Twitter'd: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4

My occasional live-tweeting of bad movies continued last Sunday night with 'found footage' sequel PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4, starring a bunch of nobodies with some cameras...

TV Pilots I Want to See - 2013-14

It's become a blog tradition (sort of) that I compile a list of the most promising or interesting TV pilots that are being made for 2013-14. This tends to favour US shows (where the whole idea of a 'pilot episode' is purer and drives the industry), but it does include one UK show. Some of these pilots will never see the light of day (although a few may leak online), while others will become full-blown TV shows over the next year.

TV Picks: 6-12 May 2013 (The Apprentice, British Academy Television Awards, Hannibal, Justified, A Life of Crime, Suspicions of Mr Whicher, etc.)

Below are my picks of the week's most notable TV shows, returning/premiering on UK screens...

DOCTOR WHO, 7.11 – 'The Crimson Horror'

This has been a good year for Mark Gatiss, with "The Crimson Horror" now surpassing his very enjoyable "Cold War" to become his best Doctor Who offering since "The Unquiet Dead" seven years ago. As a lover of Victoriana, Gatiss is on surer ground when dealing with this era; which lends itself so well to retro fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

Trailer: HBO's TRUE BLOOD - season 6

HBO know how to put together a good trailer, and this has certainly benefited True Blood in the past. Every season of the show always looks amazing when you condense the best bits from a half-dozen episodes into a minute or so. The official trailer for season 6 is no exception, although it's noticeable this season doesn't seem be offering anything new. Season 3 had its werewolves, the fourth had witches, the fifth gave us vampire overlords and a goddess, but now it's just 'humans versus vampires' (which has been bubbling along in earnest from the days of the pilot, really). Still, there's Alexander Skarsgård's bare chest and Deborah Ann Woll in a schoolgirl uniform, so on that shallow level it's still bringing the goods...

TRUE BLOOD returns 16 June on HBO.

This summer: ANGEL and BUFFY catch-ups

We're approaching the so-called 'summer season' where many US TV network shows go off-air, but this rarely means we're entering an entertainment wasteland. UK TV still rolls on unhindered, and even US TV tends to fill June, July and August with new shows these days (especially on cable).

However, it's perhaps a good time to resume my popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer catch-ups, by moving into the show's fourth season. And I've decided to mix them with Angel catchups from its inaugural year, because the narrative of those shows intermingle. I'll be using this as my guide for covering each show, so you can refer to that if you wish, and even follow along.

Competition Result: PLEBS DVD

Thanks to everyone who entered my competition to win one of three copies of ITV2's sitcom Plebs on DVD. I asked the question '... what is the name of the [show's] gormless slave character?' and everyone correctly answered 'Grumio'.

The three randomly-chosen winners are:

Kim Plant, Shropshire
Pete Aighton, Cullompton
Dean Gerstel, Barnsley

Congratulations! You will each receive your DVD shortly. Many thanks to all who entered!

HANNIBAL, 1.6 - 'Entrée'

We're just over halfway through Hannibal's first season and, as you've no doubt realised, I'm a massive fan. This show's writing, its sinister tone, dingy atmosphere, slick visuals, and great performances play directly to my darker tastes. I can see why it's struggled to find a big audiences on a mainstream network like NBC, but I'm hoping it's financially viable for them to continue with it. And if not, hopefully another channel will pick it up, because it doesn't deserve a one-season lifespan.

Teaser: CBS's UNDER THE DOME

#UndertheDome teaser, you stand accused of gross overused of the #Inception BRRRRRAAAWWRWRMRMRMRMRMM youtu.be/JTqtPVHXBgo

— Dan Owen (@danowen79) May 1, 2013

Click here to bring that epic feeling to YOUR life.

MAD MEN, 6.5 - 'The Flood'

To its credit, Mad Men has always kept a focus on its own characters and has rarely used 1960s history in an easy and lazy way to create some drama. Quite a few events of the decade have been allowed to pass by, often without much comment. But there are obviously going to be exceptions (like season 3's JFK assassination episode "The Grown Ups"), and now this season's handling of another public figure's murder: pacifist civil rights campaigner Dr Martin Luther King.