“Wedding Crashers” reigns at MTV movie awards

By Nichola Groom

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Wedding Crashers,” a comedy about
two skirt-chasing bachelors, dominated the MTV Movie Awards on
Saturday, taking home three awards, including best movie.

Another film about two men, the Oscar-winning gay romance
“Brokeback Mountain,” won the second-highest number of awards
– including best kiss for actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath
Ledger and best performance for Gyllenhaal.

The two wins by “Brokeback” were rare for a critically
acclaimed movie at the offbeat awards show, which lets MTV
viewers choose the winners and is known for thumbing its nose
at more high-brow ceremonies with categories like “best fight,”
statues of golden popcorn and shameless plugs for upcoming
summer blockbusters.

Gyllenhaal kept the mood light when accepting the award for
best kiss by keeping a wide distance between himself and the
award’s male presenter, singer Justin Timberlake, while the two
shook hands. He gave actress Eva Mendes, the co-presenter, a
peck on the cheek.

In addition to the top award, “Wedding Crashers” stars Owen
Wilson and Vince Vaughn took home the popcorn bucket for best
on-screen team and actress Isla Fisher won best breakthrough
performance for her role as Vaughn’s sex-crazed love interest.

The show featured a hearty helping of irreverence. Steve
Carell, who won best comedic performance for his starring role
in “The 40-Year Old Virgin,” poked fun at awards show
acceptance speeches by thanking a string of historic figures.

“Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, if I had any familiarity with
your teachings I would not be the person I am today,” Carell
said.

Actress Jessica Alba, who hosted the show, thanked “all the
perverts who voted for me,” while picking up the award for
sexiest performance for “Sin City.”

“HOLLYWOOD STATUSPHERE”

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt won the popcorn bucket for
best fight in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” but the real-life couple, who
announced the birth of their first child in Namibia last week,
were not on hand to pick up the award.

“Angelina and Brad are stuck in traffic,” actor Colin
Farrell joked after announcing the couple’s win.

The award for best hero went to Christian Bale for his
starring role in “Batman Begins,” while best villain went to
Hayden Christensen for his portrayal of Darth Vader in “Star
Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.”

MTV also awarded a lifetime achievement statue to Jim
Carrey, who accepted by joking, “Why do so many struggle with
fame when I am able to float effortlessly on the upper edges of
the Hollywood ‘statusphere?”‘

Director Spike Lee received a special award for his 1989
film “Do The Right Thing.” The oversized “Silver Bucket of
Excellence” is for films that have a lasting impact on
moviegoers.

In one of the evening’s more serious notes, Lee accepted
the award saying: “The sad thing is that the issues that we
tried to address in the film are still with us today. So how
much progress have we made?”

The show also featured musical performances by Christina
Aguilera, Gnarls Barkley and punk band AFI.

The MTV Movie Awards will be broadcast in the United States
on cable TV network MTV on June 8.