Best films to watch on TV today, tonight and this week

There may be plenty of movies available on streaming platforms and being released weekly in cinemas, but nothing quite beats the feeling of finding a hidden gem while flicking through the TV.

With such a raft of options – old and new – to pick from this weekend, it can often feel like a bit of an insurmountable task to find one that really tickles your fancy. But that's where we come in to do the hard work for you, picking out some of the most stellar options available to tune into.

This weeks selection includes everything from Powell and Pressburger classic The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp to 2016 musical hit La La Land, via Predator prequel Prey – as new film Predator: Badlands arrives in cinemas. There's something for everyone but if you're wondering where to find some of the best films on the terrestrial channels this week, we've got you sorted.

Read on for an expertly compiled list of the best flicks airing across the next seven days.

Friday 7th November

The Caine Mutiny - 1:10pm, Film4

Courtroom drama based on Herman Wouk's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, starring Humphrey Bogart as martinet skipper Philip Queeg who's put in charge of the naval minesweeper Caine. But the strain of maintaining discipline among his restless crew begins to affect his ability to command. Read our full review

Prey - 9pm, Film4

Sci-fi action prequel starring Amber Midthunder and Dane DiLiegro. Eighteenth-century Comanche healer Naru wishes to hunt and fight like the men in her tribe. When a mysterious entity that leaves strange tracks begins to attack the local wildlife, Naru has a chance to prove herself - but this predator is unlike anything on Earth... Read our full review

Attack the Block - 10:50pm, BBC Two

Sci-fi action comedy starring Nick Frost, Jodie Whittaker and John Boyega. On the mean streets of south London, five teenagers in the process of mugging a woman are disturbed by an alien invader. Soon their housing estate is overrun with beings from outer space and the hunters have become the hunted. Read our full review

Benediction - 11pm, BBC Two

Biographical drama starring Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi. Young British poet Siegfried Sassoon is decorated for his combat in the First World War, but while convalescing in 1917, he decides to take a stand against the conflict. After the war, he enjoys a career at the forefront of the country's literary scene while his personal life grows ever more turbulent. Later in life, a brooding Sassoon attempts to achieve salvation. Read our full review

Saturday 8th November

GoldenEye - 1:30pm, ITV1

Spy adventure starring Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean. When a Russian general and his beautiful accomplice steal a deadly weapon called the GoldenEye from a base in Siberia, secret agent James Bond sets out to apprehend the villains before their lethal acquisition is put to use. Read our full review

Star Wars Episode IV: a New Hope - 4pm, ITV1

Sci-fi fantasy adventure starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. In a galaxy far, far away, Princess Leia is captured by Darth Vader while trying to steal the plans of the evil Empire's new secret weapon. Meanwhile, on the desert planet of Tatooine, young Luke Skywalker discovers her plight and, in the company of two robots and former Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, sets off to rescue her. Read our full review

Boss Level - 9pm, Film4

Former Special Forces operative Roy Pulver wakes every day in his apartment with a beautiful woman in his bed and assassins trying to kill him. Stuck in a time loop, Roy must dodge bullets and blade attacks to unlock the mystery behind his repetitive and untimely demise. Action comedy, starring Frank Grillo. Read our full review

T2: Trainspotting - 11:30pm, Channel 4

Danny Boyle's sequel to his 1995 drama, starring Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner and Robert Carlyle. Twenty years after making off with £16,000 of his friends' money, Renton returns home to Edinburgh to make amends with Spud and Sick Boy. However, he hasn't counted on a vengeful Francis Begbie escaping from prison with a score to settle. Read our full review

La La Land - 12:40am, BBC Two

Romantic musical starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. In Los Angeles, the showbiz capital of the world, pianist Sebastian and actress Mia endure an endless cycle of bar-room gigs and auditions in the hope they can turn their ambitions into a professional career. The pair meet and fall in love, but the path to making all their dreams come true is no simple affair. Read our full review

Sunday 9th November

Kensuke’s Kingdom - 3:40pm, BBC One

Animated adventure featuring the voices of Aaron MacGregor and Ken Watanabe. Young Michael embarks upon a globe-trotting sea voyage with his parents. But a storm separates them and Michael finds himself on a desert island with only his dog and an elderly man, Kensuke, for company. Read our full review

The Day of the Jackal - 9pm, Legend Xtra

Thriller based on Frederick Forsyth's novel, starring Edward Fox and Michel Lonsdale. In 1963, having failed in its attempt to murder General de Gaulle, the hardline French Secret Army Organisation decides to hire a top professional killer to do the job properly. Codenamed the "Jackal", the seemingly unassuming Englishman begins to lay his intricate plans to assassinate one of the world's most powerful men. Read our full review

Men in Black - 6:10pm, Channel 4

Sci-fi comedy starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. When a New York police officer is recruited by a top-secret agency that monitors alien activity he finds himself in a race against time to save the Earth from destruction. Read our full review

1917 - 10:50pm, BBC Two

First World War drama starring George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman. Two young British corporals are tasked with delivering an urgent warning about an enemy ambush to a battalion further along the Western Front. The quickest way to do this is to go over the top, through the abandoned German trenches and across the French countryside - but they soon run into peril and face an increasingly fraught race against time... Read our full review

Stand By Me - 11:10pm, Film4

Coming-of-age drama, based on a story by Stephen King, starring Wil Wheaton and River Phoenix. A writer looks back on his childhood in late-1950s Oregon, in particular the time when he and his friends set out to find the corpse of a boy believed to have been hit by a train. Read our full review

Monday 10th November

Lawrence of Arabia - 4:40pm, Film4

Epic adventure starring Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn and Jack Hawkins. During the First World War, the enigmatic Lieutenant Lawrence yearns to escape his desk job in military intelligence and experience some action. His chance arrives when he is appointed British liaison officer to the Arab Revolt against the Turks. Read our full review

