2014 MTV Movie Award Nominations

A day after Conan O'Brien announced he'd be hosting the annual shindig, the nominations for the MTV Movie Awards were announced:

Movie of the Year

• 12 Years a Slave
• American Hustle
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Female Performance

• Amy Adams, American Hustle
• Jennifer Aniston, We're the Millers
• Sandra Bullock, Gravity
• Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Male Performance

• Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Josh Hutcherson, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Breakthrough Performance

• Liam James, The Way, Way Back
• Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
• Will Poulter, We're the Millers
• Margot Robbie, The Wolf of Wall Street
• Miles Teller, The Spectacular Now

Best Comedic Performance

• Kevin Hart, Ride Along
• Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
• Johnny Knoxville, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
• Melissa McCarthy, The Heat
• Jason Sudeikis, We're the Millers

Best On-Screen Transformation

• Christian Bale, American Hustle
• Elizabeth Banks, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• Orlando Bloom, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Kiss

• Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams, American Hustle
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson, Don Jon
• James Franco, Ashley Benson and Vanessa Hudgens, Spring Breakers
• Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller, The Spectacular Now
• Emma Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Will Poulter, We're the Millers

Best Fight

• Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
• Identity Thief
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• This is the End

Best Scared-as-Shit Performance

• Rose Byrne, Insidious: Chapter 2
• Jessica Chastain, Mama
• Vera Farmiga, The Conjuring
• Ethan Hawke, The Purge
• Brad Pitt, World War Z

Best On-Screen Duo

• Amy Adams and Christian Bale, American Hustle
• Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, Fast & Furious 6
• Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, Ride Along
• Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Shirtless Performance

• Jennifer Aniston, We're the Millers
• Sam Claflin, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
• Zac Efron, That Awkward Moment
• Chris Hemsworth, Thor: The Dark World

WTF Moment

• Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
• Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
• The Counselor
• The Wolf of Wall Street
• This is the End

Best Villain

• Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
• Benedict Cumberbatch, Star Trek Into Darkness
• Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
• Mila Kunis, Oz: The Great and Powerful
• Donal Sutherland, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Best Musical Moment

• This is the End
• American Hustle
• The Wolf of Wall Street
• Identity Thief
• We're the Millers

Best Cameo Performance

• Robert DeNiro, American Hustle
• Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
• Kanye West, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
• Joan Rivers, Iron Man 3
• Rihanna, This is the End

Best Hero

• Henry Cavill, Man of Steel
• Robert Downey, Jr., Iron Man 3
• Martin Freeman, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Chris Hemsworth, Thor: The Dark World
• Channing Tatum, White House Down

I'm kind of amazed at all the Oscar movies they included this time (you're never going to convince me MTV voters saw 12 Years a Slave but somehow not Gravity), but since this is the place where all those horrific Twilight movies swept literally everything for years, I'm going to go ahead and guess Hunger Games on down the line? At least for everything it's nominated for. With maybe some Leo, Robert Downey Jr. and Kevin Hart thrown in. Conan hosts the Golden Popcorn awards on Sunday, April 13th, and you can vote by going to MTV's website.

Behind the Scenes at the Oscars

Ellen posted a video yesterday of the behind the scenes goings on of her Oscars hosting gig. Check out all the backstage activity here:

TRAILER: "Annie"

The trailer for the musical remake of Annie is here. Coming out at Christmas, this version stars little Quvenzhane Wallis (from Beasts of the Southern Wild) as Annie and Jamie Foxx as the billionaire who adopts her. I don't know- this trailer sure doesn't do it any favors. Is it me or does Cameron Diaz just look horrible in this?

Idina Menzel Sings "Let it Go" on The Tonight Show

Jimmy Fallon and The Roots give Adele Dazeem- oh sorry, I mean Idina Menzel- a chance to redo "Let it Go," after first getting her name flubbed and then being drowned out by the orchestra on the Oscars the other night. This time she nails it, especially the high note at the end:

Best Picture 1927-2014

This is kinda cool. A montage of all the Best Picture winners ever, from Wings through 12 Years a Slave:

Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Somewhere in Time" (1980)

This week's blu-ray is the unbearably sad time-traveling romance from 1980, starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. It's one of the few movies Reeve was known for outside of the Superman franchise, but it's a good one- sweet, old-fashioned and unabashedly romantic. He's a playwright in the present day who travels back in time to find his lost love, an actress in the early 1900's. The music from this movie might be the most famous thing about it, so iconic that it was played over the In Memoriam segment at the Oscars on Sunday. Check it out.

