Holiday Gifts for the Entertainer

Movies & TV on DVD

Girls on Top
Several new DVD sets offer girl power for 2013: Brave, an animated film about headstrong (is she a lesbian?) heroin Merida bucking tradition and learning the true meaning of bravery is out on a five-disc Ultimate Collector's Edition (Blu-ray, DVD, digital copy, bonus material and never-before seen short). Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White return in Hot in Cleveland: Season Three, a DVD set of the season in which two of the women marry each other, one becomes a lesbian icon, and the whole cast ends up on a gay cruise. Best of all: The ass kicking is back with Milla Jovovich (pictured above, with gun) in The Complete Series: Resident Evil 1-5 on Blu-ray and with UltraViolet. The most adrenaline-charged female franchise, Resident Evil followed Jovovich as Alice, earth's last great hope. There are numerous featurettes, deleted and extended scenes, cast and director commentaries, and perfect fight scenes between Jovovich and another famous fighter, actress Michelle Garcia. Or you can just get Resident Evil: Retribution, the finale, which comes out December 21 as well. Brave: $27.99, Amazon.com; Cleveland: $29.98, Amazon.com; Resident Evil: $95.99, Amazon.com

Ellen's Must-Sea Movie
The Finding Nemo 3D 10th Anniversary Edition DVD offers four different ways to watch the Ellen DeGeneres classic in which a fish tries to find his lost son and his wacky lesbian friend named Dory goes on the journey with him. $33.86, Amazon.com

A Different Kind of Family TV
Family Guy Volume 10 offers the kind of uncensored and never-before-seen extended episodes you'd expect from Seth MacFarlane, including the making of an epic octogenarian fight scene, an Adam West celebration, and more. Best reason to buy: the gay episode in which Ryan Reynolds tells Peter he's not gay but wants to know Peter the way a man knows a woman. Mmm-hmm. In another, Peter moves out of this bed with Lois, so he and Quagmire spend night after night spooning. But not in a homosexual way. If the show makes you fall in love with creator Seth MacFarlane, check out his adult comedy Ted, a laugh riot on Blu-ray about a man, a teddy bear, and sexy Mila Kunis.

The family at the center of American Horror Story: The Complete First Season include Dylan McDermott (pictured above, with baseball bat, and who, fortunately, showed all of his assets on-screen) and Nashville star Connie Britton, but it's Jessica Lange's scenery-chewing brilliance, some lesbian shenanigans, and extras including The Murder House featurette that make the DVD a must-see set. And lastly, Modern Family: The Third Season -- the show that gave the world its favorite gay dads, is always a great stocking stuffer. Family Guy: $23.99; American Horror: $29.96; Modern Family: $33.89; Ted: $34.98, Amazon.com for all.

Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection brings together, for the first time, 15 of the master director's thrilling and unforgettable classics including Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, and his gayest film, Rope (which starred gay actors Farley Granger and John Dall [pictured above], was written by gay screenwriter Arthur Laurents, and even featured a song by gay composer Francis Poulenc). Rope, based on the story of the infamous real-lifegay murderers Leopold and Loeb, managed to make it past the censors, though the homosexuality in the film was thinly veiled. The film transfers are amazingly crisp, and there are tons of behind-the-scenes featurettes in the set. The only downside to this awesome gift: The classic lesbian film Rebecca isn't in it. $299.98, UniversalStudiosEntertainment.com

For sexy girl figures, try DC's newest collectibles: AME-COMI Brainiac (the villainous, tentacled vixon bent on assimilating all the knowledge of the universe with her intellect) and and AME-COMI Catwoman Holiday Variant PVC features the femme feline trying to decide between naughty and nice. $69.95 each, DCComics.com

Coffee Table Tomes for Film Fans
Jurgen Muller's giant, two-volume set, Favorite Movies of the '90s, offers 776 pages of movie glory, inlcuding up to 10 pages per film, tons of gorgeous photos, facts (think budgets, box office draw, film concepts, and more), and trivia (memorable lines). Perfect gift for movie fans or millennials who could discover a love of books by exploring the films from their childhood. $59.99, Taschen.com

