We knew this day had to come eventually, but for a while it seemed like it never would. After five months, Bernie is finally going final at the Magnolia Theatre this week. Thursday’s matinee will be its last showing in Dallas.
It was always a good fit. The hilarious comedy about an actual murder in East Texas is as authentic as a Fletcher’s Corny Dog in portraying Texas characters. It opened here on May 3 — that’s the same day as The Avengers, which hasn’t been in theaters in months. Of course, The Avengers made a billion dollars; Bernie hasn’t even grossed $10 million nationwide. But think about that: Five solid months in one theater and still profitable. The Magnolia had an audience at they got it.
It was tough to get a seat sometimes, even when it played on as many as three screens, but everyone who saw it laughed at Jack Black’s surprisingly sensitive portrayal of a goofy murderer and Matthew McConaughey pre-Magic Mike as a blowhard D.A.
It’s not on multiple screens anymore, down to at most two shows a week. (It was “officially” pulled from release last Friday, though Landmark seems not to have gotten the notice.) It has already been released on Blu-ray and DVD, even. But if you missed it and would like to see it in a theater, there’s still time.
We reported recently about the big news in the comic book world (other than the huge success of The Avengers): First Marvel announced the long-time gay character Northstar would marry his boyfriend (that takes place in the issue coming out June 20). Then DC Comics — which last fall reintroduced its entire superhero universe with all-new No. 1 issues — revealed that the iconic Green Lantern (who I like to call Queen Lantern) would come out as gay.
If you weren’t at the Meyerson last night, you missed the 
Poor Barry Sonnenfeld. In another life, he was a respected cinematographer, who shot the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple and Raising Arizona, in addition to Misery. He was versatile and quirky. Then he became a director, and that sense of humor became compromised by Hollywood middle-brow aesthetics. The two Addams Family movies had moments, and Get Shorty was actually good, but mostly he’s stuck adding a shiny inconsequentiality to bad action comedies. (His last film as a director, RV in 2006 was a serious flop; he has directed some good TV shows though, notably the short-lived Pushing Daisies.)
When you’re dealing with movie franchises, survivability is at least as important as plot, and Marvel has a whole lotta franchise built into The Avengers, which capitalizes on the two Iron Man movies, two vastly different Hulk movies, and last summer’s one-two punch of Thor and Captain America. And there are more to come.
The live broadcast of Logo’s NewNowNext Awards won’t be until Monday, but we already know the winners. Despite Logo deciding it’s 