Trailer:

Recapping the Oscars 2014

PREDICTION SCORE: Well, Oscar season 2014 is officially over. 12 Years a Slave pulled off the Best Picture win and took home 3 awards, while Gravity won the most, earning 7 trophies including Director. All in all, my own predictions weren't too bad, as I got 19/24 correct, but I'm kicking myself for the unnecessary and stupid risks I took on the categories of editing, costumes and supporting actress. I couldn't do anything about that animated short guess, and I really did think American Hustle would take Screenplay, but had I stuck with my original instinct on those other three categories (as you can see if you read my analysis), and picked my alternate winner for each of them, I would have only gotten TWO wrong! That would have been a personal record. Sigh. Learned my lesson for next year, that's for sure.

THE SHOW: As for the show itself, it was a fairly drab and uneventful ceremony tonight. Ellen was a good host, but nothing she did was outstanding, except maybe for that selfie with the celebrities. The walking through the audience was pretty hit and miss, saved mostly by the celebs willing to play along. Performances were good, but some were totally random, like Pink sining "Over the Rainbow." I don't get why Bette Midler didn't sing "Wind Beneath My Wings" during the In Memoriam montage either, considering how the show ran really long tonight, at three and a half hours. On the bright side, at least the producers didn't play off a single winner, which was nice. I hate when those people get forced off the stage so fast. There was no memorable skit or even banter between presenters tonight, as they seemed to opt for as many musical performances as possible. The one spontaneous moment was Bill Murray's nice shout-out to Harold Ramis. And also John Travolta introducing Idina Menzel as "Adele Dazeem"- WTF?

WINNERS: I'm happy with the winners, as both 12 Years and Gravity are good movies that got their due. But poor American Hustle! So much for my belief that they wouldn't let it go home empty-handed. 0-10. Ouch. But I do think that 12 Years a Slave is their best Best Picture winner since The Hurt Locker in 2009. And it was great to see Lupita win Supporting Actress, who looked adorable in her headband.

HEROES THEME: It's time to get rid of this theme thing for the Oscar shows. Tonight's "heroes" theme basically meant a bunch of random montages celebrating movie heroes from recent action movies that don't get nominated for awards. It screams of cynical attention grabs towards a younger age group that probably doesn't watch this show anyway. It was all kind of pointless. And I'm sorry, but you do not show a clip from a Superman movie and choose the god awful Man of Steel over the Christopher Reeve one. Gross.

BEST DRESSED: Ok, so I do kinda love the red carpet despite the silliness of it all, so my favorite of the night (as she almost always is) was Charlize Theron. She's a fashion goddess that can do no wrong. And Jared Leto was rocking the white tux and red bowtie- the best dressed winner for sure. Worst I'd have to say was Pharell Williams, who traded in the giant hat for shorts on the red carpet- I mean, shorts?? Seriously?

2014 Academy Award Winners: '12 Years a Slave' Takes Best Picture

12 Years a Slave pulled it off tonight, as the Oscars did exactly what was predicted, split Best Picture and Best Director:

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• BEST COSTUME DESIGN: The Great Gatsby
• BEST HAIR & MAKEUP: Dallas Buyers Club
• BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Gravity
• BEST ANIMATED SHORT: Mr. Hublot
• BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT: Helium
• BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
• BEST DOCUMENTARY: 20 Feet From Stardom
• BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: The Great Beauty
• BEST SOUND MIXING: Gravity
• BEST SOUND EDITING: Gravity
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gravity
• BEST EDITING: Gravity
• BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Great Gatsby
• BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Gravity
• BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "Let it Go," Frozen
• BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Her
• BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: 12 Years a Slave
• BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• BEST ACTOR: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• BEST DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• BEST PICTURE: 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave took 3 Oscars- Picture, Screenplay, and Supporting Actress, while Gravity took home 7, becoming the first movie since Cabaret to win that many awards and not Best Picture. 

