2009 MTV Movie Awards

Twilight cleans up at star-studded awards show, hosted by Samberg

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

Going into Sunday night's (May 31st) MTV Movie Awards with seven nominations, last year's mega hit Twilight (Summit Entertainment) collected five "golden popcorn" trophies, including Best Movie (beating out The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, Iron Man, and double winner High School Musical 3: Senior Year), Breakthrough Male Performance for Robert Pattinson, and Best Female Performance for Kristen Stewart, who dropped her award onstage.

Although Miley Cyrus' "The Climb," from Hannah Montana: The Movie, was named Best Song at the ceremony, the 16-year-old phenom was not booked to perform it at the telecast. Instead, the stage of the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California saw performances by Kings of Leon ("Use Somebody") and comeback kid Eminem ("We Made You"/"Crack a Bottle" medley). Following wins at the Golden Globes and Oscars, the late Heath Ledger was posthumously named Best Villain for his now-iconic role as The Joker in The Dark Knight, last year's top-grossing film.

Hosted by Saturday Night Live comic Andy Samberg, the 18th annual MTV Movie Awards also included appearances by big-names like Keifer Sutherland (Mirrors), Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal), Chris Pine (Star Trek), Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Race to Witch Mountain), Anna Faris (The House Bunny), Sacha Baron Cohen (Bruno), and the casts of the new Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson) and Transformers (Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox). Below is the complete list of the winners at the show.

Best Movie: Twilight (Summit Entertainment)
Best Male Performance: Zac Efron (High School Musical 3: Senior Year)
Best Female Performance: Kristen Stewart (Twilight)
Breakthrough Male Performance: Robert Pattinson (Twilight)
Breakthrough Female Performer: Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical 3: Senior Year)
Best Comedic Performance: Jim Carrey (Yes Man)
Best Villain: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Best Kiss: Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart (Twilight)
Best Fight: Robert Pattinson vs. Cam Gigandet (Twilight)
Best Song: "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana: The Movie)
Best WTF ("What the Fuck") Moment: Amy Poehler for "Peeing in the Sink"
(Baby Mama)

SiM Poster: New Moon

Sequel's promo poster is leaked online

The latest poster for New Moon (Summit Entertainment), the sequel to last year's Twilight, was recently leaked to the net, featuring stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner. A never-before-seen clip of the upcoming New Moon will premiere during the telecast of the MTV Movie Awards, on May 30th. It will hit theatres on November 20, 2009.

MTV Movie Awards '09

Twilight & Slumdog could win big at Hollywood showdown

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

We're just over two weeks away from the 18th annual MTV Movie Awards, which will be hosted by Saturday Night Live comic Andy Samberg. The vampire flick Twilight (pictured right) leads the pack with seven nominations, but not far behind, with six nods, is the Best Picture Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire. The golden popcorn statuettes will be handed out on Sunday, May 31st, broadcast live from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Kings of Leon ("Use Somebody") have just been booked to perform on the telecast, as is rap icon Eminem. Here are the nominees for the upcoming show:

Best Movie:
-The Dark Knight (director Christopher Nolan)
-High School Musical 3: Senior Year (director Kenny Ortega)
-Iron Man (director Jon Favreau)
-Slumdog Millionaire (director Danny Boyle)
-Twilight (director Catherine Hardwicke)

Best Male Performance:
-Christian Bale (The Dark Knight)
-Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man)
-Shia LaBeouf (Eagle Eye)
-Vin Diesel (Fast and Furious)
-Zac Efron (High School Musical 3: Senior Year)

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)

Breakthrough Performance Male:
-Robert Pattison (Twilight)
-Taylor Lautner (Twilight)
-Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)
-Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
-Bobb'e J. Thompson (Role Models)

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 and Norah's Infinite Playlist)

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 13th)
-The Rock (Get Smart)
-Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
-Jonathan 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 Pattison vs. Cam Gigandet (Twilight)
-Seth Rogen vs. James Franco vs. Danny McBride (Pineapple Express)

Best Kiss:
-Angelina Jolie & James McAvoy (Wanted)
-Freida Pinto & Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
-James Franco & Sean Penn (Milk)
-Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattison (Twilight)
-Vanessa Hudgens & Zac Efron (High School Musical 3: Senior Year)

Best WTF (What the Fuck) Moment:
-Amy Poehler for "peeing in the sink" in Baby Mama
-Angelina Jolie for "curved bullet kill" in Wanted
-Ayush Mahesh Khedekar for "jumping in the poop shed" in Slumdog Millionaire
-Ben Stiller for "tasting the decapitated head" in Tropic Thunder
-Jason Segel & Kristen Bell for "naked break-up" in Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Best Song From a Movie:
-"Jai Ho" by A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)
-"The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen (The Wrestler)
-"The Climb" by Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana: The Movie)
-"Decode" by Paramore (Twilight)

DVD Pick: Let the Right One In

Swedish 'romantic horror' feature goes above & beyond the norm

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

North Americans have seen more than their share of vampire movies, so we've come to expect the expected when another one premieres on the big screen. But leave it to the Swedes to break the long-set mould, with the haunting, yet placid Let the Right One In, Tomas Alfredson's theatrical take on a 2004 novel by fellow Swede John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also tackled the screenplay.

The producers were intent on finding young actors who displayed chemistry onscreen, accurately casting two 13-year-old unknowns, Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson. The former portrayed Oskar, a 12-year-old boy who spends his free time daydreaming of bloody retaliation on schoolyard bullies. Leandersson makes us forget that she's barely a teenager, with her role as a somewhat androgynous vampire named Eli, who has been "12, about" for the last 200 years. Eli and her "guardian" Hakan (Per Ragner) have just moved in next door to Oskar in a sombre apartment complex in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg, where Hakan is committed to murdering locals in order to salvage their blood so that Eli doesn't have to.

Oskar leads a lonely exsistance, something he has in common with Eli, the two of whom converse at the nearby playground before eventually striking up an alliance and going "steady." Alfredson is sporadically loyal to Lindqvist's novel--which is set in the early-'80s--delivering an almost pederastic tone to the children's relationship, one that leaves my "Americanized" eyes awkward and uneasy at times.

The film seems to climax during a disturbingly graceful pool scene that left me ecstaticly jolted, and lends some much-needed energy to its slow pace. John Soderqvist composed a melodic score for this film, light at times, dark at others, setting every tone of every scene, and delivered by the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra.

In a year that saw massive attention and fascination for Hollywood's own vampire contribution, Twilight, Let the Right One In distanced itself from big-budget glamour and poised itself as an alternative, highlighting its foreign authenticity (it was filmed and set in Sweden, and comes sub-titled) at the risk of feeble international ticket sales. Unlike Twilight, Alfredson's film will not expand into a blockbuster franchise, or produce any teen-girl glee or even action figures for that matter, but it will leave you more satisfied than its exploited rival, I'm sure. Although this film's stars aren't even high school students yet, this is a very-adult movie, one that tangles with its own essence to trigger self-awareness in its audience. Mission accomplished.

4/5 stars