MovieZen Blog

MTV Movie Awards: The "Other" Movie Awards Show

Sunday night, the "other" movie award show airs, and I'm pretty excited about it. I look forward to the MTV Movie Awards mainly because these are the movies I actually pay to go see, not the ones I finally decide to see because someone decided to give it a bunch of Oscars.

You know right off the bat that you're in store for something different, just with the host ... Mike Myers. I'm sure this means we'll be treated with lots of clips of the upcoming The Love Guru, but I'm good with that. Again, that looks like something I'd actually go see, and in fact I plan to. Any chance to see more clips from it is fine with me.

The categories include similar ones to the Academy Awards and also some that are very unique to the the MTV Movie Awards. Up for Best Male Performance:
Michael Cera for Juno
Matt Damon for The Bourne Ultimatum
Shia LaBeouf for Transformers
Will Smith for I Am Legend
Denzel Washington for American Gangster
If it was me choosing the awards, which it is in some ways, as these are decided by the moviegoers themselves, I'd go with Will Smith, and with this crowd, he's usually a safe bet.

Up for Best Female Performance:
Amy Adams for Enchanted
Jessica Biel of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Katherine Heigl for Knocked Up
Keira Knightley for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Ellen Page for Juno
I have to go with Ellen Page. In fact, I was rooting for her to win the Best Actress Oscar. If not her, though, it would have to be Katherine Heigl, which is pretty funny considering they're both dealing with unwanted pregnancies in their films.

Here's a category that's great and should be a given, as it's what many of us look for in a film, Best Comedic Performance. Nominated are:
Amy Adams for Enchanted
Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Jonah Hill for Superbad
Seth Rogen for Knocked Up
Adam Sandler for I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Normally Sandler is a given in this category any time he's nominated. But I'm not sure if maybe Jonah Hill or Seth Rogen might steal it away from him this year.

When we're not looking for funny, we're looking for excitement, so Best Fight is a good category as well. Nominated are:
Alien vs. Predator in Alien vs Predator - Requiem
Hayden Christensen vs. Jamie Bell in Jumper
Matt Damon vs. Joey Ansah in The Bourne Ultimatum
Sean Faris vs. Cam Gigandet in Never Back Down
Tobey Maguire vs. James Franco in Spider-Man 3
Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan vs. Sun Ming Ming in Rush Hour 3
As for the winner, I'm not sure who I'd go with, except one of the two films out with its third sequel. My personal choice as a martial artist has to be to go with Jackie Chan, because nobody fights like him.

Breakthrough Performance should be a category in any awards show. It's just nice to recognize those newbies. Nominated are:
Nikki Blonski for Hairspray
Chris Brown for This Christmas
Michael Cera in Superbad (wouldn't this be negated since he already put another film out with Juno and isn't a newbie?)
Zac Efron in Hairspray (how can you consider this breakthrough when he already has two major grossing High School Musical films?)
Megan Fox for Transformers
Jonah Hill for Superbad
Christopher Mintz-Plasse for Superbad
Seth Rogen for Knocked Up
How can you not give this to Seth Rogen?

And of course, another favorite category that we only get with the MTV Movie Awards, Best Villain. Nominated are:
Javier Bardem for No Country For Old Men
Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd
Topher Grace for Spider-Man 3
Angelina Jolie for Beowulf
Denzel Washington for American Gangster
I can't even consider anything that has to do with Beowulf after it nearly put me to sleep reading it in my senior year of high school. I think there's a very good chance it could go to Topher Grace, as while he was a real sweet-faced kid on That 70s Show, he was downright nasty in Spider-Man 3.

The category of Best Kiss always make me giggle, mostly because they don't always include strictly romantic kisses, and are usually pretty humorous, yet this time, they're sticking with the romance. Nominated are:
Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey in Enchanted
Briana Evigan and Robert Hoffman in Step Up 2 the Streets
Shia LaBeouf and Sarah Roemer in Disturbia
Ellen Page and Michael Cera in Juno
Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
My personal preference will always be to go with Juno, no matter what it was nominated for, but I think as much as Harry Potter fans were talking about this kiss before it even happened, I think they'll take the win.

Lastly, this leaves us with Best Picture. I can guarantee it won't be the same as the Oscar's choice, No Country For Old Men. In fact the Oscars only share one Best Picture nominee with this list, Juno, and that's why I think it's going to win the big award of the night, other than the fact it's also my personal choice as the best movie of the year. The other nominees are:
I Am Legend, National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Superbad
Transformers
I'm actually a little shocked that Knocked Up isn't on this list.

