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

If you're wondering where to find some of the best films on the terrestrial channels this week, we've got you sorted with our picks for the next seven days.

With so many amazing films airing, we've compiled a list of the best flicks for you to choose from below.

Friday 9th August

The Book of Life - 7pm, Film4

Animated comedy featuring the voices of Diego Luna, Zoë Saldana and Channing Tatum. A young man competes with his best friend for the hand of their childhood sweetheart, but first must travel through three dimensions to prove his worth. Read our full review

Children of Men - 11:05pm, BBC Two

Futuristic thriller starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine. In 2027, humanity is facing inevitable extinction due to 18 years of infertility and Britain has become a quasi-fascist state. A ray of hope arrives with the discovery of a young woman who is pregnant, but can she be protected from a political group that wants to use her to further its own ends? Read our full review

AI: Artificial Intelligence - 11:20pm, Film4

Science-fiction fantasy drama directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment. In the future, a prototype robot child called David is programmed with emotions and delivered to the Swinton family. But can David replace the sick son that the family has had cryogenically frozen until his terminal illness can be cured? Read our full review

The Kid Detective - 1am, Channel 4

A once-celebrated kid detective, now 32, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity. One day, a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case, to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend. Comedy drama, starring Adam Brody. Read our full review

Saturday 10th August

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - 6:05pm, ITV1

Fantasy adventure starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. Despite having battled Voldemort in person, Harry Potter cannot convince the wizarding world of the evil lord's return. Inspired by his friends in the secret Order of the Phoenix, Harry forms an underground army at Hogwarts in preparation for battle with the forces of evil. Read our full review

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum - 9pm, Channel 4

Action thriller starring Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry and Laurence Fishburne. With a bounty on his head making him the target of the world's top assassins, famed hitman John Wick goes on the run. Heading for Casablanca, he meets an old friend who may be able to help him with his predicament. Read our full review

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - 11pm, Comedy Central

Musical comedy starring John C Reilly and Jenna Fischer. On the eve of being presented with a lifetime achievement award, musician Dewey Cox looks back on a life that has seen him accidentally kill his brother, serve time in jail and rehab, father numerous offspring - and write songs that have made him a legend. Read our full review

Taxi Driver - 11:35pm, Great Movies

Martin Scorsese's controversial psychological drama starring Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd and Jodie Foster. Travis Bickle is an alienated ex-Marine, working nights as a New York cabbie. Haunted by the squalor of what he sees around him, he is drawn to the beautiful - and "pure" - Betsy. But his attempts to woo her prove to be disastrous, and he begins an inexorable descent into a personal hell, a descent that can only end in the bloodiest of climaxes. Read our full review

Love & Mercy - 12:25am, BBC Two

Biographical drama starring Paul Dano and John Cusack. While recording an album with his band, the Beach Boys, in the 1960s, singer Brian Wilson struggles with panic attacks that concern his bandmates. Later, in the 1980s, an older Wilson tentatively enters into a relationship with a Cadillac saleswoman, but his therapist's intense scrutiny threatens to derail the union before it gathers any momentum. Read our full review

Sunday 11th August

The Cruel Sea - 11:20am, BBC Two

Second World War drama starring Jack Hawkins and Donald Sinden. A Royal Navy corvette sails the Atlantic, its captain still haunted by the previous sinking of a ship under his command and determined to exact revenge upon the German fleet. Read our full review

Close Encounters of the Third Kind - 4:05pm, Film4

Science-fiction drama starring Richard Dreyfuss. While investigating an extensive power failure in Indiana, Roy Neary encounters a UFO - a phenomenon also witnessed by Jillian Guiler and her young son. When he is unable to convince anyone of his sighting, Neary's strange behaviour starts to worry his family. Read our full review

Dial M for Murder - 4:15pm, BBC Two

Thriller starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelly. When he discovers his wealthy wife Margot is having an affair with novelist Mark Halliday, playboy Tony Wendice hatches a plot to ensure that he doesn't wind up penniless. Read our full review

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - 5:10pm, ITV1

The sixth in the blockbuster fantasy adventure series, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. The ruthless Death Eaters announce the return of their master, Lord Voldemort, with a series of attacks on London. As disaster looms, Professor Dumbledore brings former tutor Horace Slughorn back to Hogwarts so that young wizard Harry Potter can learn from him the secrets of Voldemort's power. Read our full review

The Elephant Man - 11:30pm, BBC Two

David Lynch's dramatisation of the life of John Merrick, starring John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins. 1884: an ambitious young London surgeon is intrigued by a sideshow freak billed as the "Elephant Man". But behind the appallingly disfigured and brutalised exhibit, he finds an intelligent and sensitive person whose rehabilitation he undertakes. Read our full review

Monday 12th August

Roman Holiday - 2:30pm, Film4

Romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Joe Bradley, a journalist at an American news bureau in Rome, discovers a pretty girl apparently in a drunken stupor and reluctantly takes her home. Next morning, he is amazed to discover that his guest is a princess on a state visit. Read our full review

