The Guns of Navarone (1961)

Moneyball (2011)

A River Runs Through It (1992)

Men at play and men at war are at the heart of three smashing films with new home-video releases.

Go to Netflix for men at play — specifically, Brad Pitt, who is excellent in both Moneyball, an inside-baseball drama, and A River Runs Through It, where the focus is on fly fishing and poker.

An ugly name for an exhilarating film, Moneyball turns the fact-based story of an iconoclastic approach to player statistics into a riveting character drama, animated by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s crackerjack dialogue.

What can I say about A River Runs Through It, Robert Redford’s lush, moving adaptation of Norman Maclean’s semiautobiographical novella about two brothers (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brad Pitt) growing up with their father (Tom Skerritt), a strict but loving and devout minister?

Finally, the Gregory Peck WWII classic The Guns of Navarone is a cheap rental on Amazon, but for those like me who prefer physical media, the new 4K UHD BR / digital set is a must-have.

 

CAVEAT SPECTATOR: The Guns of Navarone: Wartime violence; restrained depiction of torture; mild vulgarities. Fine for older kids. Moneyball: Brief obscenity and much crass language; a few sexually themed references. Teens and up. A River Runs Through It: Some menace; some heavy drinking; sexual references and rear nudity, profane language and cursing. Older teens and up.