BOX OFFICE 2/28-3/02: 'Non-Stop' Soars to #1; 'Son of God' in 2nd Place

Liam Neeson can really bring in those action crowds, as Non-Stop hauled in a solid $30 million for first place, knocking The Lego Movie down the charts. It scored an "A-" from audiences, who were evenly divided between male and female, over age 25, so it could stick around a while. In second was Mark Burnett's Son of God, which was kind of a packaged version of his Bible miniseries that aired on The History Channel a while ago. It played to religious crowds, obviously and earned $26.5 million over the weekend. 

The Lego Movie came in third but still made $21 million to end up crossing $200 million total, while Frozen finally crossed $1 billion worldwide. In fourth was Monuments Men with $5 million and 3 Days to Kill behind it with $4 million, but they seem to be fizzling out at this point, while other new releases this weekend included Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises in an English-dubbed version, which grossed a little over $1 million. The same goes for Anchorman 2, which came out this weekend in an alternate, 143-minute version which added scores of alternate/deleted scenes that supposedly added up to 95% "new jokes."

Top 5:

1. Non-Stop- $30 million
2. Son of God- $26.5 million
3. The Lego Movie- $21 million
4. The Monuments Men- $5 million
5. 3 Days to Kill- $4.9 million

Next weekend it's the sequel 300: Rise of an Empire, along with the animated film Mr. Peabody & Sherman, plus Wes Anderson's latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel. Until then, enjoy the Oscars tonight!

'Movie 43' Named Worst Picture of the Year

I suppose I was wrong earlier- the Razzies, not the Indie Spirits, are the last stop before the Oscars, as Movie 43 dominated the field, along with the Smiths and After Earth. Personally, I was hoping for a stronger showing from Adam Sandler here, but Movie 43 definitely earned its horrible reputation.

• Worst Picture: Movie 43
• Worst Actor: Jaden Smith, After Earth
• Worst Actress: Tyler Perry, A Madea Christmas
• Worst Supporting Actor: Will Smith, After Earth
• Worst Supporting Actress: Kim Kardashian, Tyler Perry's Temptation
• Worst Director: "The 13 People Who Directed Movie 43"
• Worst Screenplay: Movie 43, written by 19 "Screenwriters"
• Worst Screen Combo: Jaden Smith & Will Smith on Planet Nepotism, After Earth
• Worst Remake, Rip-off, or Sequel: The Lone Ranger

'12 Years' Wins Big at the Independent Spirit Awards

At the last stop before the Oscars tomorrow, 12 Years a Slave cleaned up at the Independent Spirit Awards, taking Feature, Director, Supporting Actress, Cinematography and Screenplay. Could Oscar glory be next? Interestingly, all four acting winners here could repeat at the Academy Awards, which would be a first.

• Best First Screenplay: Nebraska
• Best Supporting Male: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Best First Feature: Fruitvale Station
• Best Film Editing: Short Term 12
• Best Ensemble: Mud
• Best Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
• Best Cinematography: 12 Years a Slave
• Best Supporting Female: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• Best International Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
• Best Documentary: 20 Feet From Stardom
• Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
• Best Female Lead: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Best Male Lead: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Best Feature: 12 Years a Slave

Movie of the Day: "Do the Right Thing" (1989)

Spike Lee's classic from 1989 is our final Movie of the Day celebrating Black History Month. At the time controversial, the film is still a provocative, vibrantly alive piece of filmmaking, brimming with energy in every frame. Taking place on one sweltering hot day in New York City, Lee stars as Mookie, the neighborhood pizza delivery guy, and his film dares to ask questions and bring up ideas about race relations that that are always being swept under the surface of our society. Do the Right Thing was famously snubbed for major Oscar nominations, probably due to the controversy surrounding it at the time (fears that it would cause riots, which now look absurd) but it holds up amazingly well today and remains one of the seminal films of the 1980's. 

Trailer: