The Irregular at Magic High School The Movie: The Girl Who Calls the Stars (劇場版 魔法科高校の劣等生 星を呼ぶ少女) at Hollywood Theater, July 29.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont will show the Japanese animated movie The Irregular at Magic High School The Movie: The Girl Who Calls the Stars (劇場版 魔法科高校の劣等生 星を呼ぶ少女) on July 29.

2017 Singaporean-Thai film Pop Aye in Pittsburgh, July 28 - August 3.

The 2017 Singaporean-Thai film Pop Aye will play at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont from July 28. A summary from a recent A.V. Club review:

Some men buy a Ferrari when they’re in the throes of a midlife crisis. Thana (Thaneth Warakulnukroh), the successful architect who’s at the center of writer-director Kirsten Tan’s wistful feature debut Pop Aye, buys an elephant. And although at first this appears to be an act of portentous quirkiness, it turns out that the elephant, Pop Aye—played by an elephant named Bong, one of three actors listed in the film’s credits—is the same one Thana grew up with on his uncle’s farm in the Thai countryside, and the duo’s long walk back to Thana’s hometown is not just a homecoming; it’s an act of penance.

Dissatisfied and feeling as though life is leaving him behind, Thana longs for a simpler time, one less beholden to modern conveniences and consumerist luxuries. The film takes a similarly leisurely tack, ambling along at an unhurried pace for a road trip story that doubles as a travelogue of rural Thailand. Much of the film is split between this odd-couple pilgrimage and scenes of Thana’s life back in Bangkok, where his younger co-workers are squeezing him out of his own firm and his relationship with his wife, Bo (Penpak Sirikul), long ago soured into resentment.

Tickets and showtime information is now 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.

"Not Safe For Life" Japanese horror movie Audition (オーディション) at Row House Cinema, August 12.

The 1999 Japanese horror movie Audition (オーディション) will play at Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville on August 12. Film critic Robin Wood wrote of the Miike Takashi film:

In general, his reputation (or ‘cult’ status) appears to rest on his readiness to push further and further the boundaries of portrayable violence, ‘grossout’ cinema, which doubtless has its sociological interest within a civilization (and I don’t mean only Japanese) that seems to be in the process of accepting (and rather enjoying, even celebrating) its headlong race towards extinction: a kind of Japanese Tarantino, perhaps marginally less complacent and self-congratulatory [. . .].

To put it concisely: The other Miike films are disturbing for what they have to tell us about the state of contemporary civilization; they are not in the least disturbing in themselves, operating on some fantasy level of annihilation, with ‘comic-book’ violence. Audition, on the other hand, is authentically disturbing, and infinitely more horrifying: the first time I watched it – on DVD, at home, after warnings I had received – I was repeatedly tempted, through the last half hour, to turn it off. It is one of those few films, like Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma, 1975) that are almost as unwatchable as the newsreels – of Auschwitz, of the innocent victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Vietnam, victims of Nazi or American dehumanization, which today, under President Bush, seem not so far apart.

Tickets and showtime information has not been announced yet. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Western Pennsylvania welcomes Japanese baseball players to the Freeport International Baseball Invitational.

by Jack Fordyce of the Tribune-Review.

With only four players from overseas, this year's Freeport International Baseball Invitational isn't very international this year. Nevertheless the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review profiles today the two Japanese collegiate athletes who make up half of the international contingent:

Outside of the noisy bus, Ito is enjoying his trip, taking in new experiences big and small surrounding him.

Even the insects.

“It is the first time I've ever seen lightning bugs,” Ito said. “They are pretty cool to see.”

Panda Supermarket (熊猫超市) opening today in Squirrel Hill.

via @PandaSupermarket2017

The Panda Supermarket (熊猫超市) Facebook page announced late Wednesday that it will be open for business starting today, July 20.

