This really is becoming an annual post for me to do, but each year it bothers me so much that I’m compelled to do basically the same article again and again… this year especially.
The annual MTV Movie Awards went off last night, and you can see a list of the winners on Rodney’s post down below. The most notable of which was the big award for “Best Movie”. I hear There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men came really close to winning (note sarcasm), but the winner this year was the obvious choice… TRANSFORMERS!
Now, if you go back, you’ll notice that I actually predicted just under a year ago that Transformers would win best movie at the 2008 MTV Movie awards. Why did I predict that when I hadn’t even seen the movie yet at that time? Because last year Paramount and Transformers paid SOOOOO much money to MTV that they not only had Transformers commercials, promotions and spoofs running through the whole damn show, they also made up an award for it just so they could win something. They made up the “Most Anticipated Movie” award. MOST ANTICIPATED?!?! And clearly they won. They paid so much, I knew it guaranteed them the top prize this year too.
But it’s not just Transformers. Everything that happens on that show is bought and paid for with the exclusive purpose of promoting upcoming films.
Why do you think Mike Myers was hosting? (ANSWER: Love Guru)
Why do you think they gave the lifetime award to Adam Sandler? (ANSWER: Zohan)
Why Do you think half the presenters and skit participants are there? (ANSWER: The studios buy them a spot on the show to promote upcoming projects)
Then they throw in a couple of nonsense categories for people to actually vote on (best kiss, best fight and then any excuse to get Johnny Depp on the show).
Look, we all know the MTV Movie awards are completely corrupt and fake and irrelevant and just a marketing tool. It’s a 100% staged show (and please… no brain dead comments trying to compare this to the BAFTAs or the Oscars or the Golden Globes… yes they each have their problems as well… but that would be like comparing some cheating in the NFL with WWE Wrestling), but at least there was some comfort in the fact that they at least TRIED to make it look like it wasn’t totally fake and staged. Over the last couple of years, even they just stopped caring and now practically flaunt it… almost mocking us for how much they actually control us. It’s kinda sad.
Everyone knows I LOVED Transformers… but come on… even I, its biggest cheerleader know it’s a damn joke to even pretend it should be mentioned as even a nominee for Best Movie… this was bought and paid for and we all know it… and MTV knows that we know… and they don’t care.
K, I definitely see your point in what you are saying. But, doesn’t EVERYTHING have to do with money? Even if they are not directly giving MTV the money to win, they are investing the money to get their movie on top. And I don’t watch award shows or even just MTV in general, this blog was pointed out to me by a friend who agrees with you. But an EX. MTV advertised Transformers a lot you said, so I would guess people who watched MTV took an interest in it after hearing so much about it and all that. So they watched it and voted for it. Just cuz they voted, doesn’t mean that they watched all the movies in the nominees.
Also with Twilight winning a lot of awards. Yes, they had the whole behind the scenes thing with Twilight…..which would definitely bring a lot of Twilight fans into watching the show(and gain MTV more viewers) and they probably would have voted for Twilight.
Oh, and as for the ratings, I decided to check Netflix…and Indy 4 got a 3.4 whereas Transformers got 4.0 for members average rating. I don’t know if you would consider that a ‘real’ scale….but that is people who watched the movies and then VOTED about how they liked the movie. Which is a very similar concept to voting in the MTV movie awards, isn’t it?
hahahaha, twilight’s gay ass won. not iron man or indiana jones. hahaha.
ROBERT DOWNEY JUNIOR, BEN STILLER AND JACK BLACK ARE GENIUS! :p they really make me laugh, and i only liked trransformer because shia was in it, he made it a better movie:P
I’m sorry, I liked Transformers, but Juno shoulda won.
meh….i liked the movie the first time i watched but hated after watching it again. many of the scenes are way too cheesy, it tries too hard to be hip, the action was shot too close….bah, i really hate this movie…..anyway it makes sense this won the award…it is mtv
LOL @ monty
Ok, It didn’t seem like that was the point of the posts I read. It seemed as though nobody here even knew of the voting.
I’m not defending them either. They may no be adhering to the vote for all I know.
Just making sure we were on the same page. ;)
Hey Scoville,
That’s what they say. But do you really think Michael Bay was there just IN CASE he won the “vote”?
I don’t doubt SOME of the awards are given out according to the vote… but I also have no doubt this isn’t adhered to much of the time.
Aside from Meli and I, it seems as though you all don’t realize that the awards are given based on votes at MTV.com.
@ Rodney-
With Paramount behind both Ironman and Indy 4, we may see the first ever tie for best movie in MTV Movie Awards history, a decision that will no doubt send shockwaves throughout the film industry.
This show was a piece of shit except for Downey. So happy to see him get so much love. Other than that, the show was forgettable.
But can someone tell Johnny Depp that he won’t catch AIDS if he sits in the fucking audience? I love him, but his whole “hide from the crowd” thing is becoming really elitist and snobby to me. Like he descends from heaven, mumbles a thanks, and heads back up Mount Hotness for the rest of the night. Get the hell over it, man. It used to be “mysterious” and cute, but now it’s just dumb. If everyone else can sit their asses down, why the fuck can’t he?