Among the other things you can look for during the awards, broadcast on MTV on Sunday night, is just a much more relaxed atmosphere than you see at the Oscar telecast. People aren't in fancy gowns and tuxes, they're in ripped jeans and short skirts. Instead of taking home a golden statue of a guy named Oscar, they're taking home a golden bucket of popcorn.  When you think about it, that's what movies are, just sitting back and relaxing, and enjoying your time.

LauraBelle
Troubled Hollywood

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Katie Holmes Heads To Broadway

The current Mrs. Tom Cruise continues to follow in the footsteps of her predecessor, Nicole Kidman.

Katie Holmes has just signed on to the revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons, co-starring Dianne Wiest, John Lithgow and Little Children hunk Patrick Wilson.

Holmes will play Ann Deever, a young and vivacious woman whose pilot beau, Larry Keller, went missing in World War II. Having fallen in love with his brother, Chris, and knowing that it was the actions of Larry's father, Joe, that led to his death, Ann tries to convince the young men's mother that Larry is not going to be coming home.

A place and a premiere date haven't been determined, but Simon McBurney will direct the play which was based on a true story and earned Miller a Tony Award for writing in 1947.

The second ex-Mrs. Cruise won a Theater World Award ten years ago for her Broadway debut in The Blue Room, a story of love and lust that famously required its Aussie star and her leading man to disrobe.

Cruise doesn't have to worry this time around, though. Miller may have written some fiery female characters in his time, but Ann Deever keeps the goods buttoned up.

Limoge
Opinionella

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Talking “Sex” in the City

People enjoy frank discussions. So say a couple of the “Sex and the City” girls who claim that plain folks walk right up to them on the street and ask them strange questions.

“Yes, there really was a title wave early,” recalls Kristin Davis, who reprises the role of Charlotte York in the movie that debuts Friday. “I remember Sarah (Jessica Parker) and I were at a restaurant or something one time, and this group of women -- maybe 10 of them -- came up and were excited to find us together.

“They were like, ‘We’re the bridesmaids and our friend is getting married. For gifts she gave us all 'The Rabbit.' " Sarah Jessica didn’t even know what it was, oh my God! Literally, both of us, the most non-outgoing two of the group, were just like, ‘That’s great.’ What else can you say? They were so excited and it was adorable.”

Naturally, Kim Cattrall, aka Samantha Jones, certainly, ahem, the most “outgoing” of the “Sex” quartet, got even more descriptive during a recent round of New York-based interviews.

“Well, it started off sort of shocking and then it became sort of titillating and fantasy to talk to me about anything from thongs to vibrators,” Cattrall says with a sly smile. “But, that was the least of it."

“Fellatio, how to control the taste of a man’s semen. I mean, I’m on a date, you know, and I just really have to say that that was a difficult period. During the four years (on HBO cable), it eventually kind of calmed down."

“I mean, I’m at the fish counter at Cinderella’s and this guy comes up to me and says, ‘You know, I just have to thank you. Thank you so much. There’s no way that I could have really broached the subject (of talking) about sex with my daughter without your help. Thank you again.’ "

“I’m like, ‘I gotta go. Just give me the clams and let me get out of here.’ "

“At the same time,” Cattrall concludes, “when the movie was being filmed and there’s like 300 people off the sidewalk and they’re screaming your character’s name or (costume designer) Pat Fields’ name and the name of (writer/director) Michael Patrick King – they know people who aren’t even on camera. I mean, if that comes with it, it’s not a big problem. It makes a nice anecdote.”

Speaking of fish, look for Cattrall’s sure-to-be-talked-about sushi scene. It’s one of the few memorable moments in a movie not nearly as edgy as the classic TV series usually was.

John M. Urbancich
JMuvies

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Ten Reasons Why Jason Segel is 'Legendary'

10. Like so many other people out there right now, I Love You, Man.

9. Singing about Dracula while looking good is typically a contradiction, unless of course you're Jason Segel.

8. Matt, the guy carrying the watermelon in Can't Hardly Wait, was a crucial breakout role. That was one hell of a party, and everyone knows that a watermelon is key to the success of any great high school gig.

7. Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared… I don’t need to say anything else here.

6. Full-frontal male nudity all of a sudden does not seem like a big deal. In fact, it’s hilarious.

5. Regardless of what Barney Stinson says, Marshall Eriksen is the archetype of the best fiancé ever.

4. Judd Apatow + Seth Rogen + Jason Segel + Paul Rudd = Instant Hit.

3. Slapsgiving will forever be known as one of the great American holidays.

2. Writing real life experiences into Forgetting Sarah Marshall is clever…but the fact that Segel was actually broken up with while naked in real life makes it even more genius and laughable.

