2001 MTV Movie Awards ~ Winners

'Gladiator' Takes Top MTV Award, Women Rock Show

(Reuters)

Gladiator may have conquered -- again -- but women rocked the MTV Movie Awards on Saturday as Charlie's Angels star Cameron Diaz claimed two trophies and Chinese newcomer Zhang Ziyi proved to be the best fighter in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Pop music stars Christina Aguilera, Li'l Kim, Pink and Mya, too, performed a Moulin Rouge rendition of Lady Marmalade in shorts, bra tops, lace stockings and stack heels that left the audience screaming for more. Halle Berry, too, had her moments, drawing attention to her new movie Swordfish in which she bares her breasts. She then coaxed her co-stars John Travolta and Hugh Jackman to show their body parts to the world, too.

Gladiator was named best film by the viewers of cable television channel MTV, who vote on the awards and Julia Roberts claimed a trophy for Best Female performance in Erin Brockovich. Those two were also winners at the Academy Awards -- Hollywood's top film awards -- earlier this year.

But unlike the Oscars, the MTV awards show is irreverent and pokes fun at the movies. MTV viewers, too, generally pick action films, or so-called "popcorn movies," for their favorite films, and MTV awards winners with a bucket of golden popcorn. Along with Gladiator and Roberts, the other big winner was action star Tom Cruise for Best Male Performer in an action flick, Mission: Impossible 2. Hosts Jimmy Fallon, of TV's Saturday Night Live, and Kirsten Dunst (Bring It On), opened the show with a parody of The Mummy Returns, in which they tried to wipe off the facial markings of a Magi warrior. Fallon, Dunst, and other actors like comedian Andy Dick also made fun of stars like Adam Sandler and Madonna, and characters from films like Gladiator and Cast Away. I like how (the show) is more easy going. It's like our awards. It's younger," said American Beauty star Mena Suvari, who was on hand as a presenter. The night's first popcorn bucket for Best On-Screen team of actors went to the trio of female action stars from Charlie's Angels, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu. Diaz, however, was the only one on hand to take the MTV bucket, and she lamented her partners' absence. "Sorry I showed up without my other parts," she said, stretching out her arms as if wrapping them around her co-stars. Then, proclaiming her nervousness, she said: "I haven't used antiperspirant in years, and I usually use them to sort of dab it on because they're about armpit height." Diaz grabbed a second bucket of popcorn later in the show for Best Dance Sequence in the same movie in which she opened the film dancing in her underwear.

Other crowd-pleasing awards included Best Action Sequence, which went to John Woo for the motorcycle chase in Mission: Impossible 2, Best Fight to Chinese newcomer Zhang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Best Kiss to Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas in Save the Last Dance. Best Villain was Jim Carrey for Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Walking to the stage, Carrey dove into a row of seats like a rock star diving off stage.

Along with the female pop stars, other musical guests included The Dave Matthews Band playing Space Between. During the taping, the lights went off twice, and he was forced to stop, putting a little more blank "space" in the show. Along with the Best Kiss award, Sean Patrick Thomas won a popcorn bucket for his role in Save The Last Dance, and another newcomer, Erika Christensen, took an MTV trophy for her role as a drug addicted teenager in Traffic. "This is killer. I'm freaking out," an admittedly surprised Christensen told reporters backstage. "This is really awesome because it means young people really identified with the film, and I didn't think that was going to happen."