2009 MTV Movie Awards Winners

The MTV Movie Awards must be one of the silliest and most pointless awards show there is, but as always, it’s fun to watch and fun to talk about. A show in which Twilight is nominated seven times and win five of those, cannot be taken seriously. But, again, it’s good fun.

So the awards show wasn’t shown live in Malaysia. How many of you caught it live on the Internet though? I couldn’t because I was in college. I guess I’ll just wait to watch the awards show on June 12 when they air it here in Malaysia on MTV. Here is the complete list of nominees and winners of the recent 2009 MTV Movie Awards. As I thought, Twilight pretty much swept the awards. Check it.

BEST MOVIE

• Twilight
• The Dark Knight
• High School Musical 3: Senior Year
• Iron Man
• Slumdog Millionaire

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE

• Angelina Jolie - Wanted
• Anne Hathaway - Bride Wars
• Kate Winslet - The Reader
• Kristen Stewart - Twilight
• Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE

• Christian Bale - The Dark Knight
• Robert Downey Jr. - Iron Man
• Shia LaBeouf - Eagle Eye
• Vin Diesel - Fast & Furious
• Zac Efron - High School Musical 3: Senior Year

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE FEMALE

• Amanda Seyfried - Mamma Mia!
• Ashley Tisdale - High School Musical 3: Senior Year
• Freida Pinto - Slumdog Millionaire
• Miley Cyrus - Hannah Montana: The Movie
• Vanessa Hudgens - High School Musical 3: Senior Year
• Kat Dennings - Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE MALE

• Robert Pattinson - Twilight
• Taylor Lautner - Twilight
• Ben Barnes - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
• Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire
• Bobb’e J. Thompson - Role Models

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE

• Amy Poehler - Baby Mama
• Anna Faris - The House Bunny
• James Franco - Pineapple Express
• Jim Carrey - Yes Man
• Steve Carell - Get Smart

BEST VILLAIN

• Derek Mears - Friday The 13^th
• Dwayne Johnson - Get Smart
• Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
• Johnathon Schaech - Prom Night
• Luke Goss - Hellboy II: The Golden Army

BEST FIGHT

• Anne Hathaway vs. Kate Hudson - Bride Wars
• Christian Bale vs. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
• Ron Perlman vs. Luke Goss - Hellboy II: The Golden Army
• Robert Pattinson vs. Cam Gigandet - Twilight
• Seth Rogen and James Franco vs. Danny McBride - Pineapple Express

BEST KISS

• Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy - Wanted
• Freida Pinto and Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire
• James Franco and Sean Penn - Milk
• Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson - Twilight
• Paul Rudd and Thomas Lennon - I Love You, Man
• Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron - High School Musical 3: Senior Year

BEST WTF MOMENT

• Amy Poehler - Baby Mama, Peeing In the Sink
• Angelina Jolie - Wanted, Curved Bullet Kill
• Ayush Mahesh Khedekar - Slumdog Millionaire, Jumping in the Poop Shed
• Ben Stiller - Tropic Thunder, Tasting the Decapitated Head
• Jason Segel and Kristen Bell - Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Naked Break-Up

BEST SONG FROM A MOVIE

• “Jai Ho” - AR Raham, Slumdog Millionaire
• “The Wrestler” - Bruce Springsteen, The Wrestler
• “The Climb” - Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana: The Movie
• “Decode” - Paramore, Twilight

So what do you think? Are you outraged by the fact that Twilight beat Slumdog for Best Movie? Astonished that Zac Efron pipped Robert Downey Jr. for Best Male? Pissed that Kristen Stewart was thought to be better than Kate Winslet? Annoyed that Ashley Tisdale was more of a breakthrough female than Freida Pinto? Devastated that Robert Pattinson was voted as Breakthrough Male ahead of Dev Patel? Gobsmacked that the Twilight fight was better than The Dark Knight fight? Or even the Pineapple Express fight? Well if you are all of the above, tell me about it.

Wow. Most of the people who voted for these winners suck.

Opening This Week: Hannah Montana Fighting 17 Brothers Bloom Again

This week we have a jam-packed post as I bring you a couple of movies by two young stars, a critically acclaimed film and a movie which has been pretty under the radar. Sadly, its the first week since the summer season began in which we don't have a blockbuster coming out in Malaysia.

Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
Starring: Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus
Director: Peter Chelsom
USA release: April 10
Msia release: June 4
USA box office: $77,127,521
Worldwide box office: $86,089,892
Genre: Comedy, Family, Music
Runtime: 1 hour 32 mins
Rated in USA: G
Rated in Msia: U
IMDb User Rating: 2.8/10
Rotten tomatoes: 44%

Miley Cyrus struggles to juggle school, friends and her secret popstar persona. But when Hannah Montana's soaring popularity threatens to take over her life - she just might let it. So her father, Billy Ray Cyrus takes the teen home to Crowley Corners, Tennesse, for a dose of reality, kicking off an adventure filled with the kind of fun, laughter and romance even Hannah Montana couldn't imagine. (Cinema Online)

Tons of Malaysians will have no interest in seeing this movie. On the other hand, loads of kids would. But really, why do we need a movie in which Miley Cyrus plays herself playing Hannah Montana. Baffling. Great movie for kids, but it won't be for anyone else.




Fighting (2009)
Starring: Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard
Director: Dito Montiel
USA release: April 24
Msia release: June 4
USA box office: $22,747,485
Genre: Action, Drama
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rated in USA: PG-13 for intense fight sequences, a sex scene and brief strong language
Rated in Msia: 18SG
IMDb User Rating: 5.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 40%

Shawn MacArthur (Tatum) is a young man going nowhere in life when he meets Harvey Boarden (Howard). Harvey, a veteran street fighting coach, introduces Shawn to the underground street fighting scene in New York which points his life into a new direction.

The plot to me sounds incredibly cheesy but I think it will be a decent fight movie. I love Terrence Howard and I think he's a great actor. Can't say the same for Channing Tatum but this film should be a decent watch watch you and your friends. Definitely not a movie for the family and kids.




17 Again (2009)
Starring: Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Michelle Trachtenberg
Director: Burr Steers
USA release: April 17
Msia release: June 4
USA box office: $60,894,341
Worldwide box office: $96,542,966
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 1 hour 42 mins
Rated in USA: PG-13 for language, some sexual material and teen partying
Rated in Msia: PG-13
IMDb User Rating: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 56%


Mike O'Donnell (Matthew Perry) is a man going through a mid-life crisis and wishes he could go back to being a teenager when he was much more handsome and popular in school. When this wish actually comes true, he goes back to his high school as a 17-year old boy and is classmates with his children.

Zac Efron's rise to fame has been mostly because of Disney and musical roles, ie. High School Musical and Hairspray. This is his first big non-musical film and I have to say, this might be the right thing for him. 17 Again was quite popular in the States and is a decent comedy. So check it out when it comes out this Thursday.




The Brothers Bloom (2009)
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi
Director: Rian Johnson
USA release: May 15 (Limited)
Msia release: June 4
USA box office: $912,000
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Crime
Runtime: 1 hour 43 mins
Rated in USA: PG-13 for violence, some sensuality and brief strong language
Rated in Msia: N/A
IMDb User Rating: 7.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 60%

Bloom (Brody) and Stephen (Ruffalo) are con men and swindle millions from rich people for a living. They decide to go on one last scam before retiring. Along with their mute oriental sidekick, Bang Bang (Kikuchi) they take Penelope (Weisz) on a world tour. Their complex scam gets unnecessarily more complicated when Bloom develops feelings for Penelope.

Even with all the blockbusters coming out left, right and center, The Brothers Bloom is the film that I am dying to see the most. There have been some rave reviews for this film and I absolutely adore con movies. So if you want something a little bit more witty with less action this week, watch this film. I cannot express how much I want to see this film.

Source: Cinema Online, IMDb, Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes

Once A Wildcat, Always A Wildcat

Last night i got the chance to watch the premiere of High School Musical 3: Senior Year with free tickets courtesy of smashpOp. Thank you very much. Now lets jump into things.

If you have not heard of High School Musical, I'd like to know where you've been the past two years. The HSM franchise started in 2006 as a made-for-TV film by Disney. Following huge success, a sequel was released in 2007, again on the Disney channel. For the third movie, Disney got smart and decided to make some money out of it. Senior Year, just released today, is the only HSM movie to be released in theatres. Some critics say that it will hit the $80million-$100million range in its opening weekend. And yes, I wholly, entirely, completely agree. Why? Because there are that many kids in America.