1. Did you know? He was chosen to write and direct the next Muppets film.

Christina Morgan
UPBEAT Entertainment News Syndicate

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Planning a SATC Night

It is no shock to any fan of the show that watching Sex and the City was less about flipping on your TV for an hour and more about feeling a sense of connection.  It opened doors to talking about all kinds of things with your girlfriends and gave you an excuse to get together and have a girls night.

No shocker that the Sex and the City movie is causing a lot of friends to plan a day (or night) out around the feature film.  This post will explore some chic ways to plan a SATC event.

1.  See it Friday (opening night so order your tickets in advance) or Saturday night.  Then spend evening at a post restaurant enjoying amazing meals and drinking Cosmos.  (Provided you are old enough to drink and have a designated driver.)

2.  Plan a Sunday afternoon showing and meet up with the girls for an amazing brunch (you know the I don’t care how many calories kind) then see the movie.

3.  Gather 3 friends, each of you select the lady your most akin to and dress in an outfit you feel personifies her (rules: No wigs or props) the best outfit doesn’t pay for her ticket or snacks.

4.  Shoe shop (or window shop depending on your budget) do it before or after but be sure to try on everything and anything that catches your eye.

There are more choices, that I’m sure I didn’t think of, so if you have a plan pop in a comment and share your creativity.

Katie Gatto
Convergent Streams

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Silver Screen Material Gets Green Light—FINALLY!

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

That just might be Harvey Weinstein’s new mantra.

For nearly two decades Hollywood movie makers have tried to transform the best-selling novel "The Alchemist" into a big screen blockbuster, but each and every time their attempts have fallen flat.

Enter Weinstein.

The award-winning producer says he has the magic formula to bring the inspirational fable to life in theaters around the world.

Weinstein just announced that he plans to produce Paulo Coelho's popular novel about a Spanish shepherd on an extravagant quest. What’s more, he says he already persuaded actor Laurence Fishburne to sign up to be a part of the project. According to Weinstein, “The Matrix” star will not only star as the title character who guides the shepard along his journey, but he’ll also direct the film as well.

Fishburne said the deal to adapt the Brazilian writer's book is "a dream come true" for him.

For those of you who have yet to get caught up in the romantic tale, “The Alchemist” tells the story of Santiago, a Spanish shepherd who dreams of finding a treasure at the Egyptian pyramids. He embarks on his quest, falls in love and learns life lessons along the way.

More than 30 million copies of the book have been sold around the world since it was published 20 years ago. And even more inspiring for Weinstein is the fact that the novel is currently in the Top 10 on the New York Times bestseller list of paperback fiction.

Warner Bros. previously held the movie rights to the book but sold them to Weinstein, who says he is not at all concerned that others have tried and failed to bring the novel to life.

"Over the years I have been very lucky with that," Weinstein said. "Sometimes others have had a project, and they didn't get it done. For 10 years, 'Shakespeare in Love' sat in Universal, and then we bought it."

Weinstein also revealed that he plans to take a break from running his movie company to personally produce "The Alchemist" as he did with “Shakespeare in Love," which won seven Academy Awards in 1999, including best picture.

Shooting on “The Alchemist” is scheduled to start about a year from now. In the meantime, Weinstein says talent scouts are searching Spain and Latin America for actors to play Santiago and his love interest.

Lucia Kim
Families Pop Culture Blog

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Indiana Jones: Not A Fan

Indiana Jones has been a famous name in the movie industry. Why? It has previously released three Indiana Jones movies aside from the current Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull released this year 2008. I am sure that a lot of people will be watching this film, especially people who were fans of the three other Indiana Jones movies and also other people who are interested to know what the fuss is all about.

I belong to the group of people who wants to know what the fuss is all about. I haven’t watched any of the other Indiana Jones movies in the past, but a lot of people are saying that the previous Indiana Jones movies are great. I had to see the current Indiana Jones movie to really judge if Indiana Jones is really worth all the fuss, but sad to say, I was disappointed.

A lot of past Indiana Jones fans probably liked Kingdom of the Crystal Skull simply because it is Indiana Jones. The adventures and mystery are there but the general consensus is that Harrison Ford is a tad bit old. Some have even said that the movie was boring. But others loved it and I guess there’s a mixed review of this particular movie.

One thing I liked about the movie were the special effects and thanks to Steven Spielberg who was very much a part of the creation of this movie. The movie screams Steven Spielberg and no wonder the mystery turned out the way it did.

