The MTV Movie Awards never pretended to be the Oscars. This is the ceremony, after all, that one time handed a Golden Popcorn trophy to Friday the 13th slasher Jason Voorhees for his Lifetime Achievement. They gave Jim Carrey a Best Male Performance trophy for Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls… which is the worst Ace Ventura movie. And they honored the Twilight films with Best Movie trophies ON FOUR SEPARATE OCCASIONS!
So yeah, we expect a little insanity when the MTV Movie Awards nominations come out. But the following 10 nominees are some of the most head-scratchingly bizarre recognitions, for assorted reasons. Let’s whittle through this year’s crop of potential MTV Movie Award winners to see who’s surprised to be included, and what bizarre categories in which they find themselves.
Jennifer Lopez, Best Scared-As-Shit Performance
Forty days. That’s how long Jennifer Lopez’s sultry, cheesy thriller The Boy Next Door has been in theaters. It came out in 2015, and still qualifies for this year’s MTV Movie Awards, alongside movies like Boyhood, Birdman and Whiplash. Why? No clue. But the movie made enough of an impact on the MTV voters that they dropped Jenny from the Block into the awesomely titled Best Scared As Shit Performance category. I guess her reps told the network ahead of time that she’d show up if nominated.
Rosario Dawson and Anders Holm, Best WTF Moment
The "Best WTF Moment" category is a puzzle. In most cases, they list the names of the actors, and the movies from which the WTF moment happened. Then, it’s up to you to guess. But all you have to see is the names Rosario Dawson and Anders Holm to know EXACTLY which WTF moment MTV selected from Chris Rock’s Top Five. It involves a tampon. And hot sauce. And … well, just rent the movie, and prepare for the worst!
Kate Upton, Best Shirtless Performance
Shirtless? Like, completely shirtless? I’m pretty sure I’d remember that. And Kate Upton didn’t go topless in The Other Woman. The above photo proves that she spotted the skimpiest bikini top possible. But the dudes competing with Ms. Upton for the coveted Best Shirtless Performance category completely shedded their clothing, and therefore earned their nominations. I’m calling shenanigans.
Rosamund Pike, Breakthrough Performance
For her role as sinister Amy Dunne in David Fincher’s Gone Girl, beautiful Rosamund Pike finally sees her name in the Breakthrough Performance category at the MTV Movie Awards. Try to overlook the fact that she’s been acting professionally since 1998. Or that she was a Bond girl in 2002’s Die Another Day. Or that she played the CGI blockbuster game with Wrath of the Titans, and co-starred alongside Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher. Is Gone Girl her biggest role to date? Probably. But this recognition’s pretty late.
Meryl Streep, Best Villain
Further proving the notion that Meryl Streep gets nominated simply by showing up on screen in whatever movie, the frequently brilliant but overpraised Streep collects her second nomination for Into the Woods (after the Academy bestowed similar honors). The part that I don’t get – and didn’t get when this same thing happened at the Oscars – is that Streep’s barely in Into the Woods. She comes and goes, choosing her moments. But does she give a performance? And a performance worthy of awards nominations? There are multiple villains I would have honored over Streep… but when Dame Meryl appears on screen, awards voters from every organization fall all over themselves to try to give her a trophy.
No Birdman in the Movie Of The Year Race
I get that MTV wants to distance itself from the Academy, so they nominate a number of films that the Oscars wouldn’t touch. Neighbors, The Fault In Our Stars and The Interview can contend for MTV Movie Awards, but they have no place (and no categories) at the Oscars. But if MTV’s going to reach out to films like Boyhood, Selma and American Sniper, shouldn’t Birdman – the eventual Best Picture winner – find a slot in MTV’s Best Movie of the Year category? I mean, Emma Stone is recognized for her performance. And MTV saw the Keaton-Norton fight. But no nom for Best Movie of the Year? Bizarre.
Eddie Redmayne, Best On-Screen Transformation
This is another WTF bit of category hopping. Best Actor winner Eddie Redmayne gets an MTV Movie Awards nomination for his amazing portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. But he doesn’t get into the Best Male Performance category, where he would have competed against Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Ansel Elgort, Miler Teller and Channing Tatum. Instead, he gets relegated to an On-Screen Transformation category. Maybe MTV wants to recognize him, but also wants to see someone else contend in the Actor category? Because my money’s currently on Chris Pratt to have a very good night.
