MTV Movie Awards: The Secret of Picking Winners —Vote the Worst!
OK, there’s really no secret. Just leave quality out of it. The MTV Movie Awards air this Sunday night and it’s always a fun show as long as you don’t expect the voters to hold to any standard except popularity.
There’s even a category called BEST WTF MOMENT, but the great thing about the MTV Movie Awards is that every category gives you at least one “what the fuck” moment. Let’s take a looksee:
Best Movie
- The Dark Knight
- High School Musical 3: Senior Year
- Iron Man
- Slumdog Millionaire
- Twilight
Slumdog won the Oscar so let’s rule that out. Dark Knight and Iron Man were actually good movies, so their chances are shaky. High School Musical 3: Senior Year sucked from start to finish — I expect it to finish strong. But Twilight — bad reviews, bountiful box office — smells like a winner to me. WTF!
And here we go with the other categories:
Best Female Performance
- Angelina Jolie — Wanted
- Anne Hathaway — Bride Wars
- Kate Winslet — The Reader
- Kristen Stewart — Twilight
- Taraji P. Henson — The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Winslet won the Oscar — that equals no chance here. Hathaway gave the worst performance of her career by a mile in Bride Wars (call her a contender). Jolie was Oscar nominated deservedly for Changeling, so of course MTV nominated her for a movie that required no acting (call her a contender). Henson’s was a supporting role. That leaves Stewart (call her the winner).
Best Male Performance
- Christian Bale — The Dark Knight
- Robert Downey Jr. — Iron Man
- Shia LaBeouf — Eagle Eye
- Vin Diesel — Fast & Furious
- Zac Efron — High School Musical 3: Senior Year
The only category in which a genius like Downey can ever be pitted against the lightweight likes of Diesel and Efron. If anyone wins but the Iron Man there should be a riot in the studio.
Breakthrough Performance: Female
- Amanda Seyfried — Mamma Mia!
- Ashley Tisdale — High School Musical 3: Senior Year
- Freida Pinto — Slumdog Millionaire
- Miley Cyrus — Hannah Montana: The Movie
- Vanessa Hudgens — High School Musical 3: Senior Year
- Kat Dennings — Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Pinto and Dennings against a field that should be up for worst non-acting ever in any medium. Pinto gets my vote, not that it matters.
Breakthrough Performance: Male
- Robert Pattinson — Twilight
- Taylor Lautner — Twilight
- Ben Barnes — The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
- Dev Patel — Slumdog Millionaire
- Bobb’e J. Thompson — Role Models
If Pattinson loses this prize, MTV knows nothing of ratings and shameless pandering to its audience. I think MTV knows plenty about its audience. Sorry Patel, you really deserved it.
Best Comedic Performance
- Amy Poehler — Baby Mama
- Anna Faris — The House Bunny
- James Franco — Pineapple Express
- Jim Carrey — Yes Man
- Steve Carell — Get Smart
All the nominees are actually defensible. My heart is with Faris, but Franco was sublime.
Best Kiss
- Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy — Wanted
- Freida Pinto and Dev Patel — Slumdog Millionaire
- James Franco and Sean Penn — Milk
- Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson — Twilight
- Paul Rudd and Thomas Lennon — I Love You, Man
Penn macking on Franco is the cleverest nominee, but homophobia is getting stronger (Yes, I mean you California!). Also bad news for Rudd and Lennon. Slumdogs Patel and Pinto deserve the prize, so write them off. That leaves Jolie and McAvoy (seems remote) and Stewart and vampire boy Pattinson (come up and get your prize).
Best Villain
- Derek Mears — Friday the 13th
- Dwayne Johnson — Get Smart
- Heath Ledger — The Dark Knight
- Johnathon Schaech — Prom Night
- Luke Goss — Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Shall we not kid ourselves? Heath Ledger now and forever! Sometimes even MTV gets it right.
Best Fight
- Bridal Cat Fight — Anne Hathaway vs. Kate Hudson
- Battle Over Gotham — Christian Bale vs. Heath Ledger
- Vampire Showdown — Robert Pattinson vs. Cam Gigandet
- Battle in Hell — Ron Perlman vs. Luke Goss
- 3 Way Stoner Fight — Seth Rogen and James Franco vs. Danny McBride
This is the year of the vampire, but the horror of Bride Wars truly sucked the life out of me.
Best WTF Moment
- Peeing In The Sink — Amy Poehler (Baby Mama)
- Curved Bullet Kill — Angelina Jolie (Wanted)
- Jumping In The Poop Shed — Ayush Mahesh Khedekar (Slumdog Millionaire)
- Tasting Decapitated Head — Ben Stiller (Tropic Thunder)
- Naked Break Up — Jason Segel and Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
I’ll take naked over pee and poop every time. I suspect MTV’s head is in the crapper.
What’s your nominee for Best WTF Movie Moment that MTV forgot? Mine is Christian Bale’s rant on the set of Terminator Salvation. Now that moment really deserves award consideration.
Send in your own WTF suggestions, and I’ll blog or Twitter your best ones.