Brokeback takes Best Kiss prize at MTV awards

Wedding Crashers, a comedy about two skirt-chasing bachelors, dominated the MTV Movie Awards on Saturday, June 2, taking home three awards, including Best Movie. (The awards show airs tonight.) Another film about two men, the Oscar-winning gay romance Brokeback Mountain, won the second-highest number of awards--including Best Kiss for actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger and Best Performance for Gyllenhaal.

The two wins by Brokeback were rare for a critically acclaimed movie at the offbeat awards show, which lets MTV viewers choose the winners and is known for thumbing its nose at more high-brow ceremonies with categories like Best Fight, statues of golden popcorn, and shameless plugs for upcoming summer blockbusters. Gyllenhaal kept the mood light when accepting the award for Best Kiss by keeping a wide distance between himself and the award's male presenter, singer Justin Timberlake, while the two shook hands. He gave actress Eva Mendes, the copresenter, a peck on the cheek.

In addition to the top award, Wedding Crashers stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn took home the popcorn bucket for Best On-screen Team, and actress Isla Fisher won Breakthrough Performance for her role as Vaughn's sex-crazed love interest.

The show featured a hearty helping of irreverence. Steve Carell, who won Best Comedic Performance for his starring role in The 40-Year Old Virgin, poked fun at awards show acceptance speeches by thanking a string of historic figures. "Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, if I had any familiarity with your teachings, I would not be the person I am today," Carell said. Actress Jessica Alba, who hosted the show, thanked "all the perverts who voted for me" while picking up the award for Sexiest Performance for Sin City.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt won the popcorn bucket for Best Fight in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but the real-life couple, who announced the birth of their first child in Namibia last week, were not on hand to pick up the award. "Angelina and Brad are stuck in traffic," actor Colin Farrell joked after announcing the couple's win. The award for Best Hero went to Christian Bale for his starring role in Batman Begins, while Best Villain went to Hayden Christensen for his portrayal of Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith.

MTV also awarded a Lifetime Achievement statue to Jim Carrey, who accepted by joking, "Why do so many struggle with fame when I am able to float effortlessly on the upper edges of the Hollywood 'stratosphere'?" Director Spike Lee received a special award for his 1989 film Do the Right Thing: The oversize "Silver Bucket of Excellence" is for films that have a lasting impact on moviegoers. In one of the evening's more serious notes, Lee accepted the award saying: "The sad thing is that the issues that we tried to address in the film are still with us today. So how much progress have we made?"

The show also featured musical performances by Christina Aguilera, Gnarls Barkley, and punk band AFI. (Nichols Groom, Reuters)