'Star Wars' leads winners at MTV Movie Awards

LOS ANGELES -- A passionate kiss, Leonardo DiCaprio's "Revenant" bear encounter and a foul-mouthed hosting duo dominated Saturday's profanity-laden MTV Movie Awards, where "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" came away the top winner.

"The Force Awakens," the third-highest grossing film of all time, led with 11 nominations and beat out blockbusters such as "Jurassic World" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron" for movie of the year. Lead star Daisy Ridley won best breakthrough performance.

"It's especially amazing to be part of a film that represents all genders - two genders - and races and ages in such a positive and aspirational way," Ridley said.

It's all about the unpredictable and irreverent moments at Viacom Inc's fan-voted Movie Awards, which taped Saturday in Los Angeles and will air Sunday on the MTV network.

Hosts Kevin Hart and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson set the tone for the evening as they opened with curse words and insults, at one point dressing up as Batman and Superman to throw barbs at the A-list superhero actors in attendance.

They also rapped about Oscar-winner DiCaprio having sexual intercourse with a bear in "The Revenant."

"Pitch Perfect 2" stars Rebel Wilson and Adam Devine won best kiss and recreated their messy film smooch, passionately grabbing each other on stage.

Charlize Theron won best female performance for playing Imperator Furiosa in "Mad Max: Fury Road." She said the film was "in part a story of the power of women and the power to create our own destinies," dedicating her win to "all the Furoisas."

Halle Berry introduced actor-singer Will Smith as a "champion for diversity" when awarding him the MTV Generation Award. Smith joked the accolade was "the old ass dude award."

"I want to display love, play roles that have dignity and I just want to help in this world," the "Concussion" star said.

Other winners included hip hop biopic "Straight Outta Compton" for best true story, Ryan Reynolds for best comedic performance and best fight for "Deadpool," Amy Poehler for best virtual performance in "Inside Out" and Chris Pratt for best action performance for "Jurassic World."

Actress Melissa McCarthy crowd-surfed to the stage to accept the Comedic Genius award, saying "I'm the first woman to receive this award but I am certainly not the first one to deserve it."

"My mother taught me not to fear being the butt of the joke, not to worry about being likeable or perfect, and to lovingly go for the kill," she said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

DiCaprio, 'Spotlight' win top Oscar prizes

LOS ANGELES -- Catholic Church abuse movie "Spotlight" was named best picture, the top award at Sunday's Oscar ceremony, after an evening peppered with pointed punchlines from host Chris Rock about the #OscarsSoWhite controversy that has dominated the industry.

Mexico's Alejandro Inarritu nabbed the best directing Oscar for "The Revenant," taking home the trophy for the second straight year after winning in 2015 for "Birdman."

"The Revenant" had gone into Sunday's ceremony with a leading 12 nominations, and was among four movies believed to have the best chances for best picture after it won Golden Globe and BAFTA trophies.

"I (am) very lucky to be here tonight but unfortunately many others haven't had the same luck," Inarritu said, expressing the hope that, in the future, skin color would become as irrelevant as the length of one's hair.

Leonardo DiCaprio got a standing ovation after finally winning his first Oscar for his leading role as a fur trapper left for dead in "The Revenant" and spoke out on climate change in his acceptance speech.

Rising star Brie Larson, 26, took home the statuette for best actress for her role as an abducted young woman in indie movie "Room" to add to her armful of trophies from other award shows.

Racial themes and barbs about the selection of an all-white acting nominee line-up for a second year ran throughout the evening as black comedian Rock opened the show that he called "the white People's Choice awards."

Among the surprises, Britain's Mark Rylance beat presumed favorite and "Creed" actor Sylvester Stallone to win the Academy Award for best supporting actor for "Bridge of Spies."

Swedish actress Alicia Vikander won the supporting actress Oscar for transgender movie "The Danish Girl" while documentary "Amy," about the late and troubled British pop star Amy Winehouse was also a winner.

Open Road Films' "Spotlight", which traces the journalism probe of sex abuse in the Boston Catholic Church also won best original screenplay.

Warner Bros "Mad Max: Fury Road" started the night with 10 nominations and the action-adventure won a slew of Oscars, including for costume, make-up, editing, and production design.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Revenant,' 'Martian' big Golden Globe winners

BEVERLY HILLS, California - Revenge drama "The Revenant" and space adventure "The Martian" won the top movie prizes at the Golden Globes on Sunday on a night of surprises, laughter and barbed comments from fourth-time host Ricky Gervais.

In a closely contested men's field, Leonardo DiCaprio won for his lead role as a fur trapper seeking retribution in "The Revenant," while Matt Damon's astronaut stranded on Mars in "The Martian" won the comedy acting award.

