Crime and punishment are on the discussion table at the Hammer tonight.│Photo by colin.brown via LAist’s flickr pool. FILM* When Hollywood’s Production Code took effect in 1934, the onscreen antics of film characters got decidedly more wholesome. The same rang true for the cartoons of the time. Pre-Code, the animation by major studios was “just as violent, sexy, rude and crude as their live action counterparts. Nudity, naughty words, and outrageous gags involving body......

People seem to have the misconception that Betty Boop was a lighthearted bit of fluff. But Max Fleischer was a master of animation. Combined with jazz great Cab Calloway singing St James Infirmary Blues, the creativity and the dark side of this cartoon were really able to come out.......

American Idol hit Birmingham, Ala., last night – home of former Idolers Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard and Bo Bice. It took Ryan Seacrest less than 15 seconds to get a Lynryd Skynyrd reference (“Sweet Home Alabama”) in there. (But then again, it is Ryan Seacrest, so he was probably thought the scriptwriters were referring to the Reese Witherspoon movie.) There were a few things apparent from the get-go:Paula either had a bad night or......