Twenty-five of the finest student short animated films made their debut at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater last night in Beverly Hills as part of CalArts' Character Animation program's Producers' Show. Entertainment industry folk, intrepid students, and proud family members crowded the 1,000 seat theater to capacity. Chris Miller, director of Puss in Boots and a CalArts alum offered an introduction, mentioning that the students "delivered work from the heart," a statement handily verified by the evening's entertainment. more ›

Happy Presidents Day! To celebrate, we bring you two animated videos featuring our nation's first president and our current president. Since some of you have the day off, savor today's holiday video lunch and watch George Washington and Barack Obama come to life as cartoons. more ›

Some of us haven't even hung the Christmas lights, and we're already supposed to pop champagne for New Year's Eve? Elsewhere, Jonah Hill & Charlize Theron battle for extreme arrested development! more ›

After last week's monster Thanksgiving schedule, Hollywood wisely takes a breather from wide releases. In limited release, there's sex addicts, Bollywood starlet biopic & even more animation! more ›

The Cinefamily draws us in this weekend with Animation Breakdown, a killer cartoon line-up featuring Pixar, Adult Swim, Don Hertzfeldt, Bruce Bickford & a kaleidoscope of Polish surrealists! more ›

So sweet you'll need to brush your teeth: Orange County-born and University of Southern California-bred, singer-songwriter Kina Grannis has released her latest music video, which was made almost entirely in jellybean animation. Yep: Jellybeans! more ›

This Halloween, down some Zombies & get wasted with The Rum Diary! Then, from three sheets to the wind comes nine lives of Puss In Boots. Plus Hipsters & Oka! in limited release. more ›

Director Hoku Uchiyama, who trained at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, joined creative forces with songwriting and performing duo Evelyn Evelyn to mastermind an entertaining and imaginative music video for the duo's song "Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn." more ›

Jeff Liu, a dual animator/musician, created an animated short "for fun" using only his laptop trackpad. "The Trackpad Jam" showcases a year's worth of trackpad work that Lui fingered while tackling his CalArts film project. more ›

To help explain Amazon.com Inc.'s shut down of their affiliate program in California, the debate over the new sales tax law and the current petition, Next Media Animation, a Taiwanese subsidiary of Next Media, has produced a short animation entitled "Amazon takes on California over sales tax." Animated Californian voters are shown checking "YAY!" in support of a tax-free online market. more ›

On Thursday night, CalArts presented its annual Character Animation Producers' Show, which showcased some of the best of the best from this year's students. Twenty-three cool, inventive and oftentimes funny shorts played to a packed audience at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood. more ›

Today's animated video lunch pays homage to our favorite slashers: Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Leatherface. It's Friday the 13th... watch your step! more ›

Next Media Animation (NMA), the Taiwanese animation house responsible for such classics as: The Vdara Death Ray and Mayor Throws Dumpings/Steals Purse, and recently signed a five year deal with Spike TV, is showing cartoon love to the lewd and lascivious co-eds of Southern California with a down-home cartoon featuring the USC / Kappa Sigma rooftop sex scandal. more ›

Four years ago, Quentin Tarantino began a proud tradition of guest programming the New Beverly. Fellow film geeks have followed in his wake, including Edgar Wright (twice!), Eli Roth, Diablo Cody, Joe Dante (another two-timer) & even Peter Bogdanovich, and now the king's returned to his cinematic castle. QT's opening his private vaults for some of the grimiest, craziest, rarest exploitation to hit the silver screen - and luckily for us, they're staying open for a full month of March Madness! more ›

Pixar and Disney animator, director and filmmaker John Lasseter received a lifetime achievement award at Shorts International’s first annual Short Awards in West Hollywood on Friday. The award was presented to Lasseter for his achievements in short filmmaking, which includes all projects under 40 minutes-or-less. more ›

It's like Sunday - silent, gray and cold. Dash the December doldrums with a colorful change of pace! The UCLA Film & Television Archives kicks off its Les Illusionistes: A Celebration of French Animation series Friday with jazz-inspired The Triplets of Belleville, paired with a preview of L'Illusioniste, the latest from Triplets director Sylvain Chomet. Mia et Le Migou is a charming rainforest adventure, while Kirikou and The Wild Beasts builds off of West African mythology. If that isn't enough Bruin Franimation, the Hammer also sponsors its own free screening of the medieval-tapestry tale Azur and Asmar on Sunday. more ›

