John Mulderig

Cultivating bees may be regarded as a rather peaceful and meditative pursuit. But that doesn’t stop the title character of the preposterous action flick “The Beekeeper” (Amazon MGM) from going berserk when provoked.

In his classic 1945 novel “Brideshead Revisited,” Catholic author Evelyn Waugh charted the intense, quasi-romantic and possibly sexual bond between two male students at Oxford University. The premise of Waugh’s work is echoed in the black comedy “Saltburn.”

Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.

The tangled personal life of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) provides the subject matter for the fact-based drama “Maestro” (Netflix).

Long ago, when the world was young, B-52s frontman Fred Schneider warned his listeners to stay away from “a pool fraught with danger.” The virtually bloodless but uneven horror yarn “Night Swim” (Universal) – which is possibly acceptable for older teens as well as grown-ups – offers a similar caution.

Nostalgic evocations of a simpler era or intimate love stories may qualify as the kind of comforting fare that will help to make a dreary January afternoon go by in a more enjoyable way.

Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.

Although the script, penned by director Will Gluck and Ilana Wolpert, draws on Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” the mores on display are all-too-modern.