There was a time, I think, maybe, when the MTV Movie Awards were kinda neat. But when you’re talking about an organization that didn’t want it even whispered that it was celebrating its 30th anniversary (lest the kiddies think it’s old school), well, you get “Best Shirtless Performance.”
Ironically enough, that new category this year is the one place that perennial MTV Movie Awards favorite, “The Twilight Saga,” was chalked up this year. The Razzie-dominating vampire tragedy was shut-out otherwise. Gasp! Is the honeymoon over?
The nominations were led by Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” and Seth MacFarlane’s “Ted” with seven each. Not far behind was David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” with six and, rounding out the Movie of the Year line-up, “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises” with four and five respectively.
By far my favorite of the nominees? Kara Hayward and Jared Gillman’s precious moment from “Moonrise Kingdom” being immortalized in the Best Kiss category. Now you’re talkin’, MTV. Also, Ben Affleck gets another tip of the hat for his acting chops in “Argo.” The Best Picture Oscar winner’s only mention was in the Best Male Performance category, but at least the members of BAFTA won’t feel so alone in taking that notice this year.
Check out the full list of nominees below. And remember, all this stuff is backlogged for your perusing delight at The Circuit.
Movie of the Year
“The Avengers”
“The Dark Knight Rises”
“Django Unchained”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Ted”
Best Male Performance
Ben Affleck, “Argo”
Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”
Jamie Foxx, “Django Unchained”
Channing Tatum, “Magic Mike”
Best Female Performance
Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables”
Mila Kunis, “Ted”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Emma Watson, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
Rebel Wilson, “Pitch Perfect”
Breakthrough Performance
Ezra Miller, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
Eddie Redmayne, “Les Misérables”
Suraj Sharma, “Life of Pi”
Quevenzhané Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Rebel Wilson, “Pitch Perfect”
Best On-Screen Duo
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson, “Django Unchained”
Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, “The Campaign”
Seth MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg, “Ted”
Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr., “The Avengers”
Best Scared-As-S**t Performance
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Alexandra Daddario, “Texas Chainsaw 3D”
Martin Freeman, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Jennifer Lawrence, “The House at the End of the Street”
Suraj Sharma, “Life of Pi”
Best Shirtless Performance
Christian Bale, “The Dark Knight Rises”
Daniel Craig, “Skyfall”
Taylor Lautner, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2”
Seth MacFarlane, “Ted”
Channing Tatum, “Magic Mike”
Best Kiss
Kara Hayward and Jared Gillman, “Moonrise Kingdom”
Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg, “Ted”
Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Kerry Washington and Jamie Foxx, “Django Unchained”
Emma Watson and Logan Lerman, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
Best Fight
Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson & Jeremy Renner vs. Tom Hiddelston, “The Avengers”
Christian Bale vs. Tom Hardy, “The Dark Knight Rises”
Jamie Foxx vs. Candieland Henchman, “Django Unchained”
Daniel Craig vs. Ola Rapace, “Skyfall”
Mark Wahlberg vs. Seth MacFarlane, “Ted”
Best Villain
Javier Bardem, “Skyfall”
Marion Cotillard, “The Dark Knight Rises” (SPOILER!)
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Django Unchained”
Tom Hardy, “The Dark Knight Rises”
Tom Hiddleston, “The Avengers”
Best Musical Moment
Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables”
Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash & Adam Rodriguez, “Magic Mike”
Emma Watson, Logan Lerman & Ezra Miller, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Alexis Knapp, Ester Dean & Hanna Mae Lee, “Pitch Perfect”
Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Best WTF Moment
Javier Bardem, “Skyfall”
–Mutilated and deformed after a botched suicide attempt, Bardem’s villain twists his prosthetic mug to show the few teeth he has left in a gut-twisting moment filled with vindictive vengeance.
Anna Camp, “Pitch Perfect”
–As Aubrey, Camp gives a barftastic display of a capella angst that tips the scales of cinematic grossness.
Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson, “Django Unchained”
–In an excruciating sequence, Foxx’s Django blasts servile head-servant Stephen, played by Jackson, and sets the Candieland mansion ablaze with the strike of a match.
Seth MacFarlane, “Ted”
–Fuzzy, flirtatious and flagrantly inappropriate, Seth MacFarlane’s Ted takes his co-worker crush one step too far.
Denzel Washington, “Flight”
–Washington’s Whip Whitaker rolls an inverted plane out of a 90-degree nose dive and saves the lives of 96 passengers on board.
The 2013 MTV Movie Awards will go down on Sunday, April 14 at 9pm ET/PT on — you guessed it — MTV.