The show did suck last night but Downey again saved the show with his intro and the Tropic Thunder promo skit that Stiller, Black, and Downey did was great. Even got a bit nostalgic when Myers and Carvey did that Wayne’s World skit.
The kids who actually take time to for vote for the movie awards are mostly into the movies that entertain, so is makes sense that Transformers won best picture. It’s not a bad thing because this show is more about current pop culture than it is about ground breaking filmmaking.
Hey Obi-Wan Dawson
You said:
“there was no need for human stars in a film about transforming robots that fought each other. The cartoon’s didn’t waste time with people as the stars and neither should the movies”
I see what you’re saying, but there’s a difference between a kids cartoon show and a feature movie. Also, it costs exactly the same to draw humans or transformers in an old style cartoon… it costs MILLIONS more to have Transformers on screen than it does to have humans on screen.
Basically, what you’re suggesting would have cost about $500 million to make… the budget was $150 million.
I am one of the few people who thought Transformers was a huge let down. I don’t have a problem with Shia. I just thought there was no need for human stars in a film about transforming robots that fought each other. The cartoon’s didn’t waste time with people as the stars and neither should the movies(s).
Iron Man will or Indy will win next year because they’re both Paramount movies and Paramount owns MTV. John, I’m glad you totally see the tongue in cheek and silliness aspects of Transformers winning considering your love for it.
Hey Sahil,
Sorry… I should have specified… I should have said every REAL scale
Rottentomates:
Indy 4 – 77%
Transformers – 57%
MetaCritic
Indy 4 – 67%
Transformers – 62%
Yahoo Ratings
Indy 4 – B
Transformers – B-
So if your argument is that Indy 4 SHOULDN’T win because it is “widely panned”, and yet it consistently ranks higher than transformers (and even if you wanted to use the skewed IMDB numbers, there is only 0.3 difference between it and Transformers), then what does that do to your argument?
Remember, no one loved Transformers more than me… but let’s be honest and realistic about it.
What do you mean by every scale?
Indy 4 has 7.2 on IMDB and Transformers has 7.5.
Hey Shane,
You said:
“TF easily qualifies as the best movie of the year. If they were trying to say something widely panned like Crystal Skull, I’d understand the ridiculousness here.”
You do realize that Indy 4 is rated higher than Transformers on just about every scale right? Check it out.
Oh, and having said that, I’m not naive enough to think the MTV awards are in any way legit. I don’t want to come across as the fool trying to argue that WWE wrestling is real.
Just pointing out that there is a pretty good argument that can be made that from a general enjoyment perspective, not an artistic one, TF easily qualifies as the best movie of the year. If they were trying to say something widely panned like Crystal Skull, I’d understand the ridiculousness here.
I agree with shane… you have a really good point :)
Personally speaking, Transformers was the best movie of the year. Why do we automatically always dismiss popular movies of being worthy of being classed as the best. Transformers was extremely popular, it is a very enjoyable film, and many people were extremely happy with it and watched it numerous times.
It just comes down to the criteria you want to use to class a film as being the best. Realistically I didn’t enjoy There Will Be Blood and I doubt I’d ever sit through No Country For Old Men again. I appreciate their artsistic merit though. But I saw Transformers heaps of times, I bought 2 copies of the DVD just because one can transform. And I bought a $150 giant talking Bumblebee figure. So if MTV judged the best movie by the same criteria I do, then they’re correct. I would suggest that far, far more people would agree with TF as the best film by that criteria than No Country or Blood.
How long has it been since we could take MTV seriously? Mid-90’s? Early 90’s?
Can’t really anything to your post John.
Was surprised to see Depp and Cruise show up though.
I wonder if Bay is shagging Fox?
And we all know that all the middle schoolers who voted for it can tell a good movie from a bad one.
Well, considering Viacom owns MTV and Paramount, it should come as no surprise that there would be a symbiotic relationship in the marketing and, of course, the movie awards.
When was the last time a movie worth a damn won this award, anyway? Pulp Fiction?
I agree with you John about Transformers not being the best movie as far as production goes. But that said, Transformers was #1 for me because I can’t get enough of it. I’ve watched No country… and agree that it was produced better. But how many times have you watched the other movies compared to Transformers? The excitement of the movie is what makes it a classic above the others.
Hey Mike D
HAHA! Excellent point sir!
The one thing that made me laugh about this year’s MTV movie awards was the category Best Summer Movie So Far. One of the nominees was Sex and the City. Voting for the award ended May 23rd, a full week before it’s released. Exactly how would that be one of the best summer movies if it hadn’t been released before the voting ended?
Monty… Ironman has already shown an interest in product placement. And even teenage girls are swooning over Downey.
I predict Ironman will buy the award next year.
Its great to know that Transformers got an MTV movie award. Its almost like a real award show but it not.
And the best movie at the 2009 MTV Movie awards…..
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL!!!