30 Minutes Or Less - Movie Review

I watched a special screening of the movie 30 Minutes Or Less tonight at Crocker Park.  I got the passes in an email from www.gofobo.com.  I'm not sure why, other than that I won passes for Mastermind from the same website via facebook.

It's interesting that I got to go, as I am regarded as an expert on pizza delivery movies.  My Top 10 List used to be cited as a reference on Wikipedia, but I just checked and now it is not.

Back to tonight, I arrived about 15 minutes before the movie was to start, and the theater was quite full.  There were seats in the first 3 rows, but mostly just single seats near the top, where I usually like to sit.  Lucky for me I was alone so I took one of the single seats.

The movie stars Jesse Eisenberg, famous for playing Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Media.  It had some funny parts, including a line from Eisenberg's character where he said he was "good with faces", and alot of crude humor.

The plot fell apart when the pizza guy was kidnapped from an abandoned junkyard.  If the pizza guy doesn't return from the run in a reasonable amount of time, and doesn't answer his phone, any reasonable manager will either send another driver to check on him, check the location himself, or call the police.  Yet when our hero shows up the next day to quit his job (on his way to rob the bank), the missing pizza (and subsequent payment) from the night before is never mentioned.  How did they balance the register?  What's wrong at Vito's Pizza?

But as a whole, I can't approve of a movie that makes light of a pizza guy having a bomb strapped to his chest and robbing a bank, when a real pizza driver died in that exact situation in Erie PA in 2003. RIP Brian Wells.

School & Movie Premier

OK, so I haven't started back up to delivering yet.  School is hard!  And it is taking all of my time.  So no new stories.

The good news is I just won 2 free passes to the premier of 30 Minutes Or Less from the website http://www.gofobo.com/.  So I will see it on Thursday night and I will post a review that night!  From the previews I have seen it looks pretty hilarious!

Perfect 10

Not Bo Derek.

Tonight's first delivery was my biggest single tip in a long time, $10!  The most surprising thing is that it was on a single pizza order ($12.99).  Thank you and Merry Christmas!

We were pretty slow tonight, I was scheduled from 6-10 but right after I arrived, I said to Matt that the "over/under" on me getting sent home was 8:30.  I got sent home at 8:15!

I worked 2.39 hours, took 5 deliveries, drove 17 miles, and made $22 in tips!

Pizza Movie on the Web - Larry and Burt's Gut Rot!

I was made aware today of a web series called Larry & Burt's Gut Rot.  This is based on the true stories of a pizza delivery driver and his brother.

I watched the first episode tonight and I have to say, they nailed it!  The smell that lingers in the car, the customer's payment issue (so typical), and the written notes afte the delivery, these are certainly all things I have experienced over and over during the past few years.

Any restaurant worker will love these movies.

One word of caution, the language makes these "adult" movies, it is not appropriate for the family hour.  But then again, neither is the job of pizza delivery.  So there.

I can't wait to watch the other episodes (6 in all, so far).

DiGiorno Delivery

Check out this hilarious video for "DiGiorno Delivery". Much thanks to Cale for suggesting it.

More News (Waitress Stories & Redbox Codes)

This article from the Cleveland paper describes how some restaurants try to force the waitress to pay the bill when the customer dines and dashes. This is certainly not fair, and from the story, it seems to be dangerous also.

And since I know I have many readers who work hard for their money, here's a way to save a little. This article contains a link to a site that shares Redbox coupon codes.

Book Review: Pizza - A Global History

I recently read the book, Pizza - A Global History, by Carol Helstosky. This is a great book for anyone in the pizza business, or even a big pizza fan.

It describes the origins of pizza in Naples, Italy, including why it was popular, what it was made with, and who likely ate it. It then explains the growth of pizza in the US and worldwide, including chains like Pizza Hut and Dominos.

It also spends some time discussing pizza references in pop culture, including a scene that I left out of my top 10 pizza movies list, in Saturday Night Fever when John Travolta eats a slice.