Obviously stated the title, the movie takes place during the Senior Year of the main characters. They all attend East High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico where they are all about to graduate and move on with their lives. The theme for the movie and the obvious pushing message that Disney is trying to get across is that life changes and you have to make tough decisions on where to go and what to do in life. No one can make those for you. Believe it or not, for a kid's movie, the movie has a pretty interesting theme. The two main characters are Troy Bolton (Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Hudgens). They have been dating for a while now (in the movie and in real life) but as graduation approaches they have to make a decision on what college to go. Troy's dad (also his basketball coach) is pushing him to play basketball at U of A and Gabriella is Stanford bound. It is coming to the end of year and prom, a final senior musical and graduation is being planned out. One of their classmates, Kelsi, suggests that they do a final senior play and the teacher suggests that it be centered on their senior year. An interesting aspect of the movie was how everything in the storyline, was intertwined with what was happening in the senior musical. The villain of the film, Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) wants the play to be all about her and wants no one involved. Sharpay and her brother Ryan are very selfish people (Ryan not so much) that want to advanced their career in theatre. Once the group play is decided on, the students find out that Juilliard scouts will be watching and choosing one student to attend their school. The drama has begun and the let the singing and dancing begin.

It goes without saying that the targeted audience are the 'tweens', kids aged from 9 to maybe 16? I dunno. But you get my point. When I was watching, I had to hold back my scoffing, keeping in mind that this film was meant for 'zee little ones'. But if i were to be completelt and totally honest, I could sum up the film realistically in a few words. Like. PREDICTABLE. CHEESY. PHONY. TOO PERFECT. WEIRD. WAAAAY BEYOND CLICHED. But then again, HSM, made for kids.

Seriously, this is how the movie was like. The dialogue...yucky. Made me feel awkward. Especially everytime Gabriella called Troy 'Wildcat'. I wanted to puke.

Another thing...WILDcat. There is absolutely nothing WILD about East High or the students. In the movie i think Troy and Gabriella kissed only once. But many other times when they had scenes where their faces were close together, I could see it in Zac and Vanessa's eyes they were holding back their hornyness bcuz obviously, this being a  kiddy movie, it wasn't in the script for them to kiss. And we all know that these two are a horny bunch. You want proof? Do some pictures splashed all over the internet remind you of anything. But seriously. This is supposed to be HIGH SCHOOL in AMERICA. Everything just feels so perfect and innocent and its definitely not portraying what high school should be like. I know, i know. Movie for kids. But still, at least sustain some degree of realism...something Disney always finds hard to do. Haha.

But its not all doom and gloom from me. It actually lives up to its name, being a musical, it had some cool tunes. A few of my favorite parts of the film was the 'Broadway' part by Sharpay and Ryan ("I Want It All"), the part with Chad and Troy at the junkyard ("The Boys Are Back"), when Troy went bonkers in his school at night ("Scream") where there was this awesome scene where the hallway is rotating and he falls onto the wall then slides to the ceiling then slides to the wall again...you get it, and finally, the finale song where they graduate ("High School Musical").

I might've criticised this movie a whole lot while being really sarcastic and mean and sounding as if i was never a kid. But if you're 18 years old, you'll know what i mean. Having said that, I'm still gonna have to say that I liked the movie. Yes call me a hypocrite. But just watch the movie. You;ll have your adult mind telling you to walk out of the cinema hall and get away from all the kids but also, it'll bring out your kiddy mind thats telling you to stand up, dance along and belt out an HSM tune.

Although i doubt there will be an HSM 4, you never know. But if this is the and of Wildcats and singing and dancing and high school, then kudos to Disney and the director, Kenny Ortega for letting it go out with a bang. From the start go, it was obvious they stepped it up a gear and that so much more effort was put in to make it a fitting movie to be put up on the big screen. 

Since there are so many dimensions for this movie, i give it three ratings.

In general, 1.5 out of 5 popcorns

As a kiddy movie, 3.5 out of 5 popcorns

As part of the HSM series, 5 out if 5 popcorns. The best one yet.