Why am I not a fan? Without giving away spoilers for those who haven’t watched it yet, I think the movie lacks realism. Fans have said that that’s really what Indiana Jones is about. However, based on the plot of the other Indiana Jones movies, the story seemed more interesting and not that “out of this world.” I would probably borrow my friend's copy of the old Indiana Jones movies and try to see if Indiana Jones is really the great entertainment movie that everyone is talking about.

If you are a fan of Indiana Jones, I think that you just have to watch the movie for the sake of completing the 4 Indiana Jones movies. But, if you are not a fan, you won’t miss out on a great movie if you skipped this one. You will probably be better off watching the 3 other Indiana Jones movies.

st3ph_17
Movie Rants and Raves

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Perfect Adventure Scenes

The release and (accompanying never-ending press) of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has caused me to get quite a bit more nostalgic for the original three films than I ought to be. I suppose nostalgia is the whole point of the new one, but it feels a bit like cheating for me, because I wasn't even born yet when Raiders of the Lost Ark was released. In fact, I've always been a bit annoyed that I arrived too late to get in on the ground floor of those three brilliant adventure trilogies from the late '70s and '80s: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Back to the Future.

Then again, catching the films on video as a young kid, with little knowledge of their impact on pop culture, probably made for purer experiences. Heck, I didn't even understand until well into my teenage years that Star Wars and Indiana Jones were elaborate homages to B-grade serial adventures of yore – I just accepted them for what they were: really awesome movies that succeeded in giving me the truest sense of gee-whiz wonder I've ever experienced. 

While the collective experience of these movies is unmatched, my mind always goes back to a couple of specific scenes – scenes so pitch-perfect that I want to capture every individual frame of film and lock them in a vault. (Or maybe in a giant warehouse, right next to the Ark of the Covenant.) Since I'm being all nostalgic, I'd like to share them.

There's so much to choose from in Star Wars, but I love the showdown in Return of the Jedi between Luke, Vader, and the Emperor. (Watch it here.) The dynamic between the three characters is startlingly complex – will the Emperor turn Luke evil? Will Vader come away from the Dark Side to help his son? How can Luke possibly get out of this? And the setting – this is all going down on a giant space station that can destroy planets, in the middle of a fierce space battle fought by Luke's friends that will ultimately decide the fate of the Rebellion against the Evil Empire. 

And then there's The Moment, when all seems lost. The Emperor is using the powers of the Dark Side to repeatedly blast Luke with what looks like very painful bolts of electricity. Luke's on the ground, screaming in pain, dying. And Vader: looking on as his master kills his son.  Cut to the Emperor. Cut back to a close-up of Vader – whose black mask, somehow portrays more emotion and depth than most regular performances. It's do or die: Save your son! You can do it, I scream in my head every time I watch it. And, of course, he does, as we always secretly knew he would: he picks up the Emperor and throws him down the shaft to oblivion, an act which will result in his own death but save his soul.

In Back to the Future, the coolest single moment is easy: it comes in the first film, when Doc Brown swings down the cable from the clock tower as that classic score is blasting and he plugs it in just in time for the lightning to surge through the cable and rescue Marty McFly from being trapped in 1955 forever. (Watch it here.) The image of the Doc swinging down on that cable was ingrained in my head when I was too little to follow the plot of the movie at all -- it simply looked like one of the most exciting things I'd ever seen. 

But then the magic continues: Marty and the DeLorean disappear, and the overjoyed Doc dances down the street, still burning from the time machine. The familiar score comes back on, but it's quieter this time, with one lone brass: some crazy stuff has gone down, but everything's all right now.

Finally, there's the Indiana Jones franchise. I can honestly think of no better stand-alone sequence in any movie ever that tops the very first sequence of the series for thrills and coolness: Indy's perilous journey in and out of a severely booby-trapped temple. (Watch it here.) The bag of sand he puts in place of the legendary idol in hopes that it will stop the alarms from going off. The traitorous companion, played by a young Alfred Molina, who meets a gruesome end as soon as he selfishly leaves Indy for dead. The temple itself coming alive: poison darts springing from the walls, the giant stone door that tries to trap Indy inside forever. And of course the legendary boulder chase. 

The structure is deceptively simply – a series of perilous setups and adrenaline-rush payoffs – but it enthralled my ten-year-old self like nothing else had. Just as important as what was happening inside the temple, of course, was who it was happening to. Indiana Jones was pretty much the coolest guy alive: he got to journey through perilous jungles and legendary hidden temples all day, and during his off-hours he made some money as a mild-mannered college professor.

Perhaps the best compliment I can give the scene is that it partly inspired me to be a writer. In fifth grade, I wrote something like five stories in a row about an adventurer who escaped from booby-trapped temples.

What are some other scenes you wish you could see again for the first time?