Freddie Mercury on the Screen Again
Start any party by popping in Queen's Greatest Video Hits, a restored and remastered surround sound two-DVD set of the band's best music videos. All of the best songs are here: "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Under Pressure," "Another One Bites the Dust," "We Are the Champions," "Hammer to Fall," and more. $14.99, Amazon.com

Pillow Talk and Mamma Mia! on the Same DVD?
With Universal Studios' new 100th Anniversary Collection Limited Edition you get 25 films, a 72-page book, a 15-track music CD, and more in Blu-ray and DVD. The films are fun, moving, and eclectic, including Pillow Talk, The Breakfast Club, Scarface, Spartacus, Mamma Mia! and Do the Right Thing. What's more, the set includes vintage cartoons from the 1930s onward. $349, UniversalHomeEntertainment.com

Fable, 50 Years Later
The new installments in the critically acclaimed Fable franchise, Xbox360 Kinect's Fable: the Journey take gamers into the picturesque world of Albion 50 years after the events in Fable III. Users inhabit the life of Gabriel, a young man who has lost his tribe, as he weaves through hair-raising chases and action-packed adventures. Best of all for couch potatoes, a new upper-body skeletal tracking system allows for seated game play. $49.99, xbox360.com

Action Games Perfect for Kids
Got kids? Get them a game that's educational, entertaining, and best of all, not annoying to adults. Kinect Nat Geo America for XBox360 is an interactive version of the wildlife show hosted by Casey Anderson (host of America the Wild) while Kinect Sesame Street Season 1 is an interactive TV experience where kids watch their fave episodes from the show's 42nd season while engaging and learning with their fave characters (hello, Elmo!) And if you want to go old(ish) school, get the kid a Speedster from Worx Toys, an unusual learning tool that lets kids look inside the car and identify each part with kid-friendly code-activated lights and sounds. Nat Geo and Sesame Street both $49.99, Xbox360.com; Worx: $29.99, WorxToys.com

Three Graphic Novels You'll Want
Death: The Deluxe Edition by Neil Gaiman (which includes two miniseries, Death: the High Cost of Living and Death: the Time of Your Life together with The Sound of Her Wings and Facade, the "Death and Venice" chapter from The Sandman: Endless Nights as well as three short stories) is a brilliant intro to the dark and transcendent work of the acclaimed Sandman author. $29.99, VertigoComics.com

Bisexual funny girl Ellen Forney is giving Alison Bechdel a run for her money with Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, her new graphic novel about her struggles with bipolar disorder. $20, Gotham.com

Book 1 of Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Denise Mina, Leonardo Manco, and Andrea Mutt is a lovely graphic novel adaptation of the worldwide smash hit that that made bisexual hacker Lisbeth Salander a heroine that's as smart and thrilling as the original. $ 19.95, VertigoComics.com

Coffee-Table Tomes That Reflect Your Interests
When Touko Laaksonen, the boy who became Tom of Finland, began drawing bikers it was the same year Marlon Brando showed the world it's first leatherman by playing the leader of a motorcycle club in 1953's The Wild One. Decades later, Tom of Finland Vol. II: Bikers by Dian Hanson features some of the artist's best multi-panel comics and single panel drawings and paintings. Bonus, it comes with a Panic Jacket, which lets you turn the book from sexy to serious in case grandma is visiting. $17.99, Taschen.com

Taschen's 365 Day-by-Day Fashion Ads of the 20th Century is like a daily calendar that never expires. It features classic advertising art, including more than a few of super-gay-looking men's underwear ads. $29.95, Taschen.com

Hello, Cutie: Adventures in Cute Culture by Pamela Klaffke delves into the world of cute collectors, the resurgence of retro cute collecting, cosplay, the psychology-driven aesthetics of cute, and the fine line between cute and creepy. $19.95, ArsenalPulp.com