"The Revenant" also brought a directing prize for Alejandro Inarritu, who recalled the long arduous shoot in sub-zero temperatures.

"Pain is temporary, but a film is forever," Inarritu said.

Jennifer Lawrence won best comedy movie actress for her portrayal of the Miracle Mop inventor in "Joy," while Brie Larson, 26, beat veteran Cate Blanchett to take home her first major award for playing a young woman who is abducted and locked up for years in the movie drama "Room."

Lesbian drama "Carol" and Wall Street comedy "The Big Short," which had led nominations going into Sunday's ceremony, came home empty handed, as did admired Catholic Church sex abuse probe "Spotlight."

Other popular winners includes Sylvester Stallone, 69, who received a standing ovation as best supporting film actor for reprising his iconic role as boxer Rocky Balboa in "Creed," beating presumed frontrunner Mark Rylance for "Bridge of Spies."

"I want to thank my imaginary friend Rocky Balboa for being the best friend I ever had," Stallone said.

"Steve Jobs," a controversial look at the late Apple co-founder that floundered at the box office despite warm reviews, took home Golden Globes for supporting actress Kate Winslet, and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

The Golden Globes were handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at a glitzy Beverly Hills dinner packed with A-list celebrities.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

DiCaprio may finally get Oscars due with 'The Revenant'

LOS ANGELES - Leonardo DiCaprio eats a piece of real bison liver in his new movie "The Revenant," a harrowing tale of revenge and survival in a frigid setting of the American Old West.

Is this what the guy has to do to win an Oscar, after 25 years of acting and five Academy Award nominations but ultimately no statuette?

The original plan was for him to bite into a simulated organ -- "this red, gelatinous sort of pancake" -- but DiCaprio said no, it looked fake.

"I wanted to get the real thing," he told NBC's "Today" show this week.

"It was completely disgusting. My reaction is very much on screen, which is a nauseating one."

In the latest film by acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro Inarritu, DiCaprio, 41, plays a fur trapper named Hugh Glass out on the frontier of 1820s America. The movie, which came out Friday in North America, is based on a true story.

Glass is betrayed by colleagues who rob him, leave him for dead -- buried alive -- and kill his half-Indian son. Glass must then survive on his own, without a weapon, in a harsh, frozen landscape, with just one thing on his mind: revenge.

DiCaprio said the movie, which has enjoyed strong reviews and a string of nominations in Hollywood awards season, captures "the poetry of what it means to have all the chips stacked against you, to have very little chance of survival and this triumph of the human spirit."

The ordeal DiCaprio endures as Glass is a far cry from his role as a flashback teen version of a rich man named Mason Capwell on the soap opera "Santa Barbara," which aired in the 1980s and 90s.

DiCaprio shot to global fame with "Gilbert Grape" in 1993, playing alongside Johnny Depp.

- Fighting a grizzly bear -

"The Revenant" marks a powerful return for Inarritu, whose film "Birdman" about a washed-up actor trying to make a comeback on Broadway won four Oscars last year, including best film and best director.

The new flick brings together heart-stopping action scenes by master cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and fabulous footage of a snowy wilderness filmed in natural light.

The special effects are excellent, be it a scene of Glass fighting a grizzly bear or plunging off a cliff on horseback.

But Glass's journey is also an emotional one, fueled by fear, hunger for vengeance and the pain of having lost his entire family.

The film handicapping website Goldderby.com says that thanks to his portrayal of Glass, DiCaprio is very likely to win the prize for best actor in a dramatic role at the Golden Globe awards on Sunday, and best actor at the Oscars on February 28.

A favorite actor of Martin Scorsese ("Gangs of New York," "Shutter Island," "The Wolf of Wall Street"), DiCaprio has won two Golden Globes, for his work in the latter and in "The Aviator.".

He has come up empty-handed with his five Oscar nominations, however.

But his time may have come because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which votes on who gets the coveted statuettes, has a soft spot for actors in physically demanding roles.

That of Glass is an example par excellence. DiCaprio described the filming, done in Canada and Argentina, as the hardest he has ever done.

"We had a massive crew that had to logistically move from these remote locations through these incredibly harsh winter landscapes," he said.

"Like these fur trappers, we had to adapt to our environment."

To wit: DiCaprio was forced to film buck-naked in the snow, climb snow-covered mountains in sub-freezing temperatures wearing thick furs, spend hours lying still in the cold, or swim in frozen rivers. Then there was the bit with the raw bison liver.

"The Revenant," which cost nearly $135 million, gets a thumbs-up from 81 percent of film critics who see it, according to Rottentomatoes.com.

It seems set to be a box-office success as well: Its first-weekend revenue is forecast at around $35-40 million.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com