In Honor of National Pizza Day, Order a Pizza Pie & Watch These Fun Movies
Whether you love deep dish, thin crust, or Chicago-style, order up your favorite pizza and get nostalgic! Pay tribute to the ooey-gooey cheese, the thick red sauce, and whatever toppings your heart desires. Some people even reminisce about that delicious school pizza that was so popular in the 1980s. While you’re serving up slices, why not watch a movie that celebrates pizza? Here are some of our favorite picks!
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’
New Line/Everett Collection
Can you think of anyone who loves pizza as much as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? The crime-fighting turtles Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo are always just trying to finish their jobs so they can eat some delicious pizza. TMNT began in the 1980s as a comic book and soon became movies, television shows, action figures, and more. The turtles weren’t always obsessed with pizza. It wasn’t mentioned in the comic books but introduced in the television show because it was located in New York City, the home of the best pizza in many people’s opinions. If you’re a fan, you can even buy TMNT-branded pizza at grocery stores for your movie night, including one topped with macaroni and cheese.
‘Mr. Deeds’
Columbia/Everett Collection
If you’re an Adam Sandler film and in the mood for one of his silliest comedies, watch Mr. Deeds. He plays Longfellow Deeds, who runs a pizza shop and insists on still running it even after he inherits $40 billion. Winona Ryder plays a reporter who lies to get close to Deeds and ends up falling for him.
‘Toy Story’
If you’ve got kiddos involved in your pizza party, throw on that classic Disney/Pixar film Toy Story. Toys Woody and Buzz try to get back to their owner Andy by hopping on the Pizza Planet delivery truck and heading to the restaurant, where they encounter the Aliens.
‘Mystic Pizza’
Samuel Goldwyn/Everett Collection
Of course, we had to include the film with the name pizza in the title, set in a pizza shop in the town of Mystic, Connecticut. There is actually a real restaurant called Mystic Pizza in the town but the movie is based on fictional sisters who try to get a famed restaurant critic to review their pizza and improve their business.
‘Spaceballs’
The 1987 Mel Brooks parody Spaceballs includes the character Pizza the Hutt, based on Jabba the Hutt of Star Wars. He looks like disgusting globs of sauce, cheese, and pepperoni and is the bad guy in this hilarious film. Okay, maybe you don’t want to eat while watching this one.
‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’
In the film, Jeff Spicoli orders a regular-crust pizza with double cheese and sausage to be delivered to his high school. When he gets in trouble for doing so, he must share it with his classmates. Bummer, dude.
‘The Jerk’
We can’t forget when Steve Martin‘s character Navin R. Johnson eats “the best pizza in a cup ever.”
What’s your favorite pizza-themed movie?
1980s Top Summer Blockbusters
July 2019
Celebrate the biggest summer movies of the ’80s, when moviegoing morphed from mere entertainment to blockbuster events.
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