular folks face them down while furthering an extended critique of corporate callousness. The politics are sweet, but it’s the creatures that divert. Eyes like Ping-Pong balls and spines like rubber — I’d wager more than a few chiropractors were required on the set — they attack in seizures of spastic energy. They’re like break-dancing corpses.
The theater is located at 644 Broadway Ave. in McKees Rocks (map), a few miles west of the North Side.

Japanese garage rock band Guitar Wolf (ギターウルフ) at Hard Rock Cafe tonight, September 14.



Japanese garage rock band Guitar Wolf (ギターウルフ) will play at Hard Rock Cafe tonight, September 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Korean movie A Girl At My Door (도희야) in Pittsburgh, September 18 and 20.



The 2014 Korean movie A Girl At My Door (도희야) will play in Pittsburgh on September 18 and 20 as part of this year's Silk Screen Film Festival. The Vancouver Queer Film Festival provides a summary of the film, starring Doona Bae (배두나) and a 14-year-old Sae-ron Kim (김새론):
A brilliant, gritty and complex psychodrama that received a three-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, this powerful film by writer-director July Jung presents a stunning reflection on immigration, rural life, addiction and abuse—and the heartbreak of finding no safe refuge in family or law. Young-Nam, an outsider with an unspoken scandal, is sent from Seoul to a small village to take over as police chief, and is soon drawn into the personal dramas of the locals. When her ex-lover arrives, Young-Nam’s defense of a girl in the town becomes suspect. Doona Bae (Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending, Sense8), revered as one of the best actors of our time and a “performer who can convey everything that needs to be said,” is luminous in her portrayal of a woman stubbornly seeking justice, even as she drinks a little too much shoju on the side. Kim Sae-ron is also exceptional as Dohee, capably maneuvering extremely satisfying plot twists while embodying the brutality she’s lived through at the hands of her father. A beautifully done, sometimes disturbing, and ultimately exquisite film, July Jung’s A Girl at My Door captures the fantasies and hopes of two people finding hard-won redemption.
The movie plays at 8:00 pm on the 18th and 20th, both nights at the McConomy Auditorium in the Jared L. Cohon Center on the Carnegie Mellon University campus (map). Tickets are available on the Silk Screen Film Festival website.

Japanese movie Twisted Justice (日本で一番悪い奴ら) in Pittsburgh, September 18 and 24.



The 2016 Japanese movie Twisted Justice (日本で一番悪い奴ら) will play in Pittsburgh on September 18 and 24 as part of this year's Silk Screen Film Festival.

No, Everyday Noodles is not hipster food.



The most recent listicle from Made in PGH is on "the most hipster foods" in Pittsburgh, and includes "Noodle Joints" like Everyday Noodles and Pusadee's Garden.
Pittsburgh’s young and hip are practically tangled in a nest of noodle shops. Do you want spicy noodles, noodles with meat, vegan noodles, rice noodles or noodles with an array of unpronounceable roots and spices? You’re in luck because just about every neighborhood boasts a noodle shop or three.
Oh for f**ks sake.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Bubblepop! for Babes & Babies, September 17.



The next Bubblepop event is scheduled for September 17 at Brillobox in Lawrenceville. Bubblepop, explains its Facebook page,
is a dance party for K-Pop, J-Pop, Mando-pop and everything else fun and cute.
A $5 donation to The Midwife Center for Birth and Women's Health is suggested. The 21-and-over event starts at 10:00 pm, and the venue is at 4104 Penn Ave. (map).

Friday, September 9, 2016

2015 Hong Kong film Ten Years (十年) at Regent Square Theater, September 17 and 19.



The 2015 Hong Kong film Ten Years (十年) will play at the Regent Square Theater on September 17 and 19 as part of this year's Silk Screen Film Festival.

New signage up at Noodle Uchi in Oakland.



New signage up at Noodle Uchi, at 415 S. Craig St. in Oakland (map), in what was formerly Maximum Flavor Pizza Shop. The restaurant is owned by Ting Yen, the owner of Oakland's Sushi Fuku and Fuku Tea. "ready to create your own ramen noodle bowl" has replaced "Create Your Own Noodle Bowls". Work is being done by Peter Margittai Architects, who designed the space for Noodle Uchi's neighbor, the second Sushi Fuku location.


Interior design by Peter Margittai Architechts, via Noodle Uchi Facebook page.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Rurouni Kenshin 2: Kyoto Inferno (るろうに剣心 京都大火編 ) in Pittsburgh, September 13 and 14; Rurouni Kenshin 3: The Legend Ends ( るろうに剣心 伝説の最期編), October 4 and 5.



The 2014 Japanese movie Rurouni Kenshin 2: Kyoto Inferno (るろうに剣心 京都大火編 ) will play at Southside Works Cinema on September 13 and 14. The distributor has a synopsis of the second installment of the trilogy:
Spectacular fight scenes and swordplay capture the true spirit of the classic franchise in this thrilling live-action adaptation.Former assassin Kenshin Himura and his friends are called back into action when a ghost from the past era rises to wreak havoc across Japan. Makoto Shishio, another ex-assassin, was betrayed, burned, and left for dead at the end of the war. Badly scarred—but very much alive—Shishio has put together an army and aims to overthrow the new government—burning anything and killing anyone who stands in his way. After witnessing his brutality firsthand, Kenshin agrees to intervene and help keep the peace. Will the wanderer with a blade bathed in blood be able to withstand the fury of the swordsman forged by fire?
The trilogy has a limited release in the US this fall, with Rurouni Kenshin 3: The Legend Ends (るろうに剣心 伝説の最期編) playing on October 4 and 5 at Southside Works Cinema. Tickets are currently available online via the theater's website.

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