Mr Burton - 8pm, BBC One

Biographical drama starring Toby Jones and Harry Lawtey. In 1940s Port Talbot, rugby-loving teen Rich Jenkins expects to follow in the footsteps of his coal-miner dad, an abrasive alcoholic. His talent for drama and poetry is noticed by teacher Philip Burton, who encourages the troubled young lad to nurture his creative soul and overcome his profound self-doubt. Read our full review

Public Enemies - 10:50pm, Film4

Comedy starring Alfred Molina, Peter Firth, Margi Clarke and Alexandra Pigg. Teresa works in a frozen chicken factory, and her best friend, Elaine, is on the dole. To escape their dreary daily lives, the two girls decide to paint the town red. During their night out, the Liverpudlian lasses meet two Russian sailors in a disco and Elaine falls in love. Read our full review

Tuesday 11th November

In Which We Serve - 3pm, BBC Two

Second World War drama starring Noël Coward and John Mills. HMS Torrin is lost after being dive-bombed in the Battle of Crete. However, the memories of her surviving crew re-create the inspiring story of the ship, and those who served on board her. Read our full review

Midnight Run - 9pm, Comedy Central

Comedy thriller starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. Bounty hunter Jack Walsh is just the man to bring embezzler Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas to justice. Down on his luck, the $100,000 fee is just what Jack needs right now. The only problem is that Mardukas cheated the Mafia out of a cool $15 million, and they want their money back. Can Jack beat the FBI and an unscrupulous rival to his quarry? Read our full review

Old School - 11:25pm, BBC One

Comedy starring Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn. Bored and disillusioned with their adult lives, three 30-something buddies try to recapture the fun of their college years by establishing their own off-campus fraternity. However, their unconventional antics soon attract the unwelcome attention of the local university dean. Read our full review

Wednesday 12th November

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - 2:35pm, BBC Two

Classic period drama starring Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr and Anton Walbrook. Clive Candy VC is the quintessential English gentleman whose belief in "clean fighting and honest soldiering" has served him since the Boer War. But his principles seem out of place as Britain takes on the Nazis in the Second World War. Read our full review

American Psycho - 10pm, Great Action

Satirical black comedy, based on the controversial bestseller by Bret Easton Ellis, starring Christian Bale. 1980s America: corporate executive Patrick Bateman is wealthy, handsome and narcissistic. He has the latest designer clothes, a pristine apartment and the obligatory perfect girlfriend. However, he also likes to kill... Read our full review

Everest - 11:40pm, BBC One

Adventure thriller based on a true story, starring Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke and Robin Wright. In 1996, climbers from two expeditions simultaneously embark on a final push to reach Everest's summit. But with this being one of the harshest and most unforgiving environments on earth where too long on the mountain will kill you, the last thing the explorers need is a life-threatening blizzard. Read our full review

Thursday 13th November

I Was Monty’s Double - 3pm, BBC Two

Second World War drama starring John Mills and Cecil Parker. The true story of how a bit-part actor bearing a remarkable likeness to General Montgomery was sent to North Africa to convince the Nazis that an invasion of Europe was to be launched from that area in 1944. Read our full review

Far From the Madding Crowd - 3:50pm, Film4

Period romantic drama adapted from the novel by Thomas Hardy, starring Julie Christie, Terence Stamp, Peter Finch and Alan Bates. Rural England in the late 19th century: Bathsheba Everdene is a captivating and headstrong young woman who inherits her uncle's farm and has a profound effect on the three men in her life - the dashing Sergeant Troy, the rich and ageing William Boldwood and the ever-faithful shepherd Gabriel Oak. Read our full review

The Big Trail - 4:30pm, Talking Pictures TV

A mountaineer is placed in charge of a wagon train travelling to California unaware that his journey will be fraught with unexpected hazards - with matters of the heart only to complicate the situation. Western, starring John Wayne, Marguerite Churchill, El Brendel and Tyrone Power. Read our full review

Friday 14th November

The Swimmer - 11am, Film4

Drama starring Burt Lancaster. On a summer's day in Connecticut, Ned Merrill begins a journey of self-discovery when he decides to swim home via the pools of various neighbours. Read our full review

The Creator - 9pm, Film4

Futuristic sci-fi thriller starring John David Washington. Huge leaps in robotics and machine learning lead to an artificial intelligence apparently choosing to detonate a nuclear bomb over Los Angeles. Now outlawed across much of the world, all remaining AI-powered bots have relocated to New Asia where US soldier Joshua Taylor is sent to find information about a formidable weapon being developed by the machines. Read our full review

Bridget Jones’s Diary - 10:40pm, BBC One

Romantic comedy adapted from the bestselling novel by Helen Fielding, starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. Weight-obsessed 30-something Bridget Jones is busy lamenting her lack of a good man when two come along at once: her flirtatious boss Daniel Cleaver and uptight childhood friend Mark Darcy. Unfortunately, in typical world-of-Bridget style, the two men have met before, and she finds herself thrust from being a wallflower to the centre of a bizarre love triangle. Read our full review

Gringo - 11pm, BBC Two

Action crime comedy starring David Oyelowo, Joel Edgerton and Charlize Theron. Pharmaceuticals executive Harold Soyinka discovers that his bosses plan to fire him despite his apparent value. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Harold, the company has been selling its wares to a dangerous Mexican cartel - whom they also plan to cut off. Aiming to fleece his employers, Harold stages his own kidnapping, but things soon spiral out of control. Read our full review

If you have Netflix, we have rounded up the best movies on Netflix and the best series on Netflix to watch now – and Disney Plus viewers can check out our best movies on Disney Plus guide. Got Prime Video? We also have the best movies on Amazon Prime.

Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.