Samurai Films at Row House Cinema, November 1 - 7.

The Row House Cinema will run a Samurai Films series from November 1 through 7. The series is comprised of 1966's Sword of Doom (大菩薩峠), 1960's The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人), 2002's The Twilight Samurai (たそがれ清兵衛), 1973's Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (子連れ狼 子を貸し腕貸しつかまつる), and 1954's The Seven Samurai (七人の侍). Summaries, showtimes, and tickets are available online. Special events associated with the series include The Seven Samurai (with Bento Boxes) on November 3 and Setting the Scene: The Hidden Fortress on November 6.

The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

"Confusion, Misunderstanding and Mutilated Testimony: How Hou Hsiao-hsien Uses Cinema Aesthetics to Illustrate Taiwan's Political History" at Pitt, October 31.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Dr. Christopher Lupke and his talk "Confusion, Misunderstanding and Mutilated Testimony: How Hou Hsiao-hsien Uses Cinema Aesthetics to Illustrate Taiwan's Political History" on October 31. It starts at 4:00 pm in the Alcoa Room of Barco Law School (map).

Author Grace Lin in Pittsburgh, November 3.

Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures will host children's author Grace Lin on November 3.

Grace Lin is the award-winning and bestselling author and illustrator of A Big Mooncake for Little Star, a gorgeous Caldecott Honor-winning picture book for young readers. Grace is also the author of When the Sea Turned to Silver, Starry River of the Sky, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Rat, Dumpling Days, and Ling & Ting, as well as picture books such as The Ugly Vegetables and Dim Sum for Everyone! Her newest book A Big Bed for Little Snow is due to be released in October 2019.

The event starts at 2:30 pm at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall in Oakland (map) and will be followed by a book signing. Tickets are available online.

"Your Future In Asia: The Japan Exchange & Teaching (JET) Program," October 29 at Pitt.

An information session for prospective JET applicants will be held on October 29 at the University of Pittsburgh.

Are you graduating soon? Wondering what your next adventure could be? Learn about the Japan Exchange & Teaching (JET) Program. It is a great opportunity for college graduates to work in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) or Coordinators for International Relations (CIR).

The presentation begins at 5:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

2006 Japanese movie Honey and Clover (ハチミツとクローバー) at CMU, November 7.

The 2006 Japanese movie Honey and Clover (ハチミツとクローバー) will play at Carnegie Mellon University on November 7 as part of the Modern Language Resource Center Film Series.

This film is adapted from the anime series about five art school students who navigate the emotional peaks and valleys of university life. Three male students all live in the same apartment building, and, when two of them fall for the same girl, their friendship is tested. Both Takemoto (Shô Sakurai) and Morita (Yusuke Iseya) long for Hagu (Yû Aoi), a new student at the school. Takemoto attempts to play it cool, while Morita tries a bit too hard to get her attention.

It starts at 7:00 pm in 225C Porter Hall (map).

2018 Japanese animated film Mirai (未来のミライ) at Phipps Conservatory, November 1.

The 2018 Japanese animated film Mirai (未来のミライ) will play at Phipps Conservatory on November 1 as part of its Fall Flower Show: Japanese Inspirations. A synopsis, from the distributor:

From acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars, Wolf Children) and Japan’s Studio Chizu comes MIRAI, a daringly original story of love passed down through generations. When four-year-old Kun meets his new baby sister, his world is turned upside down. Named Mirai (meaning “future”), the baby quickly wins the hearts of Kun’s entire family. As his mother returns to work, and his father struggles to run the household, Kun becomes increasingly jealous of baby Mirai... until one day he storms off into the garden, where he encounters strange guests from the past and future – including his sister Mirai, as a teenager. Together, Kun and teenage Mirai go on a journey through time and space, uncovering their family’s incredible story. But why did Mirai come from the future?

An official selection at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, and the epic capstone of director Mamoru Hosoda’s career, Mirai is a sumptuous, magical, and emotionally soaring adventure about the ties that bring families together and make us who we are.

It will play from 7:00 to 9:00 pm dubbed in English; it will also include an introduction by Kirsten Strayer of the University of Pittsburgh. Those interested must register online and are required to purchase admission to Phipps. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is located at 1 Schenley Drive in Oakland (map).

2019 Takashi Miike film First Love (初恋) to continue in Pittsburgh through October 31.

It was announced today the 2019 Takashi Miike film First Love (初恋), which opened in Pittsburgh on October 18, will continue here through October 31. The distributor provides a brief summary:

The film is the prolific auteur, Takashi Miike, at his most fun and anarchic, a noir-tinged yakuza film blending genres in the story of a young boxer and a call girl, who fall passionately in love while getting innocently caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme over the course of one night in Tokyo.

It will play at the Regent Square Theater at 1035 S. Braddock Ave. (map) and tickets are now available online.

Bong Joon-ho film Parasite (기생충) in Pittsburgh from November 1.

The acclaimed 2019 Bong Joon-ho film Parasite (기생충) will play in two Pittsburgh-area theaters from November 1. Tickets went on sale on October 15 for screenings at the Squirrel Hill Manor Theater, and showtimes were recently added to the AMC Loews Waterfront.

Bong Joon Ho brings his singular mastery home to Korea in this pitch-black modern fairytale.

Meet the Park Family: the picture of aspirational wealth. And the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist, to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide “indispensable” luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem between the Kims and the Parks. By turns darkly hilarious and heart-wrenching, PARASITE showcases a modern master at the top of his game.

Parasite won the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Tickets for the shows from November 1 through (at least) November 6 at the AMC Loews Waterfront and through November 7 at the Manor Theater are available online.

BTS World Tour film Love Yourself: Speak Yourself [The Final] in Pittsburgh for live-streaming event, October 27.

The final installment of the BTS concert film series Love Yourself: Speak Yourself [The Final] will play in Pittsburgh on October 27. It will be simulcast live throughout the US and Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea. The three-and-a-half-hour concert will play locally at the Southside Works Cinema and the Cinemark in Robinson, and tickets for the 8:00 pm movie are available online.

The concert movie BTS World Tour: Love Yourself in Seoul was released in Pittsburgh in January 2019, and their film Bring the Soul: The Movie played here through the summer.

New Chinese movie The Captain (中国机长) stays in Pittsburgh through (at least) October 30.

The 2019 Chinese film The Captain (中国机长), which opened Pittsburgh on October 18, will continue here through at least October 30. The distributor writes of the film, based on the 2018 Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 incident:

Director Andrew Lau's cinematic portrayal of the most miraculous emergency landing in the contemporary history of Chinese aviation.

It has been the top film in China its first three weekends and is currently the fifth-highest grossing film of the year there, despite not being released until September 30. It will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available on the theater's site. 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.