Top films to watch on TV this week

WEDNESDAY

Bridge of Spies (2015) BBC1, 11.20p.m. Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is arrested in 1950s New York and labelled a Soviet spy. Lawyer James B Donovan (Tom Hanks) is asked to mount a credible defence for the sake of appearances, even though the odds are stacked against a fair trial. Sure enough, Abel is convicted, but then a US pilot, Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell), is shot down over the Soviet Union. Consequently, Donovan travels to Berlin to broker a covert deal to exchange Abel for Powers. Scripted by Matt Charman and the Coen brothers,

Bridge of Spies is a slow-burning tale of intrigue and bluff, and director Steven Spielberg’s fingerprints are evident on each assured set-piece. Hanks brings his natural warmth and likability to Donovan, but it’s his Oscar-winning co-star Rylance who lingers longest in the memory.

THURSDAY

The Guard (2011) Channel 4, 2.20a.m. Small-town Garda sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) is overweight, cantankerous, foul-mouthed and partial to a dalliance with the local prostitutes, making him the kind of guy one would expect to break the law rather than uphold it. However, he does possess a sharp mind for detective work, which comes in handy when newly arrived deputy Aidan McBride (Rory Keenan) goes missing. Consequently, the laid-back cop is drawn into an international drugs ring, and he must work with a straight-laced FBI agent (Don Cheadle) to crack the case.

John Michael McDonagh’s hilarious black comedy features a nice line in loveable rogues and antiheroes, and mercilessly lampoons the conventions of buddy cop movies.

FRIDAY

Moon (2009) BBC2, 11.05p.m. David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones made an auspicious directorial debut with this haunting science-fiction drama penned by Nathan Parker. It stars Sam Rockwell as astronaut Sam Bell, who has been working alone at an energy-generating base on the moon for three years. He desperately wants to return home, but when he is injured in an accident, he begins to uncover some disturbing truths about the operation he’s running and is left questioning his identity.

Despite a low budget, this is superb entertainment reminiscent of classic

sci-fi offerings such as Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001, Silent Running and Alien. Rockwell is brilliant as the man on the moon who falls ill and meets someone who looks suspiciously like him.

SATURDAY

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) ITV, 5.20p.m.

The penultimate film in the franchise finds Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) facing renewed threat from the nefarious Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his followers, who continue to grow in power.

Separated from their friends, Harry, Ron and Hermione embark on a perilous quest to track down the mysterious Horcruxes and stop the forces of darkness forever. David Yates, who directed The Half-Blood Prince, strikes an even gloomier tone here, leavened with occasional flashes of humour.

The young wizards’ extended camping trip may try non-fans’ patience, but even they will be impressed by a stylish animated sequence that recounts The Tale of the Three Brothers, which explains the meaning of the Deathly Hallows.

SUNDAY

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) BBC1, 11.30p.m.

Director Denis Villeneuve’s sequel honours the past and expands the nihilistic universe imagined by Philip K Dick in his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric

Sheep? Ryan Gosling stars as an android -hunter working for the LAPD who uncovers a secret and goes in search of the detective (Harrison Ford) who could provide him with answers.

Motifs from Ridley Scott’s 1982 film reverberate tantalisingly throughout, deftly stitching together two timelines without completely excluding audiences who are ignorant of the original. Some may think it’s the sort of film that is easier to admire than to love, but there’s no faulting the performances, the bravura production design or the flawless special effects.

MONDAY

The World Is Not Enough ITV4, 9p.m.

James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is assigned to protect Elektra King (Sophie Marceau), the daughter of a murdered oil tycoon. She not only inherited her father’s fortune, but also most of the rights to six trillion dollars’ worth of oil deposits. As Turkey, Russia and Iran each attempt to woo her to get their hands on her assets, Bond is drawn deeper into a relationship with her, but soon finds himself trying to stop all-out war and save the world.

It’s not a patch on Goldeneye, which brought Bond back to the masses after a six-year hiatus and established Brosnan as the quintessential hero, but it’s still good fun, with some terrific set-pieces and the kind of action that the franchise has become synonymous with. Robert Carlyle makes a particularly impressive villain.

TUESDAY

(1999)

Boiling Point (2021) Film4, 9p.m. Writer-director Philip Barantini’s pressure-cooker drama is shot in one unbroken take to capture simmering tensions in an east London restaurant during an eventful pre- Christmas service.

Head chef Andy Jones (Stephen Graham) is on edge, juggling issues at home, staff absences, and shortages of key ingredients for 100 covers. Andy’s mood darkens when he learns that his former mentor, supercilious celebrity chef Alistair Skye (Jason Flemyng), is booked on to table four with influential food critic Sara Southworth (Lourdes Faberes).

A tightly coiled central performance from Graham as a head chef teetering on the brink of a nervous breakdown is extremely tasty and he blends magnificently with Vinette Robinson as a no-nonsense second-in-command. A spin-off TV drama aired last year.