The 10 Best Moments of the 1992-2002 MTV Movie Awards

Remember back in the 1990’s when you didn’t have access to the internet, and you learned about movies via Premiere, Empire or the MTV Movie Awards? From 1992-2002 I thought the MTV Movie Awards were the coolest thing on the planet.  I knew it wasn’t highbrow, but I learned about some great movies because of the MTV First Time Filmmaker Award and the various spoofs. MTV honored some great first-time filmmakers, and because of this I was introduced to Doug Liman, Guy Ritchie, Christopher Nolan and most importantly Wes Anderson. I also fell in love with the band Foghat because of Jim Carrey’s acceptance speech for The Truman Show (amazing moment) in 1999.

In honor of the fantastic 1992-2002 run of the MTV Movie Awards here are the 10 best moments!

10. The Kahuna burger gets shot (1995)

I love when the Kahuna burger blows up in the Welcome Back Kotter/Pulp Fiction spoof. I appreciate the idea of replacing a head explosion for a burger explosion. The video felt cool because I watched Pulp Fiction when I was 12 and I felt in on the joke.

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9. I think there are too many kicks in the movie (2000)

“I’m not his stunt double, I’m his “oneble.” Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise nailed this video for  Mission Impossible II.

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8. Lisa Kudrow meets Yoda and Andy Dick (1999)

Remember when Andy Dick was funny? I love this video that involves Lisa Kudrow and Andy Dick dealing with a really old Yoda.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkm5NsMx3dQ

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7. Titanic Sequel (1998)

“You put Buddy Hackett on that boat you got a billion dollars.” Watching Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller trying to sell James Cameron on a Titanic sequel is pure gold. I couldn’t find a Youtube clip but you can head over to MTV to watch the video.

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6. Chewbacca gets a Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)

The big guy finally got his medal! What I loved about the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award was how random it was. The recipients were Jason Voorhees, The Three Stooges, Richard Roundtree, Jackie Chan, Godzilla, Chewbacca and Clint Howard.

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5. Clint Howard wins the Lifetime Achievement Award (1998)

This is the most earnest speech that nobody saw coming. MTV actually retired the award after Howard, because his speech was so endearing and well-thought-out.

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4. The Mummy and Rob Schneider (2001)

A lot of time and money went into the Mummy spoof and I love every second of it. I also really like that Jimmy Fallon and Kirsten Dunst battle Rob Schneider. In our 2016 world that sounds really weird.

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3. Max Fischer and his players recreate all the best picture nominations (1999)

MTV let Max Fischer take over the awards. What?!?! How cool is that?

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2. Jim Carrey promotes Foghat (1999)

This is the greatest speech ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zILs4TaYFqs

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1. Wes Anderson accepts his Best New Filmmaker award (1996)

Wes Anderson is my favorite director and I love Bottle Rocket. After listening to Anderson’s speech I hunted down the Bottle Rocket VHS (thanks Blockbuster) and it changed my cinematic world.

I had to include this. Here are the winners of the Best New Filmmaker Award from 1992-2002.

1992 – John Singleton – Boyz n the Hood

1993- Carl Franklin – One False Move

1994 – Steven Zaillian – Searching for Bobby Fischer

1995- Steve James – Hoop Dreams

1996 – Wes Anderson – Bottle Rocket

1997 – Doug Liman – Swingers 

1998 – Peter Cattaneo – The Full Monty

1999 – Guy Ritchie – Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels

2000 – Spike Jonze – Being John Malkovich

2001 – Sofia Coppola – The Virgin Suicides

2002 – Christopher Nolan – Memento