Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Hot Day In Brooklyn
Spike Lee's 1989 film Do The Right Thing is among a handful of films that rise above the level of actual entertainment. It is thought-provoking, educational study of race relations. The film takes place during one extremely hot day in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is predominately black, but the film centers around a pizzeria owned by Sal (Danny Aiello) who is white. All of Sal's customers are the black, but on his wall he has pictures of white film and music stars. This is a source of irritation to some customers, especially the radically minded Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito). But Sal refuses to change and he goes about his business. Sal's two sons, Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson) also work at the pizzeria as does Mookie (Mr. Lee) who is Sal's delivery boy. Pino is highly bigoted and isn't afraid to let his opinions be know, while Vito is more sensitive and adverse to confrontation. Real life husband and wife Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee appear as the neighborhood elders, Da Mayor & Mother Sister who are constantly trading humorous barbs at one another while dispensing advice to the locals. Other interesting characters such as Radio Raheem, Sweet Dick Willie & DJ Mister Senor Love Daddy are featured throughout the film. Mr. Lee does a brilliant job of conveying the extreme heat that has overtaken the neighborhood. You can almost feel the heat while watching the film. Tensions also slowly rise through the film until the climatic riot scene where Sal's pizzeria is burned down, started by Mookie throwing a garbage can through the window. This is particularly devastating to Sal as he genuinely cared for Mookie and can't believe Mookie would do this to him. Mr. Lee's message in the film is that one doesn't know exactly what the right thing is. He illustrates this by the messages of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Dr. King was for a peaceful solution to racism while Malcolm X said to fight for equality by any means necessary. Is passively sitting back right or is violence right? Mr. Lee never answers the question, which is exactly his point. Do The Right Thing was shunned at the 1989 Academy Awards garnering only a nomination for Mr. Aiello (which was richly deserved) in the Best Supporting Actor category. Ironically the film that won Best Picture was Driving Miss Daisy which was the stereotypical Hollywood portrayal of blacks as subservient workers and the type of film that Mr. Lee's pictures were the antithesis of. All in all, Do The Right Thing is a brilliant movie and one that deserves all the accolades that it received.
Rating: - A Brilliant Movie From A Brilliant Director
The fact that Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing wasn't given Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director is still considered by movie buffs to be one of the biggest Oscar snubs of all time. This was the best movie of 1989, and ranks among the best that Spike Lee has ever directed.The story unfolds on one scorching summer day in Brooklyn, New York. It centers around Mookie (Spike Lee), a down-and-out pizza deliverer who works for Sal's Famous Pizzeria, owned by Sal (Danny Aiello) and his two sons. The neighborhood where the story unfolds is low-rent and crime-ridden, and the residents are mainly black. While his sons beg him to relocate the pizzeria to a nicer neighborhood, Sal doesn't mind the surroundings. In fact, he takes great pride in having run this restaurant for so many years, and that the people of this neighborhood were raised on his food. Tensions flair when a militant called Buggin Out notices that there isn't a single picture of a black celebrity on the "Wall of Fame" that Sal has put up in his restaurant. Buggin Out insists that Sal put up pictures of black people, considering that most of his customers are black. Sal maintains that the Wall is for Italian celebrities only, so Buggin Out decides to organize a boycott of the pizzeria. This idea of a boycott eventually escalates into a riot at the end of the day, burning down the restaurant. Though Sal is emotionally crushed by the destruction of his life's work, he is more hurt by the fact that Mookie helped in destroying the restaurant. Earlier on that same day, Sal had lovingly told Mookie that he thought of him as a son. This movie was extremely provocative when it first came out, and it still remains compelling today. It's about race wars and loyalty, and those who struggle to choose sides. I think this is the kind of movie that should be shown in classrooms and then discussed at length. It's extremely entertaining and also very educational. I have only the highest of recommendations for Do The Right Thing.
Rating: - Words can't do justice...
...but I'll write some words anyway. What can I say? Criterion has once again outdone themselves with a stunning presentation of one of the greatest films of all time. This two-disc special edition of Spike Lee's 1989 masterpiece is astonishing. Not only do you get the film, you get multiple commentaries by the director, cinematographer, production designer and more. Plus a gorgeous transfer -- one of the best I've seen on DVD so far -- that highlights the vibrant colors of this landmark film. The second disc contains a slew of extras -- trailers, music videos, a revealing documentary, press conferences, storyboards...the works. The film itself, if you haven't already seen it, has been justly praised as a masterpiece. It centers around a Brooklyn neighborhood in one day of a massive heatwave. Racial tensions rise to incendiary levels when a young resident makes it his personal crusade to boycott a local Italian pizzeria. The performances, including Danny Aeillo, John Turturro, Ossie Davis, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson and many more, are second to none. The film is also very funny...the late stand-up comic Robin Harris delivers some of the movie's funniest lines. Rarely has such a great movie received treatment like this that it so richly deserves.
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