WEOL Radio Interview

I was interviewed on WEOL this morning about the robbery attempt I prevented on Saturday night. Other interviews this morning are David Frankel, the director of the upcoming dog movie Marley And Me starring Jennifer Aniston (pictured on right) and Owen Wilson, and Richard Cohen, author of the book Coming Out Straight. This book is about understanding and healing homosexuality.

My interview was really pretty boring, but if you want to hear it you can listen to the mp3 online.

My interview was unpaid, in contrast to my wife who earned a $200 shoe gift certificate when she was interviewed about her ebay auction for Good Friday Miracle Fish Sticks back in March.

And if you didn't catch it, here is a link to the Chronicle article about my incident.

Zack And Miri Order Pizza

I wasn't on the schedule tonight but was able to pick up a few extra hours. I worked from 6-9 and then went home and took my wife to see the movie Zack and Miri Make A Porno. We both thought it was a great movie and if you like Kevin Smith movies (the Jersey trilogy featuring Jay and Silent Bob) you will love this!

While working, I drove 3 hours, took 9 runs, made $26, and drove 28 miles. I did get a $4 tip on a $16 order from an "Obama house".

Quick Night

I was supposed to close tonight but I made $24 on 8 runs from 5:30 - 8:30 and got Ted to switch with me. I was able to go home early, tuck my kids in, and celebrate our 4th anniversary watching Knocked Up on DVD.

I drove 27 miles. It's always nice when your tips is close to the same as your miles!

Double-Tipping

I was the beneficiary tonight of a strange phenomena I'll call "double-tipping." Here's what happened:

I took a delivery that was paid by credit card. A man met me at the door with a handful of cash. I told him that the pizza was on a credit card and I just needed the form filled out (tip, total and signature). The man handed me $3 cash as a tip and took the form, on my mini-clipboard, inside for someone else to sign. The other person put a $2 credit card tip on the form. So all in all I made $5 at that house.

A very interesting delivery was my 2nd run to a low income, government subsidized housing high-rise. I had to take the elevator up to the 13th floor. There were 2 women waiting for the elevator with me. One said to the other "I'm not paying $8 for a plant unless it grows back on it's own if it dies!"

Another man walked up and joined us, waiting. He asked me if we had any specials, and I told him about our deals. He then said he really shouldn't eat pizza. He lifted up his shirt, revealing his chest and about an 8 inch scar from open-heart surgery.


Favorite delivery of the night was to Bryan on 3rd street. He's a great tipper, and a friend of ex-driver Steve. Well tonight Steve was there sitting in the yard, so I got to catch up with him for a few minutes.

One final story from tonight, a dine in customer told waitress Jeanette that I looked like Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. I've probably been told 15-20 times in my life that I resemble Tom Hanks.

Top Ten Movies With Pizza Delivery Scenes

These movies are ranked by me from 10 down to 1 based on several criteria, including how well I liked the movie and also how memorable the pizza scenes were.

10. Mystic Pizza (1988) This film is one of Julia Roberts' first films. She plays a waitress at Mystic Pizza, a restaurant in Mystic, Connecticut.

9. Firewall (2006) Harrison Ford stars as Jack Stanfield, a bank security expert in this thriller. His family has ordered pizza but when the pizza guy arrives, it is really the bad guys who kidnap Stanfield's family and hold them hostage.

8. Spiderman 2 (2004) - Peter Parker has a job as a pizza delivery driver, which he gets fired from for showing up late.

7. Man Of The House (2005) Tommy Lee Jones plays Ronald Sharp, a Texas Ranger guarding a group of cheerleaders who are witnesses to a crime. In one hilarious scene, Sharp searches the pizza guy for weapons before tipping him a quarter. He teases the girls but does not share his pizza. Later, while Sharp is on the phone, the pizza guy returns with more food and this time the girls intercept it.

6. Do The Right Thing (1989) Spike Lee plays Mookie, a pizza delivery boy in this movie about bigotry and racial conflict set in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn.

5. Mr. Deeds (2002) Adam Sandler plays Longfellow Deeds, a smalltown pizzeria owner who inherits $40 billion, and must go to the big city to claim his fortune. In one memorable scene, Deeds says to Crazy Eyes (Steve Buscemi) "Hey Crazy Eyes, I got your pizza just how you like it." and Crazy Eyes replies "French Fries and Oreos you know me too well Deeds."