Hello everyone! After a day for fixing the systems, we've started our business today and everything is going well. Don't forget that you can get a 10% discount if you follow the public page of Facebook. Our sales promotion will be closed next Saturday. Thank you for your support!

大家好！经过一整天的系统修理，我们已经从今天开始正式营业了。各位记得只要关注Facebook的公众页面，就可以获得九折的购物优惠，这一次的优惠活动将在下周六截止，请大家把握时间哦！谢谢大家的支持！

The store is located at 5846 Forbes Ave. (map), on the first floor beneath Bangkok Balcony.

Library Orientation for New Chinese Students, August 16 at Pitt.

Via Pitt's Weibo.

Chinese-speaking students at the University of Pittsburgh are invited to attend the Library Orientation for New Chinese Students on August 16 at the Hillman Library.

Would you like to know...

• A librarian who speaks your native language?
• The difference between academic libraries in the U.S. and libraries in your home country?
• The many wonderful services that the library offers to help your area of study and research at Pitt?
• If so, please come to attend one of the library orientation sessions.

The session will be held from 2:00 to 3:00 pm in room G-74 of the Hillman Library (map). The event is free but registration is required.

K-Pop Dance Party: Second Edition at James Street Gastropub, August 2.

The James Street Gastropub in Deutschtown will host its second K-Pop Dance Party on August 2, following the success of its first on May 9.

Join us once more for K-POP Appreciation and Dance Party!!

At James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy in the Speakeasy downstairs

August 2 at 8:00 pm

**Guest DJs**
Sikes
DJ Naikou

There may even be a choreographed K-pop dance routine!!!

The event starts at 7:00 pm and is free. James Street Gastropub is located at 422 Foreland St. (map).

Szechuan Spice to open July 25 in Shadyside.

Szechuan Spice will open in Shadyside on July 25, according to advertisements that went out today. The banner ad above from The Pitt News advertises dim sum, sushi, hot pot, and Szechuan cuisine. The restaurant is coming to 5700 Centre Ave. (map); work on the former site of Jimmy Tsang's Chinese restaurant has been underway since August 2015.


Taken July 6.

My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) at Row House Cinema, July 28 to August 3.

The Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville will show Hayao Miyazaki's 1988 animated film My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) as part of the Pittsburgh Children's Film Festival from July 28 to August 3. A 2013 A.V. Club review provides a summary of the now-classic film:

There are magical creatures in My Neighbor Totoro: the Catbus, a 12-legged conveyance with headlight eyes; the soot sprites, tiny animate dust balls who cluster in the dimly lit corners of the family’s house; and Totoro himself. But the world is magic, too, in the way it might be to children who have never seen the towering beauty of a camphor tree before. Acorns sparkle like diamonds in the dirt; branches part to reveal hidden forest paths, then hide all trace of them.

Although the 86-minute Totoro is uncharacteristically short for a Miyazaki feature, the film is never in a rush; it’s nearly half an hour before the title character makes his first appearance. Though conventional wisdom has it that younger viewers need incessant stimulation lest their tiny attention spans expire, Miyazaki so effectively captures the feeling of a child’s life, inside as well as out, that little ones are often mesmerized by the movie, and adults are returned to a time when they could enjoy mystery for its own sake. Should there be something they don’t understand, they can always ask the nearest 4-year-old for clarification.

Ticket and showtime information is now available online; some shows are in Japanese with English subtitles, while others are dubbed in English. A 9:30 am "Cereal Cinema" screening on July 29 features an all-you-can-eat cereal bar.

Kawaii Gifts moves upstairs.

via @KawaiiBuzz.

Shadyside's Kawaii Gifts has moved from its longtime basement home to a first floor spot around the corner at 738 Copeland St. (map) in what was most recently Heart of the Earth. Kawaii Gifts

specialize[s] in Japanese kawaii (cute) gifts and fancy goods. Our floor is overflowing with everything pink and fuzzy, or both. Kawaii Gifts stocks Japanese imports, collectible vinyl toys, miniatures, etc.