Transamerica

Them fancy talkin' professors at grad school are always saying that having a great character in your movie will cover for a multitude of sins. Felicity Huffman's "Bree" is case in point. Transamerica is engaging from beginning to end, despite the fact that it looks like it was made for about five bucks. Huffman embodies her role to it's core and makes it possible to overlook numerous plot holes, logic points, and weak episodes. Her commitment is really admirable. Perhaps here is at least one instance when a nude scene, or several nude scenes, prove that the filmmakers and actors have true conviction about their subject; the nature of sexual identity. High marks to Fionnula Flanagan as the world's scariest mom. During q&a after the movie, the director said she was the most realistic character in the movie, as she was based on a real person: his mom. In spite of this monsoon of praise, though, it's not a movie that will leave a very big mark on the world. It's truly just a so-so movie with a few great characters in it.

Final Destination 3

I liked the original Final Destination. Death itself is a serial killer; out to get the unfortunate teens who cheated it. Gone is the paranoia and unpredictability of the first. It's all about anticipation and dread now. Establish the arrogant teens. Establish the nail gun. Wait for it. Wait for it. SHICK! Right through the skull. Coverage of the Rube Goldberg deaths is shoddy, too. Too many cuts and blurry swish-pans make it impossible to track which dead teenager was just minced by the rollercoaster. Weak character development and lack of suspense make it just a montage of bloody accidents. Kudos though, to the bratty plastic bimbos, who relish in their superficial, queen bee, teen-speak then shed their tops for a good long time while we watch them dry-roast their boobies in the tanning beds. Let that be a lesson to you all.

Firewall

One of those movies in which all the main character has to do is dial 911 and the entire, flawed plot of the villain would collapse. Mood and pacing are excellent, but barely make up for the huge lapses in logic and neglect for common sense. At times, hilarious, it was so cliched. Harrison Ford even has a catch phrase. "I'm going to get my dog!" Laugh-out-loud funny. One bright spot is the comic relief delivered by sit-com wallflower Mary-Lynn Rajskub as Ford's secretary. The shot of her holding the rescued dog at the end was worth the price of admission. Otherwise, this movie will be remembered as another step in the decline of Harrison Ford's career.