MTV Movie Awards nominees

“Good evening, my dress is see-through,” 2000 MTV Movie Awards host Sarah Jessica Parker said during her introduction to the ceremony.

Snappy one-liners like those are what make the MTV Movie Awards – or any MTV awards show for that matter – unique.

Long after the dust has settled on the crowded movie-award season, MTV rolls out its own red carpet to honor, well, not always the best that Hollywood has to offer.

The whole event has an air of informality. The stars are much more likely to wear urban cool than evening formal. MTV’s viewers decide who walk away the big winners.

Jimmy Fallon and Kirsten Dunst will host the 10th annual show, scheduled for Thursday, June 7, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Up for Best Movie: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Gladiator, Hannibal and The X-Men.

Joel Gallen, who produced last year’s awards show, told The Detroit News that the awards show gets harder each year to stage. Challenges come in the form of topping such features as the movie spoof segments.

The MTV Movie Awards show also is trimmed for two hours, which, Gallen said, is the target audience’s attention span.

“We keep the best stuff and capture a lot of really great moments backstage that I don’t think we would be able to do if the show was aired live,” Gallen told The Detroit News before last year’s ceremony. “All that stuff makes it a cooler and better show.”

The MTV Movie Awards aren’t your typical movie awards. Sure, there are prizes for Best Picture, Director, Actress, but there also are plaudits for Best Kiss, Villain, Fight Sequence, and more.

MTV relies on its audience, which considers anyone older than 35 decidedly over-the-hill, and polls viewers to select nominees. This year, the show will include four new award categories: Favorite line from a movie, Best Cameo, Best Music Moment and Best Dressed nominations.

The MTV Movie Awards always promises a few unforgettable moments. In 1999, when Jim Carrey, dressed like The Doors’ late Jim Morrison, stumbled onstage to accept the Best Male Performance award for The Truman Show.

The never-shy actor tossed his hair from side to side as he smoked his cigarette, thanked the ladies for “looking so pretty,” and dedicated his award to his “new biker friends.”

Music also plays a prominent role in the evening’s entertainment. Last year, ‘N Sync sang “It’s Gonna Be Me,” the second single from their No Strings Attached album, for the first time on television. Metallica offered up “I Disappear,” the metal institution’s contribution to the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. Rapper D’Angelo’s, bearing his famous “six pack,” performed a selection from his Voodoo album.

The Nominees

Best Movie

The X-Men

Gladiator

Best Male Performance

Tom Cruise – Mission: Impossible 2

Mel Gibson – The Patriot

Omar Epps – Love and Basketball

Tom Hanks –Cast Away

Russell Crowe – Gladiator

Best Female Performance

Julia Roberts – Erin Brockovich

Jennifer Lopez – The Cell

Julia Stiles – Save the Last Dance

Aaliyah – Romeo Must Die

Kate Hudson – Almost Famous

Best Comedic Performance

Ben Stiller – Meet the Parents

Martin Lawrence – Big Momma’s House

Tom Green – Road Trip

Eddie Murphy – Nutty Professor II: The Klumps

Jim Carrey – Me, Myself & Irene

Best On-Screen Team

Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz & Lucy Liu – Charlie’s Angels

Robert De Niro & Ben Stiller – Meet the Parents

George Clooney, John Turturro & Tim Blake Nelson – O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Tom Hanks & Wilson – Cast Away

Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry & James Marsden – The X-Men

Best Villain

Joaquin Phoenix – Gladiator

Anthony Hopkins – Hannibal

Kevin Bacon – Hollow Man

Jim Carrey – Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Vincent D’Onofrio – The Cell

Breakthrough Performance Male

Ashton Kutcher – Dude, Where’s My Car?

Jack Black – High Fidelity

Tom Green – Road Trip

Sean Patrick Thomas – Save the Last Dance

Patrick Fugit – Almost Famous

Hugh Jackman – The X-Men

Breakthrough Performance Female

Zhang Ziyi – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon