MTV Movie Awards enter the 'Virtual' age

Posted Tuesday, April 15, 2003 at 12:11 PM Central

by John Couture

Just when you think the MTV Movie Awards, the antithesis to the stuffy Academy Awards, couldn't come up with yet another wacky category, they go out and make one up to honor performances that weren't really there. Today, MTV announced that Best Virtual Performance will join their traditional tongue-in-cheek award categories that include Best Kiss, Best Fight and Best Villain.

Nominees for the inaugural Best Virtual Performance are Yoda from Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones, Gollum and his alter ego Smeagol from Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, Scooby Doo from Scooby Doo, Kangaroo Jack from Kangaroo Jack, and Dobby from Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets.

Overall, Spider-Man and Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers led the way with five nominations each including nods for Best Movie. 8 Mile, Barbershop and The Ring were also nominated for the top prize.

The show, known for its loose atmosphere and anything-can-happen attitude expects much of the same when it airs on June 6. "We plan on mounting the funniest, loudest, most high-flying show to date," executive producer Joel Gallen was quoted as saying.

A partial list of nominees follows:

Best Movie Spider-Man Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers 8 Mile Barbershop The Ring

Best Male Performance Eminem, 8 Mile Vin Diesel, xXx Leonardo DiCaprio, Catch Me If You Can Tobey Maguire, Spider-Man Viggo Mortensen, Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

Best Female Performance Reese Witherspoon, Sweet Home Alabama Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man Halle Berry, Die Another Day Kate Hudson, How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days Queen Latifah, Chicago

Best Villain Mike Myers, Austin Powers In Goldmember Willem Dafoe, Spider-Man Colin Farrell, Daredevil Daveigh Chase, The Ring Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs Of New York

Best Virtual Performance Yoda, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones Gollum and his alter ego Smeagol, Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers Scooby Doo, Scooby Doo Kangaroo Jack, Kangaroo Jack Dobby, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets

Best Kiss Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz, Gangs Of New York Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, Daredevil Nick Cannon and Zoe Saldana, Drumline Adam Sandler and Emily Watson, Punch-Drunk Love Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man

Best Fight Jet Li versus the Ultimate Fighters, Cradle 2 The Grave Johnny Knoxville versus Butterbean, Jackass: The Movie Fann Wong versus the Palace Guards, Shanghai Knights Yoda versus Christopher Lee, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones