The dance studios, theatres, and galleries of the NoHo Arts District will be opening their doors up Saturday for a free multi-arts festival. Experience NoHo is a combo art walk and festival, with the streets closed down to make way for a stage and booths featuring artists and other vendors. more ›

Producer Brett Ratner has stepped down from his post as producer of the 84th Academy Awards after taking heat for using a "gay slur" at a screening event. The incident took place at the ArcLight in Hollywood, where Ratner used the term "fag" during a Q&A following a special showing of his new film "Tower Heist." more ›

This week's announcement that Chaz Bono is part of the new cast of "Dancing With The Stars" brought out the haters and the transphobes -- over at the DWTS message boards, viewers suggested that the show was no longer family-friendly and that the producers were pushing a homosexual agenda. more ›

Sitting on your butt in the dark watching a movie you paid too much for to see is about to get better if you hang out in Marina Del Rey. SoCal's first AMC Dine-In Theatre will be going in at Villa Marina Marketplace, reports Marina Del Rey Patch. more ›

OC Pride Festival is back and "busting through the orange curtain" this Saturday, August 13, from noon until 10pm in Irvine. The "celebration of diversity" invites people from all walks of life - lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and ally - to attend, get educated and have fun. more ›

When California-based rental and streaming hub Netflix announced upcoming pricing plan changes, investors were delighted, while consumers were irate. Under the new plans, subscribers who now want to get discs by mail and access content online for streaming will have to purchase two plans for a combined cost that reflects a 60% price increase from what they currently pay for the same services. more ›

Your days of enjoying a combo plan of getting a disc or two via those red envelopes in the mail and streaming content from California-based Netflix are numbered, kids. Starting September 1, the popular site is implementing separate plans for streaming and physical disc borrowing. more ›

A ruling today by the Supreme Court may be felt as a loss for California Governor Jerry Brown, but a boon for youngsters with a love of video games and some cash in pocket. A 7-2 ruling made today "determined that California’s 2005 violent video game restrictions violated free speech rights protected by the First Amendment," according to the Sacramento Bee. more ›

We spoke with AOL's Entertainment Practice Head Debbie Menin at Digital Hollywood Spring 2011 last week at the Ritz in Marina del Rey. We discussed the different ways in which consumers are using social media to inform purchases and decisions and how that in turn is informing the advertising industry. more ›

Starting tomorrow, DirecTV subscribers will be able to rent select titles at home just two months after the films make their theatrical debut. Not everyone is pleased with this new viewing option, including some big-name directors like James Cameron and Michael Bay, who say the offer will hurt ticket sales at a time when movie theatres are paying big bucks to upgrade to digital and 3D equipment, according to the AP. more ›

Less than 3 months after firming up a lease on at least 100,000 square feet of office space in 3 buildings surrounding the Frank Gehry-designed Binoculars in Venice, Google is buying up more prime office space, presumably to base its growing entertainment and YouTube operations closer to Hollywood. more ›

Unless you are the nicest host to out of towners ever, or have someone in the middle-school and under set in your life, you probably haven't ridden the tour tram at Universal Studios anytime lately. Millions of people ride the tram up through backlot of the theme park-slash-movie studio, and soon those riders will be faced with a new host: Jimmy Fallon. more ›

Good morning, Los Angeles! This morning we can probably all play a quick game of "Six-Degrees of Someone Who Went to an Oscar Party Last Night" and, while many of us have already crumpled up our losing play-at-home ballots but still need to get all those champagne bottles from the coffee table to the recycling bin, it's not really over until we publish a list of winners. more ›

There were some winners last night in Hollywood, and we're not just talking on the red carpet. The 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards were handed out at a star-studded ceremony and banquet in Beverly Hills, with Ricky Gervais (and his often discomfort-causing wit) serving as emcee. In case your DVR cut short, you need a primer for keeping up with water cooler chatter this week (but totally didn't watch the show, yawn), or want to see how your own picks stacked up against those of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (those scoundrels?!) we've got the complete list of winners. (Psst, see who these folks beat out, too). more ›

Arts Month was kicked into high gear last week with a rousing set of performances and an announcement of all the special events this January on the plaza at the Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles. In its third year, the annual month-long celebration aims to encourage locals and visitors to get out and see a play, take a look at some art, or soak up some culture at theatres, galleries, and museums all over town. more ›

Director Blake Edwards has died of complications of pneumonia, reports the LA Times. He was 88. Edwards died at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica last night, with his wife, actress Julie Andrews, and other family members by his bedside. more ›

