Kenny's Korner

Each Thursday for the past decade, I have put out a commentary on the week's films, Vine happenings and fun information in the form of Kenny's Korner.  This has been in our weekly email newsletter.  Please sign up for this newsletter to get my commentary, and the best information about the Vine.  Below is this week's Kenny Korner - enjoy!

Hello all, 

Join us TONIGHT, April 25th at 7pm for BACK TO THE FUTURE!  In this 1980s sci-fi classic, small-town California teen Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is thrown back into the '50s when an experiment by his eccentric scientist friend Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) goes awry. Traveling through time in a modified DeLorean car, Marty encounters young versions of his parents (Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson), and must make sure that they fall in love or he'll cease to exist. Even more dauntingly, Marty has to return to his own time and save the life of Doc Brown.  

See the picture below with my assistant Ken with a DeLorean on the trade show floor at CinemaCon!

Tickets are selling fast for this wonderful 80’s classic, so get your tickets now!

Our next classic is a 50th anniversary screening of BLAZING SADDLES on Thursday, May 9th at 7pm.  We show this all-time great comedy every few years and it is always a fun crowd!  Classic comedies are so much fun with a big audience to laugh along with!

This week we open CHALLENGERS, starring the ultra-popular ZENDAYA!  This was one of the films that was delayed during the strikes of last year, as they wanted Zendaya to be able to do a proper press junket for the film.  At an astounding 95% on RottenTomatoes the reviews are off the charts for this film.

Synopsis:  From visionary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, CHALLENGERS stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court.  Married to a champion on a losing streak (Mike Faist - West Side Story), Tashi's strategy for her husband's redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (Josh O'Connor - The Crown) -- his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.  As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win.

I had lots of great comments about the Las Vegas/CinemaCon  section of the newsletter last week, so I wanted to continue on with some more of our experiences!

On Tuesday, Warner Brothers was the first studio to show us their upcoming film slate.  I believe this was my favorite studio presentation, as they had so many stars and directors on stage, and the hosts did a wonderful job of interviewing them.  

We were treated to a 10 minute sneak peak of the upcoming FURIOUSA – A MAD MAX SAGA.  After this director, George Miller, and stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth came out on stage.  They could not speak highly enough about the brilliant George Miller.

One of the highlights of the entire trip for me was seeing KEVIN COSTNER come out on stage!  He was promoting his upcoming summer western, HORIZON – AN AMERICAN SAGA (Parts 1 and 2.)  He was incredibly personable, and spoke for quite a long time.  He stated that he actually wrote four parts of these movies starting in the early 2000’s.  He then received the CinemaCon visionary award and received a standing ovation by the crowd.  He was very touched and thankful for the standing O – the only one that I recall seeing the entire week!

Seeing director Bong Joon Ho on stage was a huge treat for the three of us!  He was there along with Robert Pattinson, promoting their new movie, MICKEY 17!  (This film looked amazing, but does not open until early 2025.)

Finally, Warner Brothers offered us another huge highlight as we got to see an extended trailer for what I believe will be one of the biggest films of the year – BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, which opens September 6th.  The films looks fantastic, but the highlight came when all of these amazing stars came out to talk about it:  Director Tim Burton, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Belluci, Willem Dafoe and Michael Keaton.  I cannot say enough about how funny Michael Keaton was, and how thankful and proud he is of this film!  They made it very clear that both he and Tim Burton would never do a Beetlejuice sequel unless they "Got the right script" and they all beleive this is the one!

Our Tuesday night at CinemaCon concluded with a great great dinner party at Caesar’s Pool of the Gods!   

While we were forbidden to take pictures during the studio presentations, you can see some pictures below of the Pool of the Gods, and some of the fun movie selfie stations they had!  Yes, that is me trying to look like Austin Butler in the upcoming THE BIKERIDERS movie!  (I wish!!!)

As mentioned last week, I am very excited to be opening THE FALL GUY, on May 3rd.  Starring the amazing Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, this film is SO MUCH FUN!  It is a tribute to the stuntmen and stuntwomen that work so hard on so many films.  Make sure you stay to the mid-credit scene to see a special cameo!

The Fall Guy synopsis:  He's a stuntman, and like everyone in the stunt community, he gets blown up, shot, crashed, thrown through windows and dropped from the highest of heights, all for our entertainment.  And now, fresh off an almost career-ending accident, this working-class hero has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. What could possibly go right

THE FALL GUY is funnier than I thought it would be, very silly (in a good way) and action packed.  It was a VERY strong way to kick off the convention, and is a very good movie to kick off the summer in early May!  We WILL be getting The Fall Guy on May 3rd, and tickets will be on sale this Friday.

This will be the fourth and final week for one of our most successful films of 2024 so far - WICKED LITTLE LETTERS! 

WICKED LITTLE LETTERS synopsis:  A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy.  Based on a stranger than fiction true story, WICKED LITTLE LETTERS follows two neighbors: deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley).  When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime.  The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues.  However, as the town's women, led by Police Officer Gladys Moss, begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.

We hope that you will continue to spread the word that the Vine Cinema & Alehouse is the valley’s only movie theatre showing independent films and classics, while serving beer, wine and food.

Kenny