4. There's Something About Mary (1998) In this boxoffice hit starring Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz, Lee Evans plays Tucker, a pizza delivery guy who masquerades as an architect to win Mary's approval.

3. Toy Story (1995) - Buzz and Woody are accidentally left behind at a gas station and catch a ride on a Pizza Planet delivery truck to catch up with Andy and his family. Also, in Toy Story 2, Buzz and the gang actually drive the Pizza Planet truck to the airport to rescue Woody.

2. Home Alone (1990) - Kevin is stuck home alone without his family. He orders pizza delivered but instead of answering the door himself (and revealing that he is alone), he plays a scene from the gangster movie "Angels With Filthy Souls". This is not a real movie but was inspired by the 1938 Oscar nominated film, "Angels With Dirty Faces" starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. The scene ends with one of the gangsters firing a machine gun and then saying "Keep the change, ya filthy animal."

1. Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) - who can forget the classic scene where Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) orders pizza delivered to him in school during Mr. Hand's class.

If you have questions, comments, or want to suggest a movie that I missed, please post them below.

Stormy Wednesday

The night started off calm enough, the weather was actually very nice. Today was the first day I didn't wear a coat to go to my day job.

On my 2nd delivery, I got to the house and nobody answered the door. I knocked several times and then got out my cell phone and called, but got no answer. I had been there 3 or 4 minutes and was about to give up when a car pulled in the driveway. They had gone to Subway to get cookies! The guy was very apologetic and tipped me $3 on a $16 order.

My first few deliveries were while the weather was still sunny and calm. Then a storm blew in, it was very dark to the north and still light to the south.

There was a tornado reported in our county. Sometimes stormy weather leads to increased deliveries but tonight our business just stopped flat. I don't think I took a delivery between 8 pm and 10 pm.

My next to last delivery was a $13.58 delivery (one large pizza) to a far-away address. By this time the worst of the storm had blown through but it was still raining pretty hard. "Man am I glad you have a porch" I said as the customer answered the door. He gave me a $20 and said to keep the change! Tips like these are appreciated all of the time but especially in bad weather.

I ended up with just 6 deliveries in 5 hours of work, but took home a decent $20 in tips. Total miles tonight was 26.

I have to tell one story from Monday night that I almost forgot.

I had a delivery to 502 Carol. This is less than a mile from our pizzeria and I have a good friend that lives in the 400 block of Carol so I thought I knew right where it was. I turned left but the first address was 516 Carol. So I went back across the intersection and the first house on that side was 486 Carol.

Remember the football movie The Program? Where the star player was lying in the middle of the highway at night for the rush of feeling the cars go past? It got some bad publicity because some foolish kids imitated this act.

Well that's where I thought these people must live.

I tried to call the phone number on the ticket but it rang and rang. I took the order back to the store. Eventually the customer called back and, of course, the address was off in one of the digits. But manager Ward took both calls and insisted it was their fault for not speaking clearly.

The order had to be remade and redelivered. By someone else. No tip for me on that run, but I did get reimbursed $1 (our current per-run rate) for the extra run.

There are currently 19 entries in my basketball contest. This includes me, my wife, my son, my stepson, and 2 nephews. There's still time to enter (but not much).

Oh and if you win, you can pick where you want the pizza gift-card from. As long as it's a place I can buy a gift card from, that is.

Pizza Delivery By Bus

I didn't drive tonight. But I did watch a movie that included a pizza delivery scene.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby It had a few funny scenes, for sure.

If you haven't seen it, there is a point in the middle of the movie when Ricky is down on his luck and takes up pizza delivery. But unfortunately he loses his driver's license and has to take his deliveries with him on the bus.

We are on the Blockbuster Total Access program. For less than $20 per month we get 2 movies at a time, in the mail. There are no due dates and we can keep these movies as long as we need. But every time we finish one that we got in the mail, we pick up another movie from the store. Definitely a great deal for our family.