You know, I didn't have very high expectations going in to see Kung Fu Panda. I expected a lot of slapstick, pop-culture jokes, and a lot of smart-ass remarks from Jack Black's panda character. I had no expectations for any real, exciting, actual Kung Fu action. This time, I'm so glad I was wrong.......

This American Life: Season 2 Animation A really great animated piece by Chris Ware & John Kuramoto from Season 2 of "This American Life" (Showtime).......

Don't be angsty like this lady...go out tonight! / Photo by Plankton 4:20 via LAist's flickr pool. FILM “Animation Nite: From Halifax with Love” is a program at the Echo Park Film Center that features short animated and semi-animated films by women who’ve all lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, eh. The screening includes work by host Siloën Daley and six others. Music by local band Foot Foot follows. 7:30 // Echo Park Film......

Last year's revelers packed the house for Carnaval in Long Beach | Photo courtesy Aries Productions FESTIVAL Okay, so Long Beach doesn't pack the same exotic pull as, oh, say, Rio, but they're going to put on a Carnaval and pull out all the stops. Get out your Carnaval costumes and get ready to samba the night away! This year’s theme is “Preservation of the Planet” featuring green and recycled decorations. At the heart......

Yesterday, we got you map-ready. Today, we'll get you float-ready. Tomorrow? Who knows, maybe we'll get you marching-band ready. A commenter pointed out yesterday that the Rose Parade floats aren't all made out of roses, but are made up of many different flower and plant-parts. Conveniently, the LA Times has a new interactive feature up today (is Tony already working his magic over there?) that details the making of last year's Once Upon a......

A series of animated shorts titled "Geometry of Circles," featuring music composed by Philip Glass, kaleidoscopically tranced out legions of Sesame Street viewers in the early 80's. The clip above features four of these shorts strung together almost seamlessly, even though they were first broadcast separately, in some cases years apart. According to the Muppet Wiki, "Geometry of Circles" dates back to 1979.......

Fridays at 7:30 pm: THE PERVERSE PUPPETRY OF JAN SVANKMAJER Unsurpassed in his tactile, uncanny approach to experimental animation, surrealist Czech master Jan Svankmajer's films have inspired a generation of directors, including Tim Burton and The Brothers Quay, to expand their confidence in what is visually and conceptually possible in cinema. Whether concerned with sexual taboos or blatant political satire, Svankmajer's vision is always off-kilter, mordantly funny, and oddly sincere. - The Silent Movie Theater......

Two of the four big summer three-quels hit DVD shelves today. Neither is worth your money. Better to spend it on La Vie en Rose, featuring one of the best performances in years by the amazing Marion Cotillard. Better yet, make it a French double-feature and pick up Paris Je T'Aime, too. If you haven't yet, invest a weekend watching Berlin Alexanderplatz. And, yes, it will take the whole weekend. Christmas and South Park......

Covering the weekend box office race can sometimes be a tedious job for the simple reason that there are rarely big surprises. Typically, a movie opens on a bunch of screens, makes a large portion of its money in its opening frame, then drops 50% in each successive weekend before finally disappearing from theaters. There are, however, occasional outliers who don't follow the normal pattern and make life much more interesting. Bee Movie is......

Another favorite animated short by Borge Ring. It may be a tad bit oversentimental, but I can only hope to end up like these two.......

Osamu Tezuka's classic animated short was always one of my favorites, back when I was hitting animation film festivals. It doesn't quite have the punch of the bigscreen, but is stunning nonetheless.......

There was a welcome flight to quality this weekend as movie-goers finally gave some love to a good flick. American Gangster blasted its way to the top with an impressive haul of 46.3 million dollars. Bolstered by positive reviews and the stellar box-office power of Denzel Washington, Gangster should continue to thrive in the coming weeks. Jerry Seinfeld's initial foray into the motion picture business can certainly be called a success. Despite mediocre notices,......

This weekend is one of those weekends where--if you love movies--you'll be hard-pressed to choose which one (or two) to see. Most will probably settle on American Gangster, and I don't see anything wrong with that. Couple two powerhouse actors (Denzel & Crowe) with a reliable director (Ridley), add a compelling story that has slipped through the cracks for years and you have what looks to be a great, studio picture. If, like the......

RIP: Veteran KTLA newscaster Hal Fishman passes away at age 75. Southern California's 11 bridges are A-OK, officials said based on recently completed emergency inspections. To reward him for his groundbreaking and much talked-about late night show "Last Call", NBC has decided to give Carson Daly a two-year extension. Way to secure last place, NBC. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has decided to resign from DreamWorks Animation SKG's board of directors and to sell close......

Walt Disney's art school, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), in the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita has always brought an interesting mix up to the traditionally Republican and white-flight valley north of The Valley. Though, as time progresses, the face of the 4th largest city in LA County grows lefter and more diverse. And CalArts is still seen as some experimental freak show to many (or to those who know nothing, "a basket......

The "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act'' "A California lawmaker wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs as part of California's groundbreaking initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases blamed for global warming... 'Incandescent lightbulbs were first developed almost 125 years ago, and since that time they have undergone no major modifications,'' California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine [D-Van Nuys] said on Tuesday."(New York Times) Let......

Maybe the best thing ever. Definitely the best thing today. Directed by Ugly Pictures/Animated by Man vs. Magnet......

Chirac sez that Turkey shouldn't be allowed in the EU unless it admits to killing 1.5 million Armenians back in the day. - LA Daily News Dude who got mugged for $20,000 after leaving Washington Mutual in Palmdale blames new bank design. - LAT UCLA scientist gets $3.8 million to study a radical new approach to pinpoint schizophrenia. For $380 we would have just given them our Little Black Book. - CBS2 "Open Season"......

In the LA-based movie Collateral, Max (played by Jamie Foxx) had only one way of taking a vacation: vicariously, through a photo of a tropical island in his taxi cab sun visor. Now, in two weeks, Max will have another choice. From National Geographic's All Roads Film Project comes (bet you can't guess it) the All Roads Film Festival. Los Angeles is the first stop of this traveling Film Festival, which goes to various......

Ok, we admit, Anaheim isn't exactly LA. But tell that to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. So there. Anyway, if you are in the mood for some cool animation, comics or maybe even some cosplay, head on down to Anaheim (or over, or down and over) and check out the 15th Annual Anime Expo this weekend. The expo, sponsored by and for the continued growth and prosperity of the Society for the Promotion......

Animators are a breed apart. Their refusal to accept limitations in space, time and conventional wisdom constantly amaze us. But we don't mind because the imaginations of these playful geniuses often first inform our dreams as children and reawaken our playful sides when we are adults. Charles Zembillas is the consummate animator, creative entrepreneur and visual developer: he's funny, fiesty and energetic. He not only works on his own projects but also runs an......

We should be doing laundry in preparation for flying to Austin tomorrow but The Reporter is, heh, reporting that Fox Animation has got the rights to make Dr. Suess's Horton Hears A Who! It's hard to imagine Dr. Seuss in a digital world. It could be amazing or it could be horrible. One thing's for sure, though, we can't wait for when Napoleon meets Horton in an online marketing mashup. It might make no......

A public service of the UCLA Animation Workshop, The Traffic Cone Preservation Society seeks to save one of the most recognizable landmarks of the Los Angeles freeway system and the bane of all drivers: the traffic cone. Any driver who has ever been plagued by the Conus traficus or waylaid by a Conus zebricus, the site is an essential field guide to one of CalTrans' greatest weapons.......