Welcome to Los Angeles, known to many as the place where dreams come true. While we might be in line for a Frappucino next to Miley Cyrus one day, then seeing a paparazzi shot of a Twilight star pumping gas ("They pump their own gas!") on a glossy page of a gossip rag while waiting at the doctor's office, here we live in a curious world of celebrity, no matter how distant the proximity. more ›

It was almost two years ago to the day when a fire broke out on the backlot of Universal Studios in Hollywood that tore through historic sets used in countless productions and seen by millions of tourists over decades. more ›

To be technical, Chef Rick Moonen would be coming to L.A. then back to Vegas then back to L.A. then back to...you get the point...as the man in charge of a rail venture between the two cities. Despite objections from Union Pacific that they won't share their tracks with any gaming-themed train between Los Angeles and Sin City (and a battle with rival Z-Train) the X-Train has announced "Mr. Rick Moonen's management company, Rick Moonen, Inc. [will] develop The 'X' Train's Food and Beverage operation." more ›

Get ready, it's time for our annual Oscars liveblog. To highlight some of the nominees, Avatar and The Hurt Locker are both up for 9 Oscars, Inglorious Bastards for 8, Precious and Up in the Air for 6 and Up for 5. To see the complete list, check here. more ›

A new webseries set right here in Venice uses the sudsy appeal and stylings of a soap opera to achieve some pretty lofty goals. Venice The Series is centered on Gina, a gay protagonist who is described as "a strong, confident, and complex career woman who navigates her relations with people through an intense yet thoughtful prism." When she's not using her prism to figure out her glamorous life, she's hitting the sheets with hot babes and dealing with her father, brother, and friends. more ›

Many a Hollywood hopeful or star has come and gone from the headlines in the past five decades, but one name always remained rooted in his by-line at Daily Variety. Army Archerd, the industry rag's longtime columnist died yesterday at 87. "Archerd collapsed at home in Westwood on Monday afternoon and died Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center," notes his LA Times obit. Five years ago Archerd was diagnosed with a rare form of mesothelioma, "which doctors ascribed to his exposure to shipyard asbestos when he was in the Navy during World War II." more ›

World-renown acrobatic entertainers Cirque du Soleil have been dangling a 2011 permanent stay here in Los Angeles for several months now. Talks to have the troupe set up their act at Hollywood & Highland's Kodak Theatre for a ten-year residency at the venue have been in the works for sometime, but now it falls to the City Council to decide if Los Angeles can afford to have them here, according to the Daily News. more ›

No, she won't just go away: Nadya Suleman, aka OctoMom, is keeping her name in the press thanks to a pair of lawsuits going on in Orange County regarding her children and their being filmed. "A child-labor activist has filed suit against Suleman in Orange County Superior Court, alleging that video shot of her children violates a law aimed at protecting child entertainers from overwork. The suit seeks to create an independent trust for the children," LA Now reports. more ›

For the second time this summer, traveling troupe Cirque Berzerk has extended their run, this time through the end of August. This just confirms to us that Los Angeles is indeed ready for permanent high quality acts. Soon Cirque du Soleil will be arriving for a 10 year show at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, but what else? Can this city support a Blue Man Group theatre? Would it go on the revived Broadway? Can we give Vegas a little run for their money? Let's hope so, L.A. more ›

Following his well-received gig as host of the Tony Awards in New York earlier this year, actor Neil Patrick Harris has been booked as the host of the upcoming 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences made the official announcement today, confirming speculation that the onetime Doogie Howser, MD wunderkind and current How I Met Your Mother star, will be the telecast's emcee. Viewers and attendees can expect the unexpected from the versatile performer. Said Harris of the impending hosting duties: "I'm looking forward to the challenge of the show — adding my own voice to it, while honoring the nominees and the entire year in television. But which voice to choose? I'm torn between gangsta, foppish Brit, and robot. Really proud of my robot. We'll see what happens on the night." Emmy noms will be announced Thursday; the show is September 20th at the Nokia Theatre. more ›

It's the 75th Anniversary of LA's historic Farmers Market (you know, the really big one at Third & Fairfax) and as part of the celebration, they're having an event on Tuesday night where guests can pay a single price to taste the best of the market and enjoy live entertainment. more ›

Remember the classic Griffith Observatory show when "the audience sat in dentist-like chairs so they could watch whirling laser beams dance on the domed ceiling to the classic rock tunes of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon,' Led Zeppelin and the Beatles"? Well, it's back, reports the Daily News in a feature today. But there are some changes, most notably with new technology and its new pedestrian friendly location at the Historic Vine Theater at Hollywood and Vine. And apparently, the popcorn glows in the dark. more ›