"2011: The Adult Industry in Photos" is a candid look back at the past twelve months at a business that is headquartered in the San Fernando Valley. more ›

Downtown at the corner of 9th and Hope a large billboard shows a Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn pointing at the LA home of Project Runway, the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM). Outside the gates food trucks park to offer up lunch options (Last Friday we spotted The Manila Machine, The Dim Sum Truck and The Patty Wagon). Inside the gates you will find fashion students bustling about. The current exhibit in the FIDM Gallery features dioramas of costumes from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. more ›

An Alice in Wonderland Exhibition opens today at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in DTLA. Original costumes from the film by Oscar-winning designer Colleen Atwood (Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago) include Johnny Depp’s original Mad Hatter fighter garment, several of Mia Wasikowska’s Alice dresses and Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen Dress. Also on display are costume sketches, hats and props from the film as well as the “Edgier Side of Alice-” inspired clothing and products by Sue Wong, Tom Binns, Avril Lavigne and FIDM grads. The exhibit is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm and runs through the end of September. more ›

With the release (and subsequent big box office take) of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland lots of local shops and restaurants are capitalizing on the movie's enchanting motif and creating Alice-themed specials. Among those is the London West Hollywood's Boxwood Cafe, who have added some color and whimsy to their afternoon tea service ($28). more ›

It's only March, but I can already guarantee House is the weirdest film you'll see in a theater this year. The slice of '70s pscyhedelia takes a band of Japanese school-girls, sends them to an old house, and severs all ties to sanity. House deftly melds art-house tricks with gore and slapstick, and turns on a dime. There's new-wave editing, laser ghost cats, gorgeous lighting, dancing skeletons, faux newsreel footage, martial arts, haunting melodies and a series of deaths so outrageous I don't even know how to put them to words. It opens at the New Beverly on Friday, where it plays for an entire week. And considering all the amazing films the Bev only screens a couple nights... more ›

It's a weekend of Contemporary Japanese Cinema at USC. Many of today's Japanese filmmakers are overshadowed by celebrated auteurs including Ozu Yasujiro and Akira Kurosawa. In addition to screenings, the festival includes... more ›

This Thanksgiving, classics abound, while the family's in town. The Alex Theatre brings the slapstick with its 12th annual Three Stooges event featuring four Curly titles & 100% pure Shemp, in eye-poking 3D! If that's not rare enough, feast your eyes on the special guests & Stooges memorabilia raffled off at intermission. Nyuck nyuck. The American Cinematheque celebrates 70 years of Gone With The Wind & The Wizard of Oz with lavish screenings & costume contests to win shiny new blu-rays. LACMA thrills the stuffing out of you with two Hitchcock doubles, while Cinefamily showcases the live-action/claymation hybrid Alice in Wonderland. Disney suppressed its theatrical run to avoid competing with their animated adaptation, and considering they've got their own live-action adaptation forthcoming, I wouldn't bank on this seeing the light of day anywhere else soon. more ›

On Saturday afternoon, LA lolitas, fans of Alice in Wonderland, and doll collectors gathered at Royal/T in Culver City to have a Mad Tea Party. The event featured a Valley of the Dolls pop-up shop, music by Tune in Tokyo, tea in the Royal/T cosplay cafe, a smash up video of Alice in Wonderland images, a fashion show, a giant chess set, cupcakes, and guests wearing elaborate costumes. more ›

When Scot Reyes, owner of the pop culture doll shop The Valley of the Dolls (see LAist's visit to this store), announced his plans for a Mad Tea Party at Royal/T, LA Lolitas and doll collectors took notice. Then "lolitamom" posted the event information in this Live Journal entry on the la loligoth page prompting several lolitas to discuss their costume plans for the big party. Variations on the Queen of Hearts costume is sure the be popular and a some goth Cheshire cats too. more ›

Florencia Pita is one busy lady. A current faculty member at the Sci-arc (Southern Institute of Architecture), she is also a gifted designer and architect in her own right. Her Alice exhibit at LAXART (which just ended on August 30th) was a creative 7x20 foot installation inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Working with cast urethane, & covered in orange vinyl the exhibit explored bringing life to the found images in the... more ›