HOLLYWOOD—I’m a movie lover, but I must say the 2014 MTV Movie Awards was perhaps the first in years that I was extremely eager to watch. Why? Well because comedian Conan O’Brien was hosting the festivities. The awards show hasn’t had such a megastar host the event in years, so I expected Conan to bring the funny, but it wasn’t as funny as one hoped.
The opening was quite hilarious, which featured a slew of celebrity cameos that included Andy Samberg, Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman, Ice Cube, Elijah Wood, Chris Pratt, Jessica Alba, Ashton Kutcher, Anna Faris, Danny McBride, Ed Helms, Jason Bateman, Lupita Nyong’o, Adam Sandler, Russell Crowe, Roasario Dawson, Taylor Swift, Martin Scorsese, James Franco, Paul Rudd, Demi Moore and Katy Perry to name a few. It was a ton of big time names who participated in Conan’s opening, but I was hoping he would have spoofed a big-time movie with a trailer.
Conan relished with his hosting duties taking shots at Grumpy Cat, and did a Vine video promoting the big movies of the year like “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “American Hustle” and “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” complete with a Pepsi bid. I will say the opening was not as strong as one had hoped considering Conan’s comedic timing. The night’s big winner was “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” which took home multiple awards including Movie of the Year and Best Female Performance for Jennifer Lawrence. The ceremony also gave audiences some sneak peaks at some highly anticipated flicks this year like “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “The Amazing Spiderman 2” and “The Fault of our Stars.”
Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o presented the first award of the night for Best Transformation to Jared Leto “Dallas Buyers Club.” It was an interesting moment to see those actors share the stage together, as rumors swirled about the duo all awards season. The actor took a moment to talk about the fight to find a cure to end AIDS.
Jonah Hill picked up the award for Best Comedic Performance for his work in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” while Mila Kunis was victorious in the Best Villain category for her work in “Oz: The Great and Powerful.” Best Shirtless Performance delivered a few laughs, when Conan came out in a muscle suit to poke fun at the nominees.
Actresses Rita Ora and Jessica Alba presented Best Shirtless Performance to Zac Efron, the actor was teased by the ladies to take off his shirt while on stage. Efron didn’t cave into peer pressure, so Rita Ora actually pulled off the actor’s shirt to allow a few screams for the ladies. He later flexed his physique. Mila Kunis and Jonah Hill presented the Trailblazer award to co-star and friend Channing Tatum, just as Mark Wahlberg was presented the Generation Award by the fellows from “Entourage.” The actor joked about the award being an indication of getting old. He was being honest, and it was quite funny to say the least.
Taking a small departure from the focus on movies was Eminem and Rihanna who performed their hit “The Monster.” The performance did indeed have frenetic energy and charisma from the duo. The award for Best Kiss went to Will Poulter, Jennifer Aniston and Emma Roberts for “We’re the Millers.” The sultry ladies of “The Other Woman” delivered the Golden Popcorn trophy for Best Male Performance to Josh Hutcherson for “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”
In a somber moment, “Fast and Furious” star Jordana Brewster paid tribute to co-star Paul Walker who passed away in November 2013. Best Fight went to Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lily for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.”
Other notable winners at Sunday’s ceremony include Best Hero to Henry Cavill for his work in “Man of Steel,” #WTF Moment to Leonardo DiCaprio for “Leo takes his Lamborghini for a spin” in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Best On-Screen Duo to Vin Diesel and Paul Walker for “Fast & Furious 6” and Best Scared As S**t Performance to Brad Pitt for “World War Z.”
The 2014 MTV Movie Awards was not as exciting as one had hoped it to be, so here’s hoping 2015 delivers a bit more funny to the audience.
By LaDale Anderson
