First, the good stuff: For better or for worse, the MTV Movie Awards have a habit of attracting real stars. Watching Tom Cruise reprise his Tropic Thunder character Les Grossman in a raunchy dance alongside the less-ironic gyrations of Jennifer Lopez wasn't hilarious (or even trenchant in 2010), but the sheer spectacle was... well, a spectacle. Their gusto was a relief when weighed against the nervous reticence of many of the night's winners (like surprise victors Anna Kendrick and Amanda Seyfried). Sandra Bullock's much-hyped appearance culminated with a self-deprecating speech for the night's "Generation Award," and Will Smith, Russell Brand, and Paris Hilton made frequent appearances on camera. Lots to look at, if not love.
Unfortunately, the award segment of the ceremony kept cropping up and discoloring the orgiastic visuals. Aziz Ansari's move-it-along interjections felt as compulsory as the reenacted smooch that Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart staged after winning the "Best Kiss" statue, and too many of the handouts were just baffling. I'm still processing Rain from Ninja Assassin winning for "Biggest Badass Star." Couldn't Zach Galifianakis have won that too? Robert Pattinson shouldn't be the only dude scoring multiple wins here -- especially if he can't get Kristen Stewart to stop squiggling out of a decent makeout session for our viewing pleasure.
Throw in pedestrian performances from Katy Perry and Christina Aguilera, a lackluster Twilight: Eclipse promo, and a heaping pile of under-bleeped profanities from Sean "Diddy" Combs and Twilight spokesman Peter Facinelli, and you're left with a ceremony that rarely rose above a two-star treat. Is it too late to pitch a heavily retooled ceremony called The Betty White Awards? Oh wait, we already did.
Here's the night's full list of winners.
Best Movie: The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Best Male Performance: Robert Pattinson, The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Best Female Performance: Kristen Stewart, The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Best Kiss: Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Global Superstar: Robert Pattinson
Best Breakout Star: Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Best Comedic Performance: Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover
Best Villain: Tom Felton, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Best Fight: Beyoncé Knowles vs. Ali Larter, Obsessed
Best WTF Moment: Ken Jeong, The Hangover
Best Scared-As-Sh*t Performance: Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer's Body
Biggest Badass Star: Rain
Generation Award: Sandra Bullock