Just about everyone enjoys a Christmas holiday with all the trimmings, including Santa’s ho ho ho and Rudolph’s red nose. But the preparatory time of Advent can serve as an invitation to explore more deeply the true spiritual meaning of the Incarnation and to focus more intently on the virtues that reflection on that mystery should promote.

As winter weather arrives across North America, viewers may appreciate the chance to watch a program set in sunny Mediterranean climes. The four-episode first season of the detective series “Kostas,” currently streaming on Acorn TV, fits the bill.

“Train Dreams” presents the ordinary, little life of its protagonist as quiet, quick, easy to miss, and yet extraordinary. Based on a novella with the same name by Denis Johnson, “Train Dreams” follows Grainier (Joel Edgerton), a taciturn logger and railroad worker in the Pacific Northwest, as he experiences love and loss.

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 hit French film “Sacré Coeur” (“Sacred Heart”) is set to reach American audiences next spring, with a U.S. release planned for June 12, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

A widely discussed new documentary about UFOs, “Age of Disclosure,” includes an allegation from a former CIA official that the Vatican holds evidence of the existence of non-human intelligence — and he does not mean angels.

Whether on stage or screen, however — papal endorsement notwithstanding — this recounting of the early years of the Trapp Family singing group gives short shrift to their Catholic faith.

Celebrity Chef Lidia Bastianich knows what it’s like to be in a strange land, without a home. OSV News recently spoke with the Italian-American — who has become famous as a television host, author and restaurateur — about her own experiences as an Italian immigrant fleeing communism in the former Yugoslavia, and her current work as a board member for Jesuit Refugee Services/USA.

Given that its 2016 predecessor proved to be boffo at the box office as well as a hit with critics, it seems surprising that it should have taken almost a decade for the Mouse House to give us “Zootopia 2” (Disney). Whatever may have caused the delay, the follow-up registers as an enjoyable adventure that’s suitable for all but the youngest.

Movies with a Christmas theme abound but ones that focus on Thanksgiving are rarer. Still, a handful of notable films have incorporated the November holiday into their plots.