New on DVD: Butch dudes, soldiers and closet cases

The weather's crap, but there's a frickin' gay pride parade on DVD this week, with three high-profile queer-inclusive titles making their home video premiere.

Read on for more!

The documentary The Butch Factor explores masculinity among gay men, by interviewing rodeo riders, pro football veteran David Kopay and cops, asking questions about what it means to be a gay man, societal phobias about effeminacy and the stereotypes that continue to exist decades after the Stonewall riots. Gay men of all stripes should find plenty of fodder for discussion here.

Speaking of gay men in uniform, Robert Altman's Streamers—about Vietnam-bound soldiers, one of whom (Mitchell Lichtenstein) does everything but wear a big scarlet "H" on his chest—finally makes its DVD debut this week. It's one of Altman's filmed plays (coming after the gay-fave Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean and before the Nixon one-man show Secret Honor), and the DVD includes interviews with actors Matthew Modine and George Dzundza, among others.

Check out this exclusive clip from Streamers...

One of 2009's most fascinating and provocative documentaries was Outrage, Kirby Dick's look at closeted gay politicians who use their positions of power to vote against gay rights. This was a movie that wasn't afraid to name names (from politicians like Larry Craig and Charlie Crist to Fox News journo Shepard Smith) and it's vital viewing.

If you want to spend some quality time in your living room or home theater while the weather outside is frightful, the Criterion Collection has some lengthy options for you. The Chantal Akerman in the Seventies box set features four of her thought-provoking films (including the pansexual Je, Tu, Il, Elle) while Steven Soderbergh's Che makes for hours of compelling political moviemaking, no matter what you think about revolutionary Che Guevara (played memorably by Benicio Del Toro).