Insomnia - 9pm, Great Movies

Psychological crime thriller starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams. LAPD detectives Will Dormer and Hap Eckhart find respite from charges of corruption by flying to a remote town in Alaska to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. After accidentally killing Eckhart while chasing a suspect, Dormer is contacted by writer Walter Finch, who admits to witnessing Dormer shoot his partner but wants something in return for his silence. Read our full review

Crazy Rich Asians - 11:10pm, BBC One

Romantic comedy starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh. New Yorker Rachel Chu travels to Singapore with her partner, Nick, for a friend's wedding, and discovers that Nick's family is hugely wealthy. They also expect him to remain in Singapore to inherit their hotel business - a plan that, as Nick's imperious mother Eleanor makes quite clear, does not involve Rachel. Read our full review

Tuesday 13th August

Waterloo - 3pm, Great Movies Action

Historical epic starring Rod Steiger, Christopher Plummer and Orson Welles. France, 1814: with defeat looming, Napoleon Bonaparte bows to pressure and steps down as Emperor of France. He's banished to the island of Elba, but his exile doesn't last long, leading the rulers of Europe to join forces against the threat of Bonaparte and his army. Read our full review

Hue and Cry - 4:40pm, Film4

Ealing comedy starring Alastair Sim and Harry Fowler. In London, a gang of East End lads discover their favourite comic, The Trump, is being used by a bunch of crooks to pass coded information. Read our full review

Old - 9pm, Film4

Supernatural thriller starring Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps. While on a tropical holiday, parents Guy and Prisca, along with their two young children, join a group of strangers on a day trip to a secluded beach. When it comes time to leave, the group realises it is trapped by a mysterious force - one that is causing their bodies to rapidly age. Read our full review

Wednesday 14th August

Tomorrow Never Dies - 9pm, ITV4

Spy adventure starring Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce and Michelle Yeoh. Intending to reap the profits of increased ratings for his global multimedia empire, Elliot Carver attempts to ignite a conflict between Britain and China by sinking a British frigate and shooting down a Chinese fighter plane. The British Secret Service sends James Bond to verify suspicions that Carver is behind the incident. Read our full review

Boyz N the Hood - 9pm, Great Movies

Urban drama starring Larry Fishburne, Ice Cube and Cuba Gooding Jr. South Central Los Angeles, 1984: young Tre's mother decides it would be in his best interest to live with his estranged but disciplined dad. Seven years on, he has managed to steer clear of the drugs and the violence but, as the teenage gang wars begin to invade his neighbourhood, it becomes almost impossible for him and his friends to avoid trouble. Read our full review

Bridge of Spies - 11:20pm, BBC One

Spy thriller based on a true story, starring Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance. At the height of the Cold War, it falls to insurance lawyer James B Donovan to represent Soviet spy Rudolf Abel and broker a prisoner swap involving two American men - pilot Francis Gary Powers and student Frederic Pryor. Read our full review

Thursday 15th August

I, Robot - 6:45pm, Film4

Sci-fi action thriller starring Will Smith. Chicago, 2035: in a society that has become almost entirely dependent on robots, Detective Del Spooner is called upon to investigate the death of eminent scientist Dr Alfred Lanning. All the evidence points to Lanning's superadvanced robot prototype being responsible, but everybody knows that robots are programmed never to harm a human... Read our full review

Heat - 9pm, Great Movies

Crime thriller starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Detective Vincent Hanna is closing in on notorious professional thief Neil McCauley. But even though he realises that the police are watching his every move, McCauley decides to go ahead with one final heist before leaving the US for a new life. Read our full review

Suspicion - 9:40pm, BBC Four

Oscar-winning psychological thriller starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. Shy Lina McLaidlaw marries handsome man-about-town Johnnie Aysgarth, but her happiness slowly becomes tainted with the fear that her charming husband is not all that he seems. Read our full review

Friday 16th August

People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan - 10:30pm, BBC Three

Comedy starring Allan Mustafa, Hugo Chegwin, Steve Stamp and Asim Chaudhry. Three years after breaking up, London-based garage music collective Kurupt FM discover that one of their songs is unexpectedly popular in Japan. The gang flies over to capitalise on this sudden fame, but a new manager threatens the stability of the group. Read our full review

Braveheart - 10:40pm, BBC One

Oscar-winning historical drama directed by and starring Mel Gibson. Scotland at the end of the 13th century: the young William Wallace sees his father and brother killed by the English. Later, when his sworn enemies execute his wife, Wallace leads the clans in the fight for Scottish independence. Read our full review

Spy - 10:45pm, ITV1

Comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Jason Statham. CIA office worker Susan Cooper finally gets her wish to be a fully fledged spy when she's sent in pursuit of criminal mastermind Rayna Boyanov. The irrepressible agent follows her target across the globe in a variety of disguises... most of which look suspiciously like Susan Cooper. Read our full review

Moon - 11:05pm, BBC Two

Science-fiction drama starring Sam Rockwell. Lone mining engineer Sam Bell is cut off from humanity on the far side of the Moon with only a computer for company, but is looking forward to returning to Earth and his family after three long years of solitude. But with only weeks to go before his departure, an accident out on the surface causes Sam to suspect everything is not what it seems. 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.