Laura Byrne-Cristiano co-owner of The Twilight Lexicon, the longest continuously operating Twilight Saga fansite on the web has written the article on Movies.com
One thing that every Twilight fan embraces is loving our franchise for what it is. In other words, despite some potshots from various corners of the Internet, the fans know that we aren’t talking Academy Award winning material here when it comes to the screenplay and acting. The thing is though, that’s fine by us because we’re cool with what it does offer us: escapist fantasy, romance, and enough washboard abs to scrub our laundry on for a year…not that I ever fantasized about doing that or anything.
I suspect fans of traditionally male-dominated franchises feel much the same way about what their beloved series offer. They also have the escapist fantasy, but those washboard abs are usually replaced by female body parts slightly more north. Really, we aren’t so different in the end. Fortunately for all of us, there are actually awards shows that embrace both heart-stopping kisses and break-neck car chases. The MTV Movie Awards that aired on June 5, 2011 gave us our latest fix.
The Twilight Saga franchise has come a long way since its first appearance at an MTV awards show. Back in September 2008, before Twilight hit the big screen, several cast members attempted to promote the soundtrack band Paramore at the MTV Video Music Awards. It didn’t go so well with host Russell Brand cutting off Robert Pattinson before he could finish the band’s intro. Flash-forward to the Spring 2009 MTV Movie Awards, and it was a whole different story. Twilight had everyone’s attention as the number seven movie of the year, Robert Pattinson’s face was plastered on everything from bed sheets to glitter, and no one was cutting anyone from Twilight off.
The 2009 MTV Movie Awards gave fans their very first glimpse at footage from The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The original Twilight had a meager budget which was reflected in some noticeably low-budget production values ranging from a cheesy wig on Taylor Lautner, to the Easter egg blue tint of the film. Despite this, Twilight won a number of MTV Movie Awards, including Best Kiss, at the 2009 ceremony. On the other hand, as much as fans loved the original film, the expectations were higher as the post Twilight buzz was all about wanting better quality in the upcoming film. Specifically, the pressure was on director Chris Weitz to overcome his Golden Compass stigma and to deliver the goods on New Moon. As the much awaited teaser rolled, expectations were surpassed when fans witnessed Taylor Lautner’s transformation into a wolf in the final action packed seconds.One thing that every Twilight fan embraces is loving our franchise for what it is. In other words, despite some potshots from various corners of the Internet, the fans know that we aren’t talking Academy Award winning material here when it comes to the screenplay and acting. The thing is though, that’s fine by us because we’re cool with what it does offer us: escapist fantasy, romance, and enough washboard abs to scrub our laundry on for a year…not that I ever fantasized about doing that or anything.
I suspect fans of traditionally male-dominated franchises feel much the same way about what their beloved series offer. They also have the escapist fantasy, but those washboard abs are usually replaced by female body parts slightly more north. Really, we aren’t so different in the end. Fortunately for all of us, there are actually awards shows that embrace both heart-stopping kisses and break-neck car chases. The MTV Movie Awards that aired on June 5, 2011 gave us our latest fix.
The Twilight Saga franchise has come a long way since its first appearance at an MTV awards show. Back in September 2008, before Twilight hit the big screen, several cast members attempted to promote the soundtrack band Paramore at the MTV Video Music Awards. It didn’t go so well with host Russell Brand cutting off Robert Pattinson before he could finish the band’s intro. Flash-forward to the Spring 2009 MTV Movie Awards, and it was a whole different story. Twilight had everyone’s attention as the number seven movie of the year, Robert Pattinson’s face was plastered on everything from bed sheets to glitter, and no one was cutting anyone from Twilight off.
Things were a little different at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. They aired less than a month before the release of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Since promo footage was already out, there was no new teaser reveal this time. The Twilight Saga: New Moon, like the original Twilight, won just about every award it was up for, again including Best Kiss. The real fun was in watching the promo clips that hit the Internet before the show even aired. These clips featured Robert Pattison and Taylor Lautner being grilled by Tom Cruise in his Les Grossman alter ego.
During the show, the most memorable moment was when The Twilight Saga: New Moon acceptance speech for Best Movie was delivered by Peter Facinelli. Earlier in the broadcast, MTV had debuted its latest category, Best WTF Moment, with clever bleeping as the nominees were announced. Peter Facinelli, who plays the squeaky clean and compassionate Carlisle, thought he’d be clever and parody the WTF Award as he delivered the acceptance speech on behalf of the cast and crew. He dropped eff-bomb after eff-bomb thinking the censors were bleeping him out---only they weren’t fast enough for his impromptu barrage. He dropped nine in total with five making the air. Jaws dropped, the live audience went crazy, and no doubt several Summit executives had to be pried off the ceiling as they recovered from the perils of live TV and spontaneous actors.
This year was no different than the last two as far as expectation and anticipation went. As expected, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse cleaned house winning Golden Popcorn after Golden Popcorn. The only award The Twilight Saga: Eclipse didn’t win was Best Breakout Star. Xavier Samuel, who plays Riley, lost out to Chloë Grace Moretz’s portrayal of Hit Girl in Kick-Ass. No worries though, Xavier Samuel managed a trophy later on winning Best Fight with co-battlers Bryce Dallas Howard and Robert Pattinson for their epic decapitation and dismemberment clash in the snow. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson won Best Female and Male Performance as well as Best Kiss for the third year running. Once again fans sided with the Team Edward kiss though a pretty passionate kiss between Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner was also nominated. Fans longing for a reenactment kiss were again denied; however, Pattinson made up for it with a memorable lip lock with Taylor Lautner instead of Kristen Stewart
Above all, the one item that everyone was looking forward to was the teaser reveal for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 1. Director Bill Condon didn’t disappoint with just the right blend of humor, action, and romance. Sending the Volturi an announcement card addressed to “resident” showed off wry Cullen humor after fans wondered exactly who was that messenger-vixen that Demtri threw at the wall? Then there were four shots of honeymoon goodness: streets of Rio, the waterfall, dozing in bed, and of course the epic headboard sequence. The headboard crack heard round the world had Twitter trending “Breaking Dawn Trailer” globally for hours. Best part, there’s more romance to come since there were no feathers in any of the bed shots! Condon hit just the right notes at the end by showing off the hints of Bella’s pregnancy coupled with Jacob being flung into a wall by a bloodied-mouth Edward.
So, my fellow Twilight fans, did the MTV Movie Awards live up to your expectations, or are they getting stale? How does The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 1 teaser rank against previous franchise teasers?
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