June 2009 | blackfilm.com | features | 20th ANNIVERSARY OF SPIKE LEE'S DO THE RIGHT THING

20th ANNIVERSARY OF SPIKE LEE'S DO THE RIGHT THING

he cast and crew of Spike Lee's 'Do The Right Thing' reunited at the Directors Guild of America Theater on June 29, 2009 in New York, New York to celebrity the 20th anniversary of the acclaimed film.

In attendence were filmmaker Spike Lee, actors and actresses John Turturro, Joie Lee, Danny Aiello, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Luis Antonio Ramos, Gwen McGee, composer and Spike's father Bill Lee, composer Branford Marsalis, producers Jon Kilik and Monty Ross, film editor Barry Alexander Brown, costume designer Ruth Carter, hair stylist Larry M. Cherry, production assistant Mike 'Big Mike' Ellis, and director Malcolm D. Lee, who was an extra on the set.

Other notables include actress Gloria Reuben, actor Jeffrey Wright, director John Singleton, actress and star of the upcoming 'Princess and the Frog' Anika Noni Rose, Spike's wife Tonya Lewis Lee, producer of 'Good Hair' Nelson George, DJ and rapper Q-Tip, actress Aunjanue Ellis, playwright and director of theater and film George C. Wolfe, 'American Violet' actress Nicole Beharie, and the cast of 'Passing Strange' (De'Adre Aziza, Eisa Davis, Chad Goodridge, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Colman Domingo, and co-director Heidi Rodewald).

After the screening, the afterparty was held at Brasserie 8 ½, where DJ Q-Tip honored the late Michael Jackson by playing his music all night long.

The DVD and Blu-ray comes out on June 30th.

On the hottest day of the year, the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn becomes a crucible for the wide-ranging racial, social and economic beliefs of its residents. During a 24-hour period that changes lives forever, the neighborhood’s tenuous equilibrium boils over into a showdown between longtime business owner Sal (Danny Aiello) and the neighborhood’s African-American majority. In a slyly funny and riveting expose of racial tensions in the inner city, Lee unflinchingly confronts profoundly sensitive issues as violence threatens to explode against a throbbing musical backdrop.

Below is a quick list of what we can find on the June 30th released Blu-Ray:

Over 4 hours of Bonus Features including a NEW documentary by Spike Lee

20th Anniversary Edition Feature Commentary with Director Spike Lee
Feature Commentary with Director Spike Lee, Director of Photography Ernest Dickerson, Production Designer Wynn Thomas and Actor Joie Lee

Do The Right Thing: 20 Years Later – New retrospective documentary with the cast and crew
Deleted & Extended Scenes – 11 newly discovered scenes cut from the final version of the film
Behind the Scenes – Spike Lee’s personal video footage from the set of the film
Making Do The Right Thing – In-depth documentary on the making of the film
Editor Berry Brown – Interview with the editor of Do The Right Thing
The Riot Sequence – Storyboard gallery of the climatic riot sequence
Cannes, 1989 – Press conference footage from the 1989 Cannes Film Festival