By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --This year’s MTV Movie Awards will be a showdown between a bevy of bridesmaids and a cast of killer kids.
“Bridesmaids” and “The Hunger Games” top nominees at MTV’s annual film honors with eight nods apiece, including bids for best cast, breakthrough performance and movie of the year. Rounding out the best-picture contenders are “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” ”The Help” And “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 1.”
MTV announced nominees Monday in 12 categories, including six new ones such as “best on-screen dirtbag” and “best gut-wrenching performance.” Also new this year: Nominees were selected by a panel of actors, producers, agents and industry tastemakers instead of via online vote from the public.
Fans can still choose the winners, though. Voting begins online Tuesday at 8 a.m. Eastern time.
The 21st annual MTV Movie Awards will be presented June 3 at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City and broadcast live on MTV.
Here’s a rundown of nominees:
Movie of the year: “Bridesmaids,” ”The Hunger Games,” ”Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” ”The Help,” ”The Twilight Saga: breaking Dawn-Part1.”
Female performance: Emma Stone, “Crazy, Stupid, Love”; Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”; Jennifer Lawrence, “The Hunger Games”; Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”; Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”
Male performance: Channing Tatum, “The Vow”; Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “50/50”; Josh Hutcherson, “The Hunger Games”; Ryan Gosling, “Drive.”
Breakthrough performance: Elle Fanning, “Super 8”; Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”; Liam Hemsworth, “The Hunger Games”; Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”; Shailene Woodley, “The Descendants.”
Comedic performance: Jonah Hill, “21 Jump Street”; Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”; Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”; Oliver Cooper, “Project X”; Zach Galifianakis, “The Hangover Part II.”
Cast: “21 Jump Street,” ”Bridesmaids,” ”Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” ”The Help,” ”The Hunger Games.”
On-screen transformation: Colin Farrell, “Horrible Bosses”; Elizabeth Banks, “The Hunger Games”; Johnny Depp, “21 Jump Street”; Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”; Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”
Fight: Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill vs. kid gang, “21 Jump Street”; Daniel Radcliffe vs. Ralph Fiennes, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”; Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig, “The Hunger Games”; Tom Cruise vs. Michael Nyqvist, “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol”; Tom Hardy vs. Joel Edgerton, “Warrior.”
Kiss: Channing Tatum & Rachel McAdams, “The Vow”; Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson, “The Hunger Games”; Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 1”; Rupert Grint & Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”; Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone, “Crazy, Stupid, Love.”
Gut-wrenching performance: Jonah Hill & Rob Riggle, “21 Jump Street”; Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper, “Bridesmaids”; Ryan Gosling, “Drive”; Bryce Dallas Howard, “The Help”; Tom Cruise, “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.”
On-screen dirtbag: Bryce Dallas Howard, “The Help”; Colin Farrell, “Horrible Bosses”; Jennifer Aniston, “Horrible Bosses”; Jon Hamm, “Bridesmaids”; Oliver Cooper, “Project X.”
Music: “The Devil is in the Details,” Chemical Brothers, “Hanna”; “Impossible,” Figurine, “Like Crazy”; “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO, “21 Jump Street”; “Pursuit of Happiness,” Kid Cudi (Steve Aoki Remix), “Project X”; “A Real Hero,” College with Electric Youth, “Drive.”
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More