The Criterion Collection
Essays
Feb 19, 2001 — Leaving the theater after the tumultuous world premiere of Do the Right Thing at Cannes in May of 1989, I found myself too shaken to speak, and I avoided the clusters of people where arguments were already heating up. One...
Production Notes
Aug 2, 2019 — 1. Spike Lee was inspired to write Do the Right Thing by what is now known as the Howard Beach incident. On December 20, 1986, a mob of twelve angry white men chased down and beat three black men who...
Jul 23, 2019 — He even walks in stereo. So proclaims a kid on a stoop toward the beginning of Do the Right Thing; he’s stunned by the sun but also by the sight and sound of Radio Raheem. Raheem is silent but so...
Criterion Designs
Aug 7, 2019 — Studio Visits Brooklyn native Danielle Mastrion draws a great deal of inspiration from the city that she calls home—and also often uses it as her canvas. A socially conscious, classically trained painter who taught herself to work in aerosol, Mastrion...
Sneak Peeks
Jul 29, 2019 — Three decades after its release, Spike Lee’s masterpiece Do the Right Thing stands as one of the most politically audacious, and visually captivating, films of his career. With the help of cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, Lee vividly captured a sweltering summer...
The Daily
Jul 2, 2019 — The author of a book on method acting turns her attention to the performances in Do the Right Thing and the work of Juliette Binoche.
The actor talks about the experience of sharing The Princess Bride with his son, celebrates the transportive quality of Do the Right Thing, and selects formative favorites like Withnail and I and Monty Python’s Life of Brian.
The playwright and actor praises Do the Right Thing as the best film of the eighties, talks about the comfort of watching his favorite westerns, and selects Chicago cinema classics like Hoop Dreams and love jones.
The actor selects two beloved portraits of Hollywood, All About Eve and Shampoo; talks about how Do the Right Thing captures the grit and beauty of New York; and shares why the work of John Cassavetes made her want to...
The writer-director talks about how Federico Fellini and John Waters gave him the passion and confidence to become a filmmaker, shares his poignant experience watching Claudine as a young man, and selects favorites such as Pickup on South Street, Do...