Everything Finally Makes Sense

Celebrating the 27th anniversary of William Friedkin’s “Cruising” feels like celebrating the day after your son joins a cult. It’s a weird date to pick to celebrate something that doesn’t automatically put you in a jubilant mood. This year also sees the 27th anniversary of many movies that don’t feature public sex, poppers, slings, and extreme nipple tweaking, but Warner Home Video has chosen instead to re-release a newly restored print of “Cruising” followed by a special edition DVD. “Cruising” tanked at the box office and it’s generally regarded as politically insensitive trash, remembered mostly because it’s where horrified teenaged boys first discovered exactly what an adult male could do, given enough Crisco.