Extra Cheese is Two Dollars

I feel like I start every post talking about food (sorry, not sorry), and this post will be no different. I think it's because a large majority of my day is spent around food (thinking about it and eating it) and because I feel that food is meant to be an experience, just like a movie is meant to be an experience; why not put the two together for an even MORE meaningful experience?! Also, can we just take a moment to truly appreciate how unbelievable the above photo is?

 A very good friend of mine, who has seen this film before, told me that in order to "get the full experience" (weird that that word keeps popping up...) I needed to make sure I enjoyed a pizza while I contemplated the complexity of this masterpiece. So, I most certainly took his advice and ordered a half corn, half sausage and veggie pizza from Dove Vivi, my favorite pizza place in Portland by far, and DOVE in (see what I did there) quite literally. 

Synopsis

Salvatore "Sal" Fragione (Danny Aiello) is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. Mookie (Spike Lee) is the delivery boy at Sal's, lives in Brooklyn and knows all of the locals. A neighborhood local, and friend of Mookie's, Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), becomes upset when he comes into Sal's for a slice and sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

Fun Facts, Compliments of IMDB:

  • Spike Lee wrote, produced, directed and starred in this film.

  • Spike Lee wrote the script in two weeks.

  • The title comes from a Malcolm X quotation that goes, "You've got to do the right thing."

  • Martin Lawrence's feature film debut.

  • The word "fuck" is used approximately 240 times in this film, a rate of two a minute. (you've been warned...)

  • The entire shooting of the film took place on one commandeered block in Brooklyn. Extra care was taken to ensure the experience was palatable to the residents of that block and the production even hired a couple residents on that block.

Ryen's Review - Drop what you're doing and go see it right now

I can hardly describe to you how much I loved this film. I'm trying to figure out how to put my thoughts into words, but all I can really say is that the relevance of this film, in light of current events across America and around the globe, speaks volumes to the radical change that is needed in order to rid the Earth of racism and prejudice for good. What is unfortunate is that this film was written and released in 1989, and here we are in 2016, 27 years later; same shit, different day. TWENTY SEVEN YEARS people...I guess this isn't so much of a review as it is a disassembly of the process of my thoughts.

Without getting myself too overly worked up, I'll leave you with a plea to watch this film. Watch this film and be inspired. Be angry. Be shocked. Be concerned. Be encouraged. Be the change. Be ready to fight the good fight.

The end.