What I Learned from the 2012 MTV Movie Awards

By Chris Kavan - 06/04/12 at 10:20 AM CT

I can admit, I'm not as young as I think I am. Case in point: MTV - I remember the day when all they showed were videos. Then, eventually, reality TV crept in with The Real World and a few other shows of that ilk. Now, things have come full circle and all MTV shows seems to be "reality" and some scripted programs with nary an actual music video to be found.

However, out of the original programming, the MTV Movie Awards continue to be one of the high points of the year. At first the show seemed to be put on as a lark - but in recent years, they've become somewhat more serious (well, as serious as you can be with categories like Best Kiss and Best Fight). It's like the Golden Globes, except even more loose - the Golden Globes on acid, maybe.

So what did I learn at this year's awards...

1) The Hunger Games is the New Twilight - With host Russell Brand constantly shouting "Twilight" "The Hunger Games" - you knew where the popularity factor was going to land. If you watched the travesty last year, you know it should have been called The MTV Twilight Awards. This year, at least, Twilight didn't win everything. It did manage to snag Best Kiss and Best Movie of the Year (barf) but The Hunger Games won the most awards including Best Actor, Actress, Transformation (for Elizabeth Banks) and Best Fight. Harry Potter was all but forgotten, though it did win for Best Cast. What does this mean? I expect with at least three (if not four) more Hunger Games films in the works, and Twilight finally ending, we'll be calling it The MTV Hunger Games Awards soon.

2) Free Advertising - I swear, nearly anyone who won or presented had a movie to plug: The Dark Knight Rises got its own whole presentation and there were big set pieces for The Amazing Spider-Man and Prometheus. Other films that got plugged included: The Perks of Being a Wallflower (with exclusive trailer show), Total Recall, Ted, Magic Mike, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 and That's My Boy. I have to think most of the presenters showed up simply for the sole reason of getting free publicity, as most of them weren't that funny (though Charlize Theron knocking down Michael Fassbender was pretty good) and Emma Stone is shining beacon of profanity and hilarity.

3) Where Was Everyone Else? - If you weren't there to promote your new movie, you weren't there at all. Aside from Jennifer Aniston (the Best Dirtbag ever!) and Josh Hutcherson, most of the winners were there to also promote something. Case in point: Emma Watson (Perks of Being a Wallflower) was the only cast member of Harry Potter there to accept the award. Despite being up for quite a few awards, Noomi Rapace was nowhere to be seen and probably the hottest ticket in town, Jennifer Lawrence, had to accept her award via satellite (though I'm sure she did have a good excuse of filming a new movie). Self-promotion is all right, I guess, but couldn't they have found a few more people who didn't need to promote the hell out of themselves? I give props to Shailene Woodley, who seemed to be the only winner without an agenda.

4) More Skits, Please - I have nothing against musical performances, and seeing Johnny Depp (the winner of the MTV's version of the Lifetime Achievement award) jam with The Black Keys was rockin', but, man, the one original skit they had was killer and they needed more. Good old "Lester Boonshaft" the best worst archery coach, with JJ Abrams and Jennifer Lawrence getting in on the fun. The only other thing approaching a skit was the "interviews" with Steve Carrell, Octavia Spencer, Jim Carrey, Jason Sudeikis and Anna Faris (what, it's not Sharon Stone? But I like her!). These two moments were much funnier than anything Brand came up with, and the show needed more of those moments.

5) Crude Humor, Few Laughs - From Brand's painful opening monologue to Andy Samberg proclaiming his best kiss was when "I French-kissed my dog’s butthole" crude humor was the way the night went. I didn't find much to laugh at - some of the presenters went a different route, and it worked out much better for them. Fellow FilmCrave owner Nick really hates Brand - and I'm starting to see why - he just rubs me the wrong way too.

Next year, thankfully, should be the last for Twilight, which is something to look forward to. And you know, I'm calling it right now - Emma Stone should totally host the show. She's talented, funny and so much better looking than Brand - give her a ring, MTV, she deserves the spot.