2017 Korean movie The Villainess (악녀) at Parkway Theater, from September 29.

The 2017 South Korean movie The Villainess (악녀), starring Kim Ok-bin, will play at the Parkway Theater in McKees Rocks from September 29. The distributor provides a summary:

Bloody revenge is at the heart of this stylish, kinetic action-thriller that gives a welcome shot of adrenaline to the classic femme fatale story. Honed from childhood into a merciless killing machine by a criminal organization, assassin Sook-hee is recruited as a sleeper agent with the promise of freedom after ten years of service - and she jumps at the chance for a normal life. But soon enough, secrets from her past destroy everything she’s worked for, and now nobody can stand in her way as she embarks on a roaring rampage of revenge.

Showtime and ticket information has not yet been announced. The newly-renovated theater is located at 644 Broadway Ave. in McKees Rocks (map).

From Madness to Medicine in Japanese Culture conference, September 28 and 29 at Pitt; documentary Does Your Soul Have a Cold?, September 27.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host the From Madness to Medicine in Japanese Culture conference on September 28 and 29, with a screening of the 2007 documentary Does Your Soul Have a Cold? on the 27th.

This symposium brings together a group of scholars from across the disciplines of anthropology, film, history, literature, the performing arts, and religious studies to interrogate the meanings of mental illness as they have been defined and transformed throughout Japanese history. Our intention is to bring intensive scrutiny to the particular cultural case of Japan. We begin with the premise that mental illnesses are in part cultural constructs, ones that have been the subject of interest and concern from earliest times. By engaging scholars across disciplines, we hope to identify places where disciplinary boundaries often limit our understanding of key concepts used to characterize behavioral anomalies, concepts like madness (kyōki 狂気), insanity (kichigai 気違い) mental illness (seishinbyō 精神病), and mental disability (seishin shōgai 精神障害). Further, we look not simply at the contemporary moment, but the historical layers that have contributed to Japanese descriptions of mental health, layers which inherently underpin and complicate modern terminologies, nosologies, and medical practices. We are interested in tracing how ideas about mental health emerged and were described, as well has how they influenced treatments throughout Japanese history. Some of the questions we explore are as follows: How have the Japanese defined and treated those whose mental states are not “healthy”? How have Japan’s interactions with other cultures and other cultural models affected definitions of mental health and illness? How can we see Japan’s historical experience with “mental health” as a touchstone in understanding the vital culturally specific dimensions to biological models of mental health and illness so universally prevalent today? How is globalizing biomedical ideas adapted and interpreted in distinctive ways in Japan?

The documentary will run from 7:30 to 9:30 pm in room G24 of the Cathedral of Learning. The conference's sessions will be held in the University Club's Gold Room (map). A full schedule of presenters is available online. All sessions are free and open to the public, though RSVP is required for lunch.

New Chinese films Chasing the Dragon (追龍), Youth (芳华) opening in Pittsburgh on September 29.

Two new Chinese movies will open in Pittsburgh before they open in China. Both the gangster biopic Chasing the Dragon (追龍), starring Donnie Yen and Andy Lau, and the coming-of-age drama Youth (芳华) will play in Pittsburgh from September 29.

The distributor provides a summary of Chasing the Dragon (追龍), now set to open in China on October 5:

Donnie Yen stars as infamous real-life drug kingpin Crippled Ho, who came to Hong Kong an illegal immigrant in 1963 and ruthlessly carved an empire from the chaotic underworld of drug dealers and corrupt police that ruled the city under notorious detective Lee Rock (Andy Lau.

A September 9 Variety review introduces Youth, opening in China on October 1:

The narrator Suizi (Zhong Chuxi), a stand-in for screenwriter Yan Geling (“The Flowers of War” and “Coming Home”), whose semi-biographical novel was the film’s literary source, belongs to a military dance troupe stationed in the Great Southwest. However, the central figure is actually Xiaoping (Miao Miao), whose father has been branded a Rightist and thrown in a re-education camp. She is recruited from Beijing by the good-looking and kind-hearted lead dancer Liu Feng (Huang Xuan).

The pristine surroundings of their training center and dreamy soft focus that accompanies the young dancers whenever they rehearse revolutionary ballets exude a rarefied atmosphere that reinforces how privileged the troupe is, shielded from hunger, violence and back-breaking labor at the height of the Cultural Revolution. And yet, a hierarchy based on political pedigree is firmly in place in the so-called classless society. Shuwen (Li Xiaofeng) the daughter of a general and hospital supervisor, is the queen bee. Dingding (Yang Caiyu) scores with her looks, while Mongolian Drolma (Sui Yuan) plays her ethnic minority card.

Tickets and showtime information is available via Fandango. 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.

Chinese musical film City of Rock (缝纫机乐队) in Pittsburgh, from October 6.

The upcoming Chinese musical movie City of Rock (缝纫机乐队) will play in the US, and in Pittsburgh at AMC Loews Waterfrontm from October 6. The distributor provides a summary:

Da Peng’s (Pancake Man aka Jiang Bing Man) highly anticipated sophomore film, CITY OF ROCK, follows Hu Liang, a young man from a small town in China, who wants to protect the town’s treasured Rock Park from redevelopment by a corporate real estate agent. Hoping to save the park by organizing a charity rock concert, he partners with music agent Cheng Gong. But when he’s offered a large payout to cancel the concert, will Hu Liang choose money or will he save the beloved town park?

Tickets and showtime information have not yet been announced. 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 Korean movie Sea Fog (해무) at Carnegie Library in Oakland, October 1.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's main branch in Oakland will show the 2014 Korean movie Sea Fog (해무) on October 1 as next month's installment of International Cinema Sunday.

South Korean band 57 (밴드57) in Pittsburgh, October 29.

via @duo57.

The Jeonju-based rock duo 57 (오칠, pronounced "oh chill") will play in Pittsburgh on October 29, part of their North American tour in support of Barb Wire Dolls and Svetlanas. 57 is composed of guitarist Yun Junhong and drummer Sur Kim.

Doors for the all-ages show at Mr. Smalls in Millvale (map) at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available online from $13.

English/Japanese Language Social Hour, September 27 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center and the English Language Institute will present an English/Japanese Language Social Hour on September 27, as a way to bring together Japanese ESL students and Pitt students learning Japanese. It runs from 12:00 to 1:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map), and will feature ELI students from Yasuda Women's University in Hiroshima. Refreshments will be provided, and the Social Hour is free and open to the public.

JET Program Information Session, September 27 at Pitt.

For those considering the JET Program as a way to teach English in Japan after graduation, the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center is hosting a free JET Program Information Session on September 27.

Snow Park (冰雪公园) Thai rolled ice cream opening in Oakland on September 21, offering buy-one-get-one free.

Snow Park (冰雪公园) is opening tomorrow, September 21, inside TOP Shabu Shabu, and is offering a buy-one-get-one free special to mark the occasion. TOP Shabu Shabu is located at 114 Atwood St. in Oakland (map).

Korean and Japanese movies highlight second half of Silk Screen Film Festival, through September 23.

The annual Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival runs this year from September 16 through 24, with several East Asian films getting a second screening this week.