After Boyz n the Hood blew up, its director John Singleton went on to direct a bunch of stuff: Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Shaft, 2 Fast 2 Furious. And Boyz’ young cast—which included Ice Cube, Angela Bassett, Morris Chestnut, Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Nia Long—went on to be part of a whopping number of notable projects. In some ways, watching these actors in a movie that’s almost 30 years old feels like opening up a time capsule (behold the soundtrack, which features everyone from 2 Live Crew to Tony! Toni! Toné!); in other ways, Boyz n the Hood remains as timely as it was in the ’90s. by Erik Henriksen