2012 MTV Movie Awards Recap

I'm hesitant to put any of this up simply because I don't even think I can qualify these as awards. I did not watch them - we were too busy recording our latest edition of the CinemaCast - but every year this program simply feels like an excuse to cram as much content in from the most recent tweener movies out there. I'd generally try to keep an open mind about any movie awards out there, but you scroll through, not only the list of winners, but the list of ridiculous made-up categories they have, and once you age past about 13-years, there's just no way to put a single ounce of stock into anything presented.

Nonetheless, I realize that culturally, the MTV Movie Awards are a pretty big deal and garner sizable ratings. And since they're movie-related, and we are a movie blog, we better at least provide a rundown for those who may be interested.

One thing that's always bugged me about these awards is that, in a way completely opposite of most other award shows around, this one is basically just a giant advertisement for whichever movies MTV wants to promote. I don't like it, even though I realize no one involved really cares about the actual awards; it's more of just a venue for pop culture stars to promote all of their most-recent content, and use an award show as an excuse to gather. And I really wish adult stars wouldn't attend the event. Band together and force MTV present a higher quality show! But again, I realize this is a major fan base, and these celebrities have to appeal to them, even if they don't want to (though, if you were a celebrity, why wouldn't you? A stage to talk about your latest project). It just seems like a big joke, and being as in love with movies as I am, it upsets me that awards are given to some of these films, and simply presented in a manner like this. I think I'm showing my age too much here, even though I'm only in my mid-20's, but just having the repeat telecast on for the last 20-minutes or so as I've been writing this has infuriated me to no end. I remember looking forward to this show so much when I was in middle school; it was one of the highlights of the year for me, at least movie-wise. I want to go back and punch myself.

Anyway, time to get off the soapbox. Here is the complete list of winners from this year's show:

Movie of the Year
Bridesmaids
The Hunger Games
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
The Help
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Best Male Performance
Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Ryan Gosling, Drive
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Josh Hutcherson, The Hunger Games
Channing Tatum, The Vow

Best Female Performance
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games
Kristin Wiig, Bridesmaids
Emma Stone, Crazy, Stupid, Love
Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Best Comedic Performance

Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover Part II
Jonah Hill, 21 Jump Street
Oliver Cooper, Project X

Breakthrough Performance
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Liam Hemsworth, The Hunger Games
Elle Fanning, Super 8
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Cast
Bridesmaids
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
The Hunger Games
21 Jump Street
The Help

Best Hero
Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Captain America, Captain America: The First Avenger
Jenko, 21 Jump Street
Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games
Thor, Thor

Best On-Screen Transformation

Elizabeth Banks, The Hunger Games
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Johnny Depp, 21 Jump Street
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Colin Farrell, Horrible Bosses

Best Fight
Daniel Radcliffe vs. Ralph Fiennes, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig, The Hunger Games
Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill vs. Kid Gang, 21 Jump Street
Tom Hardy vs. Joel Edgerton, Warrior
Tom Cruise vs. Mikael Nyqvist, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Best Kiss
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, Crazy, Stupid, Love
Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, The Hunger Games
Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, The Vow
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Best Gut-Wrenching Performance
Bridesmaids (Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McClendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper)
The Help (Bryce Dallas Howard)
21 Jump Street" (Jonah Hill and Rob Riggle)
Drive (Ryan Gosling)
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Tom Cruise)

Best On-Screen Dirtbag
Bryce Dallas Howard, The Help
Jon Hamm, Bridesmaids
Jennifer Aniston, Horrible Bosses
Colin Farrell, Horrible Bosses
Oliver Cooper, Project X

Best Music
"Party Rock Anthem," LMFAO (21 Jump Street)
"A Real Hero," College & Electric Youth (Drive)
"The Devil Is in the Details," Chemical Brothers (Hanna)
"Impossible," Figurine (Like Crazy)
"Pursuit of Happiness," Kid Cudi (Steve Aoki remix) (Project X)


Trailblazer Award: Emma Stone
MTV Generation Award: Johnny Depp

So let's count it out. Awards for "The Hunger Games" (which was just released two months ago): 4; Twilight: 2; Harry Potter: 2

I will say that I was happy to see the award for Breakthrough Performance go to Shailene Woodley from "The Descendants". Do the kids vote for these awards? I haven't researched, but I feel like they're fan-based. If so, I'm incredibly surprised that enough of them saw this movie and appreciated it enough to vote for her here. It doesn't seem like a film that would normally get much love at a venue like this.

I don't care enough to go back through previous year winners, but are all of these awards consistent every year? It seems like something like Best On-Screen Transformation was made-up just to work in another award for "The Hunger Games". Maybe not. You only have 13 major awards though, does that really need to be one? Who's clamoring for that award?

I would have liked to see "21 Jump Street" win a few more awards, and I like that "Drive" was nominated for a handful as well (again, does this audience even understand this movie?). Also, what does the Trailblazer Award mean? I'm sure if I watched the whole show they'd explain it, but this feels made up. Don't get me wrong, I think Emma Stone has a fine career ahead of her, and I'm not saying she doesn't deserve something like a Trailblazer Award, I'm just questioning its existence.

There's really no further analysis needed for these results, as there's completely zero rhyme or reason to any of them. They mean absolutely nothing in the scope of the award season to come, but I guess if you're into these awards, you're probably not all that interested in the others anyway.

Maybe I'm too negative here and a lot of people have much more fun with these than I do, but I just can't take it as an adult. I don't like texting in movie theaters and I don't want Twilight winning any kind of movie award. Maybe I'm too old for this business...