Mario Testino: Private View is a brilliant collection of the celebrity photographer's most exciting work that accompanies his inaugural exhibition in China (and comes in Chinese). But you don't have to get to the Great Wall to enjoy it: with unforgettable pictures of Princess Diana and iconic shots of Jennifer Lopez atop a commode, and text by folks like Karl Lagerfeld and Graydon Carter, this is a must-have collector's item for any art or fashion lover's library. $69.99, or for one of the 1,500 signed limited edition prints that come in a plastic case, $700, Taschen.com

Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style js a stunningly illustrated coffee-table reference book that covers 3,000 years of fashion trends. $50, DK.com

Still got that Farrah poster over your bed? Channel Surfing: Charlie's Angels by Mike Pingel is perfect: It features episode recaps, toys, and interviews with all the major players -- Kate Jackson, Jacyln Smith, and more. $19.99, Amazon.com

Perfect for Holiday Road Trips
In Jonathan Kellerman's new audiobook, Victims, an acid-tongued biddy is killed with her intestines strewn about ala Jack the Ripper, but this is Los Angeles, not London, so grizzled detective Milo Sturgis, who just happens to be gay, is back with his go-to expert, psychologist Alex Delaware, intent on finding out who the killer is. $45, RandomHouseAudio.com

More DVDS and Sets for Your Stocking

Lifestyles and Boys for Sale (pictured above) are gay boxed sets that cover rent boys, rough trade, and more.
$29.99, QCCinema.com

Shazam! The Complete Live Action Series is the subtextually gayest '70s classic TV series. Now the Warner Archive Collection is releasing Shazam! (and another gay fave, Alice: The Complete Second Season) as Manufactured on Demand (MOD) DVDs (meaning you can't get them on Amazon; they print them when you pay for it at Warner). Shazam!offers 28 episodes of the breakout Saturday morning live-action hit that changed kid vids for a generation, spawning spin-offs and successors that brought nonanimated action to the nation's children well into the '80. It follows Billy Batson, who traveled the country in a RV with an elderly 'mentor" (the great Les Treymane) but had armed help from Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury, which transformed him into a mighty hero. $34.95, WarnerArchive.com or WBShop.com

Get the Party Started
The Michael Jackson Bad: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition comprises three CDs and a DVD, all remastered with rare and unreleased material. These bona fide hits, written and performed by Jackson in his prime, will get any party started. Meanwhile, Dance Central 3, the latest in the best-selling dance game franchise on Kinect for Xbox 360 lets everyone learn the dance crazes from the '70s to today (the Hustle, the Dougie, the electric slide) and get coaching on your moves from Usher. Party Central pairs modern songs (think Nicki Minaj) with old classics (think New Kids on the Block) and jas a party mode and crew throw-down mode that lets you either compete or play with your friends. Bad: $35.88, Amazon.com; Dance Central: $49.99, Target.com

Finally bringing the full series to DVD, the Cagney & Lacey: 30th Anniversary Limited-Edition Collector's Set celebrates the best female buddy cop show of all time. This set includes over 93 hours of Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless solving crimes and bucking sexism on an elite detective squad. It also includes interviews, all four made-for-TV movies, the film of the same name with Loretta Swit, and the pilot with Meg Foster (who was originally Cagney).There's also an audio book from producer Barney Rosenzweig's book Cagney & Lacey ... and Me: An Inside Hollywood Story OR How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blonde and a fan photo autographed by Daly and Gless. This is a lesbian must-have. $169.99

Other lesbian must-haves are JAG: The Complete Series or House of Lies: The First Season if for no other reason than to watch Catherine Bell and Don Cheadle (pictured right), respectively, for dozens of hours. JAG: $279.98; Lies: $45.98, both Amazon.com

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 30th Anniversary Blu-ray is newly remastered with six times the resolution of the DVD for this set, which marks a reunion for all the players. You should get it because it is the movie that put bisexual actress Drew Barrymore on the map. $34.98, Amazon.com