7 TV FILMS OF THE WEEK

1

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

Today, ITV, 7.30pm

SET directly before the events of Episode IV: A New Hope (aka the first one), this Star Wars spin-off sees Felicity Jones, pictured, among a group of rebels out to steal plans for the Empire’s secret weapon the Death Star from a heavily fortified complex on Scarif. Rogue One is a far darker take on the world created by George Lucas, a gripping adventure that dovetails neatly into the sprawling Star Wars universe. A large cast including Diego Luna, Mads Mikkelsen and Forest Whitaker are uniformly excellent, but it’s the sarcastic misanthropic droid K-2SO (voiced by AlanTudyk) who steals the show.

2

STAND BY ME

Tomorrow, Sony Movies Classic, 9pm

BASED on a short story by Stephen King, this 1950s set drama follows a group of four 12-yearold boys (River Phoenix, right, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell and Corey Feldman) as they set out on an adventure in the Oregon wilderness. They’re looking for the body of a missing teenager but fail to anticipate the other horrors they’ll encounter along the way.

3

PATTI CAKE

Tuesday, Film 4, 11.20pm

PATTI CAKE is a crowd-pleasing underdog story which wears its heart on its sleeve. Bored with her life in her New Jersey hometown, Patricia Dombrowski (Danielle Macdonald, pictured) decides to follow her idol and become a rapper. Along with her friend, grandmother and a musician, she tries to overcome the obstacles to her dream.

4

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Wednesday, Sony Movies, 9pm

THIS acclaimed drama charts the early days of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg, pictured with Andrew Garfield as pal Eduardo Saverin) launches an online site allowing fellow Harvard students to rank female classmates according to attractiveness. This gives him an idea for an even more successful site, but as the users mount up, so do the lawsuits...

5

HARRY BROWN

Thursday, 5Star, 11.05pm

HARRY (Michael Caine, pictured) is a widower who lives alone on a crime-riddled housing estate, which is under the control of a gang of thugs led by the sadistic Noel Winters (Ben Drew). The final straw comes when Harry’s best friend (David Bradley) is found stabbed to death in an underpass. Harry sets about tracking down the men who killed his pal.

6

SELMA

Friday, BBC2, 11.20pm

DAVID OYELOWO, pictured, delivers a breakout performance as Martin Luther King in this impassioned biopic. In 1960s America, political bureaucracy and prejudice deny African-Americans the chance to vote in the forthcoming election. King plans a march from Selma to Montgomery to secure equal voting rights, amid dangerous racial tensions.

7

BOOK CLUB

Saturday, Channel 4, 9pm

THE star-studded cast lifts this lightweight comedy. Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen (right with Keaton), play the members of a monthly book club whose libidos are unleashed when they read Fifty Shades of Grey. Andy Garcia, Craig T Nelson and Don Johnson are among the lucky beneficiaries of the ladies’ rediscovered zest.