Pop Culture Safari!: 08/01/2012

Posters for upcoming season 7 Doctor Who episodes

Doctor Who Pond Life part 5

Part 5 of the online mini-series featuring Doctor Who companions Amy and Rory.

Hot Toys Catwoman - Selina Kyle figure

Another uncanny figure from Hot Toys:

Promo pics: Doctor Who Asylum of the Daleks

Some pics from the season 7 opener of "Doctor Who."

Pop culture roundup: Avengers briefcase debacle! Michael Cho! Jack Kirby for 30 cents! Steve Ditko NOT appearing here! James Bond documentary!

A briefcase company has put the kibosh on a planned box set of Marvel's recent spate of superhero movies leading up to "The Avengers." The set was to come packaged in a briefcase modeled after one used by Samuel L. Jackson in the films.

Rimowa's lawsuit alleges that Marvel and Disney would be infringing on their trademarked design with the accessory, as well as indulging in trademark dilution and unfair competition, going on to say that Marvel's use of the evenly-space parallel barred design was unlicensed and therefore illegal.

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Another awesome piece of art by Michael Cho:

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More cool art: The 30-cent Jack Kirby Gallery.

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Here's an Internet rumor that lasted about half a second: Steve Ditko to appear at comics convention!

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I'd watch this: A documentary on the history of James Bond.

"Everything or Nothing" focuses on three men with a shared dream: Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman and author Ian Fleming. It's the thrilling and inspiring narrative behind the longest running film franchise in cinema history which began in 1962. With unprecedented access both to the key players involved and to Eon Productions' extensive archive, this is the first time the inside story of the franchise has ever been told on screen in this way.

Get Smart!

New, and old, Rolling Stones documentaries out this fall

Celebrating the band's 50th year, two Rolling Stones films are on the way. A new documentary, "Crossfire Hurricane" is slated for October/November theatrical release and follows the band from its early days through the present.

"Charlie is My Darling," meanwhile is a tour/concert film shot in 1965 and spottily released in theaters the following year. The film was released on DVD a few years back, but a spruced up version is now set for release everywhere on DVD and BluRay in November. A "super deluxe" version reportedly will include a soundtrack on CD and LP. Stay tuned for more details.

BBC radio this week: stream audio drama, comedy and music documentaries!

Click the links to hear the following programs:

Benny Goodman: King of Swing

Curtis Stigers celebrates the life and music of clarinettist and bandleader Benny Goodman

David Frost's Hollywood Greats
Stars of the silver screen share insights and anecdotes with Sir David Frost.

Gene Krupa: Drumming Man!
Documentary exploring the life and career of influential drummer Gene Krupa

Hello, Good Evening and Welcome: The David Frost Story

Actor Michael Sheen looks back at the legendary career of Sir David Frost.

Out of The Shadows
Richard Hawley presents a celebration of The Shadows.

Street Corner Soul

Ronnie Spector presents the story of doo-wop

Doctor Who
Time-travelling adventure series

Fantastic Journeys
Amazing sci-fi tales

Jules Verne - Around the World in Eighty Days
Jules Verne's classic adventure, starring Leslie Phillips as Phileas Fogg

Sherlock Holmes with Carleton Hobbs
Short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the Baker street detective

The Goon Show
Classic material from one of the all-time radio comedy greats

ABC has ordered a pilot for S.H.I.E.L.D, a live-action series from The Avengers writer-director Joss Whedon, Marvel TV and ABC Studios.

The project is based on Marvel’s peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D (which stands for Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate or Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) found in both the Marvel comic book and feature film universes, including the blockbuster 2012 movie The Avengers, in which S.H.I.E.L.D director Nick Fury, recruits Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor to stop Thor’s adoptive brother Loki from subjugating Earth.

...S.H.I.E.L.D. will be written by Whedon and frequent collaborators, his brother Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. Joss Whedon also is set to direct the pilot, schedule permitting. Production on the pilot, which marks the first live-action Marvel TV project to get a green light, will start immediately.