25 best movies that never won an Oscar

12. Do The Right Thing

1989 was a relatively weak year for movies. Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture at the 1990 Oscars, a move that hasn’t aged well given that film’s outdated racial politics. There were some still well-regarded films released that year, like Field of Dreams and Dead Poets Society, but it was one of those years where a more subversive film could’ve done some real damage.

Enter Do The Right Thing, a movie about race relations that was groundbreaking for its honesty but probably too “real” for certain older, white members of the Academy. It was also the first Spike Lee film to be recognized in any capacity by the most important Hollywood awards body. He had yet to earn his modern reputation as an awards-season staple.

The only nominations Do The Right Thing received was for Lee’s Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Danny Aiello). Side note: Just like with BlacKkKlansman‘s Adam Driver, it’s weird that the Academy decided to only nominate a white actor from a film with such a large, impressive African-American cast. That’s not to take away from Aiello or Driver’s work, but still.

Anyway, Aiello lost to Denzel Washington’s Glory performance and Lee to Tom Schulman’s screenplay for Dead Poets Society, both of which track. The fact that Lee wasn’t nominated for Best Director is the only revisionism that might’ve made sense here. That award went to Oliver Stone for Born on the Fourth of July, and Lee could’ve given him a real fight.