Rolling Stone has announced the 100 Greatest Movies of the 80s, with Spike Lee‘s classic Do the Right Thing snagging the top spot.
Calling the film “a state-of-the-nation address”, they write: “Lee sketches out a city, and by extension a country, at a serious crossroads and asks, so what are we going to do now?”
As relevant today as it was in 1989 when it was first released, Do the Right Thing follows its characters through Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year, watching the racial tension and bigotry simmer and build until it explodes into violence.
“You can feel writer-director Spike Lee channelling a decade’s worth of real-life racial strife, urban anxiety, American culture clashes and class struggles into this powder keg of a movie, dropping audiences into the hottest day of the summer in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood (“Bed-Stuy, Do or Die!”),” writes Rolling Stone.
To celebrate Do the Right Thing claiming the title of Best Film of the 80s, we rounded up a collection of Spike Lee’s best films and where you can watch them.
Do the Right Thing
Stars: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez
Where to watch: Rent it on Google Play, iTunes or YouTube
BlacKkKlansman
Synopsis: Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, CO, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.
Stars: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Alec Baldwin
Where to watch: BINGE, Foxtel GO
Da 5 Bloods
Synopsis: Four African-American vets battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.
Stars: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis and Isiah Whitlock Jr.
Where to watch: Netflix
He Got Game
Synopsis: A basketball player’s father must try to convince him to go to college so he can get a shorter prison sentence.
Stars: Denzel Washington, Milla Jovovich, Ray Allen, Rosario Dawson
Where to watch: Disney+
Inside Man
Synopsis: A police detective, a bank robber, and a high-power broker enter high-stakes negotiations after the criminal’s brilliant heist spirals into a hostage situation.
Stars: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe
Where to watch: Netflix, BINGE, Foxtel GO
Malcolm X
Synopsis: Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam.
Stars: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee, Albert Hall
Where to watch: BINGE, Foxtel GO
School Daze
Synopsis: A not so popular young man wants to pledge to a popular fraternity at his historically black college.
Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell
Where to watch: Rent on YouTube, Google Play, AppleTV or Amazon Prime
She’s Gotta Have It
Synopsis: Fiercely independent Brooklyn artist Nola Darling tries to remain true to herself while hooking up with three wildly different men.
Stars: Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell, Spike Lee
Where to watch: Netflix
25th Hour
Synopsis: Cornered by the DEA, convicted New York drug dealer Montgomery Brogan reevaluates his life in the 24 remaining hours before facing a seven-year jail term.
Stars: Edward Norton, Barry Pepper, Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Where to watch: Disney+
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