Once again, Taiwan's NMA uses animation to clarify what's happening in the U.S. of A., and today they've released their breakdown of yesterday's Midterm Elections. Overall, the Donkeys get a hefty spanking from the Elephants, and some high-profile, hotly-contested races get the CGI treatment. For California, Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown lock lightning bolts; Whitman, the losing candidate, gets some advice from the narrator: "Next time, maybe she should try looking on eBay." more ›

Another day, another Taiwanese animation to help us understand the scary world we live in. This time: BED BUGS!!! more ›

Nerd Night is a new informal gathering of the minds, where people drink while listening and learning from scheduled speakers. Love their slogan “Be there and be square.” Tonight’s presentations are: The not-so ancient art of Karaoke, Imaging the Total Synthesis of Diurea and Jim Henson, The Great Muppet Capo. 7:30 pm at the Air Conditioned Supper Club in Venice. Cover charge: $10 at the door. more ›

Pro'jekt LA Summer Series continues at Space 15Twenty tonight at 8 pm. Projected photographic images have been organized under the theme of Dusk: A Collection of Portraits, Cityscapes and the Night Time Urban Experience. Photographers include: Thomas Michael Alleman, Ryan Schude, Natalie Franco, Leanne Mueller, Jacviera Estrada, Angelica Hoyos, Cathy Immordino, Troy Paiva, Carl W. Hendle, Bil Zelman and Dove Shore. Music will be provided by DJ Valida of School Nights, KCRW and much more. Projections begin at sunset. 
RSVP to summerseries@luciefoundation.org more ›

The Antaeus Company’s ClassicsFest continues this week with a fully staged work-in-progress of Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry. Directed by Gregg Daniel, the play examines civil rights struggles through the tale of an “African from England who becomes entwined in conflict and rebellion on the continent.” Tonight at tomorrow at 8 pm at Deaf West Theatre. Tickets: $10. more ›

Last night, CalArts put on their annual Producers Show, showcasing some of the best work created by the school’s character animation students. CalArts has cultivated the premier program in animation and to watch this show is to glimpse the future of the field. Little wonder industry types and students alike packed the expansive Leonard H. Goldenson hall to catch the 24 shorts included on the bill. more ›

Rogue Machine presents the West Coast premiere of the play Four Places by Joel Drake Johnson tonight at 8 pm. Directed by Robin Larson, the dark, comic play focuses on what starts out as an innocent lunch between a septuagenarian mom and her two adult children. The meal quickly degenerates “into a fierce game of cat and mouse which leads to a confession that will radically upset the lives of the entire family.” 8 pm. Tickets: $25. 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 ›

No matter how hard I stare at my keyboard, I cannot escape the pull of the Oscars. The New Bev welcomes twice-nominated director Jason Reitman for its latest guestival. Since there's no official title for the program... more ›

Sweet Honey in the Rock, a vocal ensemble comprised of African-American women, brings African storytelling and world holiday music to the Walt Disney Concert Hall stage tonight at 8 pm. The entire concert is simultaneously sung and sign-interpreted by one of the members of the performance troupe, Shirley Childress Saxton. Tickets are $25-$72. more ›

Roy Edward Disney, son of Roy O. and nephew of Walt, has died, according to the LA Times. He was 79. Disney began his career making nature films, but came into the public eye in the mid 1980s when a wish to return his family's company to its creative roots prompted him to quit the company board and inspire a shakeup of its power structure. This led to the "hiring of a new team led by Michael Eisner, Frank Wells and Jeffrey Katzenberg," who restored Disney to the peak of feature animation. 20 years later Disney figured prominently in another management change with the retirement of Eisner. "Disney, who had been battling cancer, died this morning, according to Clifford A. Miller, a spokesman for Disney's company Shamrock Holdings." more ›

There’s a diverse community of animators in Chicago, and the Echo Park Film Center brings their work to Los Angeles in “Chi(a)nimation All Stars: Recent Animations from Chicago.” Artist Jodie Mack will share a collection of animated shorts made in Chicago during her time in the Windy City (2005-present). “From hand-drawn character animations, to lush abstractions, to puppet or paint-on glass animation, to glitch video processing--this program illustrates a multitude of midwestern motion experiments!” The show begins at $8 and tickets are $5. more ›

Filmmaker David Lynch and musicians Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse collaborated on a special CD, photography and book project, which LAist told you about last month. Tonight, the trio are signing their limited-edition book Dark Night of the Soul at Book Soup at 8 pm. They’ll also sign ONE ITEM in addition to a purchased copy of the book. This is not a ticketed event, so get there early. Attendance is on a first-come-first-served basis. more ›