Fulton Street

. This Mick Donner-directed classic bridges the world of sex, story, comedy and pathos, exploring the human condition with intelligence and an approach that is contemporary yet timeless. Grant Larson awakens in this art-filled loft after a nightmare about the murder of his lover (Kip Harting) and phones a psychiatrist. Grant flashbacks to a happier time, and we see his lover and he kissing and sucking. Grant, overheated, goes to his local sex palace, The BIJOU, and voyeurs an interracial coupling. Grant later goes home, only to reminisce again, this time of him and Kip in the kitchen as they mock food fight with the obligatory whipped cream, and sex. Memories finally lead Grant to visit Dr. Alter, who promotes the nouveau concept of volunteerism as grief counseling. In what surely is the most eloquent and poignant scene, Grant serves as a case manager for Joe Wilk, a real-life person with AIDS. Grant confesses to Joe his desire for Brian (a man sharing his traumas of loneliness), and naturally, these two hit it off. After a date at the baseball field, they retire to Grant's loft for some serious "it's been too long" fucking. In the most passionate and sensuous scenario, Grant and Brian make deep love, kissing and rubbing their flawless, glistening skin together. A round-breaking, freshman effort that unabashedly explores the themes of gay bashing, AIDS, mortality, the sanctity of life, and rebirth, Fulton Street is a triumph of manners and refreshing in its frank portrayal of the human drama and eroticism.