Transporter 3 wasn't quite as good as the first one, but it was leaps and bounds (and kicks and shirtless Jason Stathams) better than the second movie.

FuzzyCo grade: B

The House Bunny is a completely confounding movie. I'm confounded. The dialogue, plot, and acting is absolutely sub-par -- like if Animal House had had multiple direct-to-video sequels and we were now up to Animal House 9 and this was the shoddy phoned-in product. BUT. Except for Anna Faris. She's hilarious. She's stuck in the plot, of course, but her dialogue is miles above the movie and her performance is stellar. Did she write her own lines or something? I can't wait to see her star in something good.

FuzzyCo grade (The House Bunny): D
FuzzyCo grade (Anna Faris in The House Bunny): A

Gary Hustwit's Helvetica is a documentary focussed on the titular typeface - through conversations with designers, he illuminates both the history and evolution of the typeface and allows the designers to wax philosophic about issues in design. His new film, Objectified, takes the same approach to the much broader topic of industrial design. Because the topic is so much more general -- in a Q&A after the showing I saw last night, Hewitt said he set himself some arbitrary limits of no clothing or shoes on one end and no architecture on the other -- the philosophizing goes much farther afield. But it's still a look at a field that it's very easy to let fade into the background of our modern lives, even though the results of industrial design affect us every day. And it doesn't hurt that it's beautifully shot and the score is delightful.

The showing I saw last night was a one-off sponsored by AIGA Chicago, IDSA Chicago, and Coudal Partners (the latter to whom I owe thanks for tickets). The film will be back for a week of screenings at the Siskel Center in June.

FuzzyCo grade: A

Since my last experience with vampires was so soppy, I felt like a good ol' bloody violent vampire movie was needed. 30 Days of Night fit the bill. Based on a graphic novel (that I've never read), vampires descend on the northernmost town in Alaska to take advantage of the titular polar night. It's a really good entry in the "realistic"* genre of survival horror. Scary, affecting, and the ending really came out of nowhere (except, in hindsight, perfectly foreshadowed). I was really impressed.

FuzzyCo grade: A+

* I know, I know. I mean, given the notion that there are vampires it proceeds realistically from there. My only quibble in that regard was that there was an ill-defined number of vampires that seemed a little high sometimes.

I'm still not quite sure what to make of Happy-Go-Lucky. I enjoyed watching it, so I suppose it worked or something. But what does Poppy's endless optimism mean? And is it terrible that I sympathize with the quiet book store clerk at the beginning of the movie who just wants to be left alone?

FuzzyCo grade: if you like movies where not much happens and people talk a lot, like Erica does, you'll like this movie. I still don't know where I land on it.

I was of two minds about Role Models. Everyone sleep-walked through the plot: will these two differently-damaged men come to actually care about the boys their court-ordered community service hours have them mentoring? If you think they won't, I have a bridge you may be interested in. But there was enough flat-out nonsense going on in the dialogue, especially from Jane Lynch, that it redeemed the movie for me.

FuzzyCo grade: B-