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 classic musicals like The Sound of Music to recent horror gems like Barbarian. There's something for everyone and 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 27 March

Journey to the Center of the Earth - 4:25pm, Film4

Science-fiction adventure based on Jules Verne's classic story, starring James Mason and Pat Boone. A geology professor and a young student travel to Iceland where they plan to descend to the centre of the Earth through a volcano. On their perilous expedition they encounter magnetic storms, prehistoric monsters and underground seas. Read our full review

Femme - 11pm, BBC Two

Thriller starring George MacKay and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. Young drag performer Jules is brutally assaulted in a homophobic attack by a man named Preston. Months later, while out of drag, Jules runs into an unsuspecting Preston at a gay sauna and the two begin a sexual relationship - one that offers Jules the opportunity for revenge. Read our full review

Bad Lieutenant - 11:05pm, Legend Xtra

Crime drama starring Harvey Keitel. Drugs, alcohol, spiralling debt and religious visitations are sending an NYPD cop off the rails. Placing a huge bet on a baseball game, and hunting the thugs who have raped a nun, the cop hopes for a final chance of redemption. Read our full review

Benedetta - 1am, Channel 4

Historical drama starring Virginie Efira and Charlotte Rampling. In 17th-century Italy, a young nun experiences disturbing religious visions, causing upheaval in her convent, and her growing sexual relationship with a fellow nun only complicates matters. Read our full review

Saturday 28 March

All About Eve - 10am, BBC Two

Classic drama starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter and George Sanders. Margo Channing is an ageing theatre actress charmed into employing a seemingly innocent young fan as her secretary. But her new assistant is not as naive as she appears and ruthlessly begins to undermine Margo's career in order to fulfil her own acting ambitions. Read our full review

The Mask - 3:45pm, BBC One

Fantasy comedy starring Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz. Clumsy and shy bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss discovers an ancient mask that has the power to transform him into a lime green cartoon character in a zoot suit, who just thrives in the spotlight. Read our full review

Men in Black - 7:10pm, Film4

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

The Shallows - 10:30pm, BBC One

Thriller starring Blake Lively. An emotional journey to her late mother's favourite beach turns into a nightmare for a young woman when she becomes stranded on a rocky outcrop after being attacked by a great white shark that isn't going to give up on its prey. Read our full review

Barbarian - 12:45am, Channel 4

Horror thriller starring Georgina Campbell and Bill Skarsgård. Researcher Tess Marshall is in Detroit for a job interview but with hotels all booked up, she is forced to stay at an Airbnb in a run-down neighbourhood. She finds the room has been double-booked by Keith, but he kindly offers to take the couch. It's not long before Tess suspects there is more to her accommodation than meets the eye. Read our full review

Sunday 29 March

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines - 11am, Film4

Period comedy starring Sarah Miles, James Fox and Stuart Whitman. London, 1910: when a wealthy newspaper baron puts up a £10,000 prize for the fastest flight from London to Paris, he attracts eccentric competitors from all over the world, including a young navy flier who hopes to win both the race and the hand of the sponsor's daughter. Read our full review

Toy Story 2 - 5:50pm, Channel 4

Animated comedy adventure sequel, featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. When his young owner, Andy, goes off to summer camp, Woody is stolen by a toy collector who recognises him as a valuable doll. Woody's erstwhile rival, Buzz Lightyear, leads a rescue party to save him - with chaotic results. Read our full review

Spectre - 8pm, ITV2

Spy adventure starring Daniel Craig and Christoph Waltz. After foiling a terrorist attack in Mexico City, James Bond picks up the trail of a secret organisation known as Spectre. He infiltrates one of their meetings in Rome, only to discover that his every move has been monitored by Spectre's mysterious leader, a man known as Franz Oberhauser. Read our full review

Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World - 10pm, BBC Two

Period adventure drama based on the novels by Patrick O'Brian, starring Russell Crowe. In 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars, British frigate HMS Surprise is out-gunned by a French warship and badly damaged. Despite severe injuries to his crew and his opponent's greater fire power, uncompromising captain Jack Aubrey patches up the Surprise and sets off to seek revenge. Read our full review

Good Vibrations - 12:05am, BBC Two

Comedy drama based on the true story, starring Richard Dormer and Jodie Whittaker. Belfast in the 1970s: as the Troubles continue to escalate, idealistic DJ Terri Hooley decides to open a new record shop, Good Vibrations, to bring reggae music to the city and encourage peace. But, instead he discovers punk rock and becomes a record producer to promote the new musical genre. Read our full review

Monday 30 March

Tad the Lost Explorer and the Curse of the Mummy - 11am, Film4

Animated adventure sequel featuring the voice of Trevor White. When accident-prone explorer Tad unleashes an ancient spell, he embarks on a globe-trotting adventure to release his friends from its shape-shifting effects. Read our full review

