Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989) remains the most confounding Best Picture winner of its decade, surpassing Do the Right Thing to take the trophy. Do the Right Thing, which didn't even earn a nomination, outperforms #5 in cultural relevance and critical esteem by a wide margin. The Academy's preference for this genteel racial harmony drama over Spike Lee's provocative masterpiece is supported by data: Daisy holds a 7.3 IMDb score, while Do the Right Thing sits at a 7.9, and in Sight & Sound's 2022 critics' poll, Lee's film ranked 24th against Daisy's complete absence. This 0.6-point disparity underscores the snub that remains one of the Academy's most glaring omissions.