MTV Movie Awards 2010: One Long WTF Moment

The MTV Movie Awards have a category called Best WTF Moment but I thought most of the show could be labeled thusly, minus the “best.” Why did Olympic gold medalist Shaun White present a trophy dressed like Crocodile Dundee? Why was he there at all? Who told Christina Aguilera to place a glowing heart on her vagina?

Cruise as Grossman

Tom Cruise opened the show as the bald, profane Les Grossman character from Tropic Thunder. I didn’t like his performance in the movie and I didn’t like it here. The problem: Cruise doesn’t know how to truly transform himself into a character. When Meryl Streep or Dustin Hoffman takes on a character vastly different from themselves—heck, let’s just take Eddie Murphy in the Nutty Professor movies or Robert Downey Jr. in Thunder. These actors know it’s not enough just to slap on a fat suit, wig or bald cap. They change their voice. Cruise sounds exactly the same no matter what character he plays, making me think, “Oh, that’s just Tom Cruise cussing in a fat suit.” And that gets old real fast.

The highlight was no doubt Sandra Bullock’s appearance to accept the Generation Award, presented to her by Betty White, Bradley Cooper and…Scarlett Johansson? Johansson’s role in the presentation was unclear at first since she had nothing to say, but then she ended up in a quick liplock with Bullock to make up for Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, Johansson’s husband, not winning the Best Kiss award.

But that’s not the highlight, at least not for me. Bullock, looking smashing in a short black dress cut low in back (White told her never to wear it backwards), continues her class act with a humorous speech showing what a good sport she is, retaining her grace and charm amidst the sordidness she was rudely thrown into, finally deflecting attention away from herself to ask for prayers for people being affected by the oil spill in the Gulf. You can see her speech in the video below.

Ken Jeong won for Best WTF Moment in The Hangover and though I’m not a fan (he grossly overacts in everything), he surprised me with a touching tribute to his wife, who has beaten cancer.

Host Aziz Ansari had a few funny moments, though not as many as I would’ve liked. Best bits: his spoof of Precious, complete with headband and chicken stealing, and playing a “swagga coach” named Taavon training an uncool Zach Galifianakis. (Taavon: “I only sit on things that are purple.”)

Winners:

Best Female Performance—Kristen Stewart (New Moon)

Best Breakout Star—Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)

Best Scared-as-Sh*! Performance—Amanda Seyfried (Jennifer’s Body)

Best Kiss—Stewart and Robert Pattinson (New Moon)

Best WTF Moment—Ken Jeong (The Hangover)

Best Villain—Tom Felton (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

Biggest Badass Star—Rain

Best Male Performance—Robert Pattinson

Best Comedic Performance—Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover)

Best MovieNew Moon

Best FightBeyoncé and Ali Larter (Obsessed), though this award wasn’t televised

Did you see the show? What did you think? Favorite moments? Weirdest?

Photos by Picture Group

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12 Comments

  • Reply
    Shell Sherree
    June 7, 2010 at 3:52 am

    No, I didn’t see the show but for some unfathomable reason, the Johansson/Bullock kiss made the evening news here! To their credit, they did have the grace to include a little of Sandra Bullock’s speech. I laughed aloud at your post title, PCN!!

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      June 7, 2010 at 9:33 am

      Haha! Unfortunately, I wasn’t laughing much last night during the show!

  • Reply
    Eddy
    June 7, 2010 at 5:32 am

    I was only able to watch the first half-hour. (I DVRed the rest so I can zoom through it.) The MTV Movie Awards used to be my favorite awards show back when they were funny. Somewhere they began to take themselves seriously. They haven’t been funny since Gollum’s and Yoda’s acceptance speeches (and they had already started going downhill by then).

    They used to have elaborate intros to the categories utilizing either the host(s) or well-known people in bizarre situations. I actually had high hopes this year with Ansari’s show opener, but they died soon. “Grossman’s” appearance in the opener worked OK for me, but they should have left it at that and not brought him back for a hip-hop number.

    When the awards show was essentially a satire of other awards shows it was genius. Then it just became a poor copy of what it used to parody.

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      June 7, 2010 at 9:40 am

      I have vague memories of it being funny when Ben Stiller was host back in ’96. His taped segments/intros were inspired. And I think the year Sarah Michelle Gellar hosted was good? Now it’s so dumb and chaotic, like one big frat party.

  • Reply
    EIREGO
    June 7, 2010 at 7:47 am

    I never really pay much attention to the show. It used to be cool, now it just seems lame.

    For example: Starbucks Frappuccino sponsored the Best Movie Award? I can understand Starbucks sponsoring something, but the drink? Seriously? Pretty silly, but I don’t think it was meant to be.

    Bradley Cooper has never been charming, but I thought he was Most Deserving of A Hook to drag him off stage last night.

    Even though the show is never meant to be taken all that seriously, but I would have rather watched the even sillier Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. A lot of people needed to have slime dumped on them. Mainly the producers.

    Nominees For Most Lame Attempt At Being Hip/Relevant: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera (sp?).

    Most Classy Without Trying Award: Betty White

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      June 7, 2010 at 9:43 am

      Cooper presented TWICE last night. Gack. At least J.Lo just did some dancing (what she’s best at) and left. Some of the others overstayed their welcome.

      Betty White will always be magnificent.

  • Reply
    joy
    June 7, 2010 at 11:32 am

    there must be times when being PCN is trying on the soul…the MTV awards seems to be one of those times. you are very strong. : ) long live betty white and sandra b., and go away les grossman. gross, man.

  • Reply
    le0pard13
    June 7, 2010 at 8:47 pm

    The longer she’s on the planet, the more I appreciate Sandra Bullock. The show didn’t sound like anything I’d miss, except for her. However, I must say that the Best WTF Moment winner, Ken Jeong, really deserved it for The Hangover. That one was the most jar-dropping moment I saw in a movie theater last year! Thanks, PCN.

  • Reply
    Donna
    June 7, 2010 at 9:13 pm

    I never even knew the show was on and that’s fine with me. But I sure liked the title you gave, Elyse! Lol!

  • Reply
    Pop Culture Nerd
    June 7, 2010 at 10:46 pm

    joy—Did you hear Cruise is working on a Grossman movie? That’s what he told E! last night. Ewwwww!

    le0—What it a jar of pickles you dropped when Jeong jumped out in that scene?

    Donna—Thanks! I wasn’t kidding, either!

  • Reply
    Jen Forbus
    June 8, 2010 at 5:10 am

    I read your posts and reminded that I sure don’t get out much. I think the only movie I saw from that list of winners was UP IN THE AIR. But in all honesty I’m not interested in seeing any of the others either. And who the hell is Rain?

    Oh what a shelted life I live!

  • Reply
    Yeti9000
    June 22, 2010 at 3:25 am

    God, I could not agree with you more…that show suuuuucked. I did think Aziz was pretty funny as host though…my favorite line of the night was when he said he’s really into all the new 3D movies because he “loves headaches!” Hilarious!!

    But yeah, Tom Cruise needs to stick to producing at this point. And hello, Les Grossman is like so 2008 anyway? How is that remotely current?? And dancing with JLo? I was like, man, did the whole show get stuck in a HOT TUB TIME MACHINE or something? Yikes…stale city!

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