Men in Black 3 - 6:55pm, Film4

Science-fiction comedy starring Will Smith and Josh Brolin. The fight against aliens is taken to a new dimension when Agent J is forced to travel back to 1969 in an effort to prevent his partner's murder by ruthless fugitive Boris the Animal. Read our full review

The Prestige - 11pm, BBC Two

Period mystery thriller starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. Victorian magicians Robert Angier and Alfred Borden have been bitter rivals since an onstage tragedy when they were learning their trade. However, their determination to ruin each other's reputation will only stop when one of them is dead. Read our full review

Tuesday 31 March

Red River - 11:30am, 5 Action

Conflict grows between a tough Texan rancher and his Civil War veteran foster son during a 1,000 mile cattle drive to Missouri. The older man's uncompromising methods and unyielding outlook lead his workers to mutiny - and the son ends up siding with the rebellious ranch hands against his father. Howard Hawks' Western, starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru and Coleen Gray. Read our full review

True Lies - 9pm, Comedy Central

Action comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. Harry Tasker is a secret agent posing as a computer salesman, and his bored wife Helen has no idea about his double life. When Tasker suspects Helen of having an affair, he triggers a chain of events that plunges her into his dangerous world of espionage. Read our full review

New Life - 10:55pm, Film4

A mysterious woman on the run and the determined agent tasked to track her down have their stories inexplicably linked in this horror thriller. Read our full review

Wednesday 1 April

The Stranglers of Bombay - 9:05pm, Talking Pictures TV

A British army officer in 19th-century India investigates a series of murders and robberies committed by a sinister cult. Historical adventure, with Guy Rolfe and Allan Cuthbertson. Read our full review

Bowling for Columbine - 10:10pm, Sky Documentaries

Michael Moore's Oscar-winning documentary exploring America's love affair with firearms. Going beyond public opinion, the film-maker examines corporate and political influence, visiting a bank where weapons are given to customers, as well as talking to Charlton Heston, one of the most famous proponents of every American's right to bear arms. Read our full review

Belfast – 11:45pm, BBC Two

Period drama starring Jude Hill, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan and Judi Dench. Northern Ireland, 1969: nine-year-old Buddy starts a new school year, only vaguely aware of the political turmoil that surrounds him. When Buddy's Protestant father is approached to join with dangerous local sectarians, the family is increasingly affected by the violence of the Troubles. Read our full review

Thursday 2 April

Oliver! - 3:25pm, Film4

Oscar-winning film version of Lionel Bart's musical based on the popular novel Oliver Twist, starring Ron Moody, Oliver Reed and Mark Lester. Escaping a life of workhouse servitude, Oliver tries to seek his fortune in London, but instead of gold-paved streets he finds the roguish Fagin and his crime school for boys. Read our full review

Rocky II - 9pm, ITV4

Boxing drama written and directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone. Rocky Balboa became famous after going the distance with world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. But with no job and no future, his only chance is to bow to Creed's taunts and re-enter the ring for a return fight, even though it could cost him his sight. Read our full review

The Ipcress File - 10:50pm, BBC Four

Spy thriller starring Michael Caine. Intelligence agent Harry Palmer is plunged into the shabby and treacherous world of counter-espionage as he uncovers a bizarre "brain drain" among scientists. Nobody can be trusted and nothing is what it seems. Read our full review

Friday 3 April

King of Kings - 10:25am, Film4

Biblical epic starring Jeffrey Hunter, which concentrates on three elements of the New Testament story: the life of Jesus, the tensions between Herod's court and the Roman administration, and finally the story of Barabbas, told in counterpoint to that of Christ. Read our full review

The Sound of Music - 2:30pm, BBC One

Classic family musical starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. When trainee nun Maria begins to have doubts about her vocation, she leaves her convent in Salzburg to become governess to the seven children of Captain Von Trapp, a widower and retired naval officer. The spirited Maria instils a love of music in the children, but the family's happiness is threatened by the Nazi occupation of Austria. Read our full review

Smokey and the Bandit - 8:05pm, ITV4

Comedy starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason. Bandit is a maverick driver who never refuses a challenge, and no cop - or "smokey" - is going to stop him. However, Sheriff Buford T Justice has other ideas, and the chase is on as the Bandit and his friends try to get a truckload of illicit beer from Texarkana, Texas, to Atlanta, Georgia. Read our full review

The Wolf of Wall Street - 10pm, BBC Two

Blackly comic drama based on a true story, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. With his dreams of wealth and a gift with words, Jordan Belfort rises through the ranks of Wall Street traders during the 1980s. But his success brings notoriety, and his increasingly shady activities attract the attention of the FBI. 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.