Pruneyard Cinemas isn’t toying around with its ‘Barbie’-themed cocktails

It’s a “Barbie” world at Pruneyard Cinemas this week. In anticipation for what’s expected to be a huge response to the new movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, which opens Friday, the dine-in movie theater in Campbell has outpinked itself.

The bartending staff at the Cedar Room Lounge have concocted a pair of cocktails themed to the movie, and they’re not toying around. The Malibu Barbie — made with Malibu rum, of course — is a refreshing sipper, while the Greta Gerwig, named after the movie’s director and made with watermelon vodka, tastes a bit like a Jolly Rancher candy and goes down very easy.

Both are bright pink — did you have any doubt they would be? — and because of the sizeable number of kids expected to see the movie, there’s also a non-alcoholic drink, Plastic is Fantastic, made with Sprite and cotton candy-flavored syrup. That sounds shockingly sweet, but I couldn’t tell you how sweet; I had to draw the line somewhere.

The Barbie fun isn’t limited to the cocktail menu, either. There’s a life-sized, balloon-festooned Barbie box in the lobby where moviegoers can take photos, a pink mixed berry frosted shortcake called Barbie Dreamhouse has been added to the food menu and the Cedar Room even had a Barbie edition of its popular drag queen bingo on Wednesday night. And all this Barbie love is certainly whipping up a frenzy for a movie that may turn out to be the phenomenon of the summer.

General Manager Jeremy Duke said early ticket sales for the movie have been stronger than anyone expected. And that’s even with the latest “Mission: Impossible” installment still in theaters and another huge movie, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” also opening this weekend. By the way, if you’re at Pruneyard Cinemas this weekend and want to avoid the pink drinks, you might want to give the “Oppenheimer”-themed cocktail, the spicy Manhattan Project, a go.

WISH GRANTED: Moises DePaz didn’t know where he was headed Tuesday when he wound up at Capitol Subaru in San Jose. It turns out, he’s heading to Hawaii with his family, courtesy of Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area. The 20-year-old Hayward resident has end-stage kidney disease and was surprised with a beach-themed bash at the dealership that included a hula performance by the Legacies of the Pacific and a Kona Ice truck.

Capitol Subaru, part of the Del Grade Dealer Group, has partnered with Make-A-Wish since 2011 and was one of a dozen Subaru retailers around the country helping to celebrate the granting of wishes over the span of a week. “We know how physically and emotionally difficult medical treatments can be for children and their families,” Capitol Subaru General Sales Manager Fernando Roque said. “We hope that our efforts can provide children like Moises with strength and positivity to fight against a critical illness.”

TWILIGHT AT TABARD: Mighty Mike McGee, the former Santa Clara County poet laureate and all around good guy, has collaborated with a lot of creative people over the years, but he said working with singer/artist Ben Henderson and writer/musician Derrick Sanderlin as a trio has been a dream of his for a few years. He’s getting his chance Friday night at Twilight Service, an 8 p.m. performance at Tabard Theatre in downtown San Jose that’ll bring together West Coast poetry and music, described as an “ode to the Beloved City Under the Bay.”