The third ‘Twilight’ film led the contenders for the MTV Movie Awards on Tuesday, extending the vampire series’ dominance of the cable channel’s annual lighthearted salute to Hollywood. ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’ picked up eight nominations, followed by ‘Inception’ with seven. ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,’ ‘The Social Network’ and ‘Black Swan’ followed with six, five and four nominations, respectively.
All five films will vie for the best picture category at the June 5 ceremony near Hollywood. The MTV awards, which are determined by fans’ online voting, have been smitten by Bella, Edward and the rest of the lovelorn characters on ‘Twilight’ since 2009. The first two films each won five awards, including best picture. ‘Twilight’ stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, who won the big acting prizes last year for their respective roles as Edward and Bella, will defend their titles this year.
Stewart faces tough competition from Natalie Portman, who won an Oscar earlier this year for her depiction of an unhinged ballerina in ‘Black Swan.’ Other nominees included ‘Harry Potter’ star Emma Watson, Jennifer Aniston (‘Just Go With It’) and Emma Stone (‘Easy A’). Pattinson will compete with ‘Twilight’ co-star Taylor Lautner, fellow pinup Zac Efron of ‘Charlie St. Cloud,’ ‘Harry Potter’ hero Daniel Radcliffe, and ‘Social Network’ headliner Jesse Eisenberg.
The awards show also includes offbeat categories such as best villain, best jaw-dropping moment, best fight and best kiss. Portman and Mila Kunis were nominated in the latter category for their lesbian derring-do in ‘Black Swan.’ A new category – best line from a movie – was added to the lineup. Two contenders come from the Aaron Sorkin-written ‘Social Network.’ Lines from ‘Inception,’ ‘Grown Ups’ and ‘Easy A’ were the other entries. ‘Saturday Night Live’ star Jason Sudeikis will host the 20th annual awards show which MTV will telecast live from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City.
