Rotate MC with transform.matrix

I have a number of movie clips that contain shapes. Each of these movieclips is contained in a parent movieClip (so they can all be moved at once if need be); However, the individual movieclip also have listeners that allow you to drag or rotate them. Rotation is initiated by during a hitTest over targets on the shapes.

I have had success in rotating the MCs when I use an intermediate movieclip whose x and y and been offset to simulate a registration point in the center of the shape. However, because the invisible parts of the MCs can be half again as wide or tall as the shapes, I'm having some issues with them bleeding off the edge of the screen.

Is there a way to use transform and get a smooth rotation? I can't seem to get the center point of the MC to stick and think it may have to do with the fact that a rotating MC is inside a parent MC, so its x and y positions can be negative when it is moved individually in relation to the other MCs.

Thanks for any help you can shed. I'll be happy to post the code, thought it's bit spaghetti at this point.