xploring racial tension on the hottest day of the year, director Spike Lee’s 1989 comedy-drama Do the Right Thing frequently appears on critics’ lists of the best films ever made. The film received two Academy Award nominations: best original screenplay and best supporting actor for Danny Aiello’s portrayal of Sal Frangione, whose Bedford-Stuyvesant pizzeria becomes the center of tension and violence. In addition to Aiello and Lee, the film also stars Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson.

 Rated R, 120 minutes.