MTV Movie Awards: The teen audience speaks

By Sarah Sluis

Just when you thought awards season was over, MTV has announced the nominees for its Movie Awards. Viewers can watch clips and vote on the nominees (with the exception of Best Movie) until May 27th. Awards favorites like Slumdog Millionaire show up in several categories, including a nomination for "Best WTF Moment," "Jumping in the Poop Shed."

Besides the gross-out moments nominated for "Best WTF Moment"--I think Slumdog will have tough competition alongside Tropic Thunder's "Tasting Decapitated Head," or the "Curved Bullet Kill" from Wanted, there's also the perennially popular "Best Kiss" category.

I personally enjoyed watching all the nominated kisses from Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, Wanted, Twilight, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, and I Love You, Man. It's definitely a sign of the times that there's a gay kiss played for love and one for laughs running against each other.

While evaluating clips, instead of movies as a whole, seems derivative, looking at just one scene can be a surprisingly accurate indicator of quality. Does the clip remind you of another scene in the movie, or does it seem dead, not really something that was built up to or referenced after? Can it stand on its own? The kiss in Slumdog Millionaire, for example, cuts to a flashback during the slow-motion liplock, giving it a checkmark in the standalone category. Wanted's kiss uses slow motion and subjective use of sound, as well as a perfectly timed cut to the jealous ex-girlfriend watching James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie. Milk's makes you think of the relationship between Sean Penn and James Franco that occurs after the kiss, and Twilight--well, Twilight uses special effects to propel Robert Pattinson against a wall as he tries to contain his advances, but the sequence has little emotion in itself, reminding me why it didn't really appeal beyond fans of the book.

The MTV nominations also reveal the most popular teen movies of the year: Twilight, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Hannah Montana: The Movie, and Pineapple Express. Star Anne Hathaway appears popular, showing up for Bride Wars and Get Smart, as did Anna Faris for House Bunny. While I'm sure few people will be biting their fingernails during the May 31st broadcast, MTV's always-entertaining choice of nominees, and a presentation that I'm sure will include the teen equivalent of sliming onstage (the hallmark of the Nickelodeon awards) should keep its audience happy.