All good suggestions. Also, Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade (Between Broadway and Wilshire) and the Santa Monica Pier (just a couple of blocks from the Third Street Promenade just off Ocean). Many shops, restaurants, theatres (very popular outdoor mall) plus the enclosed Santa Monica Place mall is at the south end of the Third Street Promenade with Macy's and Robinson's-May.

Just up the road from The Promenade at the Howard Hughes Center (Nordstrom Rack, Borders and The Bridge Cinemas - new and upscale 17 movie theatres - http://www.thebridgecinema.com ) is the Fox Hills Mall (Macy's, Robinson's-May, J.C. Penney - no movie theatres), an enclosed mall. The Culver City transportation center (bus center) is in its parking lot.

Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica Bus) will take you to Santa Monica http://www.bigbluebus.com

Culver City Bus (Green Bus) will take you to Howard Hughes Center, Fox Hills Mall or as far north as UCLA/Westwood along their Sepulveda Blvd. route (and then into Westwood and UCLA).
http://www.culvercity.org/depts_bus.html

MTA (Red Express Bus or Orange Bus)
Will take you to the Getty Center and other places in Los Angeles.
http://www.mta.net

ALL bus service is accessed in the bus transportation center in Parking Lot C (take the LAX bus for Parking Lot C on the lower level of the terminals...from the median area.) First (with a little walk) or last exit on the bus while in Parking Lot C gets you to the transportation center.