Michael Dance
StrandedinManhattan.com

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Video Game vs. Movie-Best Top 5

Before the movie, there was the game. It seems to be very popular to take a video game that at the time was a huge hit and then turn it into a movie. And the best part of it all, is that there is a wide range of genre to choose from! There's action, cartoon/comedy, game show, and it just wouldn't be normal if there wasn't horror. But is it always best to make a movie from a video game? True, most games now have an excellent storyline/plot, but is it enough? What I'm gonna do now, is pick my top 5 best video game-turned-movie.

Resident Evil: I chose this movie because the graphics were good, the ass-kicking was excellent, it had a good cast, and it stuck to the game. It stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, and James Purefoy. This movie/game is about an underground corporation called Umbrella and a team of scientists that have created a virus/anti-virus. In the beginning you see someone throw a tube of green liquid and the computer system shuts the underground building down-killing everyone inside. Then a top notch team of security goes in to inspect the scene and determine what happened. What they find is that yes, everyone is dead...but alive and hungry.

Silent Hill: I chose this movie because I loved the game, and even though the main characters are different (father in game, mother in movie), it still rocked! I also love how in the movie they chose a mother instead and showed just how strong a mother's love is and at what lengths a mother would go to to protect her child. It stars Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, and Laurie Holden. The plot of the story is that the daughter is having dreams of a place called Silent Hill. Mother, being a concerned parent, decides to take her daughter there. A cop follows them, they wreck, and the mom wakes up in a completely different area...where it looks like it's snowing, but turns out to be ash! She goes in search of her daughter, seeing a glimpse of her now and again. While running after her daughter, she finds out that she's is in Silent Hill, but it's not even CLOSE to what she expected. She hears the sirens, not knowing what to expect, day turns into night and bloody...and creatures of all kinds are chasing her. After finding clues that her daughter has left her, she finds out why it is snowing ash and what happened to the town.

Doom: This movie I chose because for one, it had an awesome cast with Dwayne Johnson (The Rock), Karl Urban, and Rosamund Pike. I knew that it was video game, but never got the chance to play it. All I knew was from the commercials that would show for sequels to the game. With that said, I thought the movie rocked! I had a lot of Doom fans shedding some light on certain subjects, so I got the gist of what the game was like. I loved the scene where he comes back as a super-human and they show him killing the monsters (opposite of what he became) as if we were in a real game...so instead of us seeing him shooting and a monster goes down, we got to see the barrel of the gun pointing at the monsters and then BLAM, bye-bye monster!

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The first reason why I chose this movie is because a female is the lead and she kicks ass! There is nothing wrong with a strong woman doing exactly what a man can do! The second reason is because I knew that the character, Lara, had a british accent and I think Angelina Jolie did an outstanding job! It takes a lot of talent to pull off an accent which is not yours and to do it convincingly, and she definitely did just that. This movie was very close to the game. There was action, treasure hunting, traveling, and much more. But what I think I loved the most about it, is that Angelina brought a sort of femininity to the character, in which I did not see in the game!

Super Mario Brothers: This movie is just as fun as playing the game! Sticking to the game, Mario and Luigi need to save Princess Daisy from the mean King Koopa. The cast includes Bob Hoskins as Mario, John Leguizamo as Luigi, and Samantha Mathis as the Princess. If you're looking for a good family movie, this is it!!

Rosey
Movie Addiction

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The Movie Theater or DVD?

So what kind of movie viewer are you—do you race out to the theater as soon as a new movie is released or do you wait for the DVD?

We have been watching movies on DVDs for years now. It’s very rare that we will venture out to the movie theater. Maybe because the last time we did teen-agers were running amok. Or if it’s a very popular movie, we find ourselves packed in there like sardines with strangers breathing on you or talking out loud or crunching their popcorn in your ear. Let’s face it, it can be much more pleasant watching a movie in the comfort of your favorite chair or sofa in a controlled environment.

But some movies are just made for the movie theater. For example, we may not be able to wait for the latest Indiana Jones movie—Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull--to be released on DVD. This type of action-packed adventure movie just screams to be viewed on the big screen.

And sometimes you’re so excited about seeing a particular movie that you just can’t wait for the DVD.

Sex and the City: The Movie is one of those. While it's not the adventure film I must see on a big scream, I’m just not sure we can wait to see it on DVD—especially after viewing a sneak preview on TiVo.

The return of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, Miranda and Mr. Big--especially Mr. Big--is just too compelling.

The last time I did go to a movie theater—to kill some time one afternoon—I saw Because I Said So. And it was such a thrill actually being back in a movie theater, I may have to brave sitting with the public in a movie theater once again. Especially to see Sex and the City: The Movie.