It may sound crazy, but believe it or not, the MTV Movie Awards used to mean something once upon a time. Unfortunately, the show's relevance to pop culture has long since passed, as Twilight fever has sunk its ratings-craving fangs into a worldwide broadcast that has become a pale imitation of its former self, at least as far as the actual awards are concerned.
Years ago, MTV bestowed its Golden Popcorn award for Best Movie on great, popular films that may or may not have been considered "Oscar material." However, recent winners have been ridiculous blockbusters of questionable quality.
The fact is that beginning in 1992, the first six Best Movie winners were Terminator 2: Judgment Day, A Few Good Men, Menace II Society, Pulp Fiction, Se7en and Scream. All were rated R. In 1998, the PG-13 Titanic briefly (and deservedly) interrupted the R-rated winning streak before There's Something About Mary, The Matrix and Gladiator returned the risque rating to awards glory. Since then, the only other R-rated Best Movie winner was Wedding Crashers in 2006. Now, most (if not all) of those movies fit my definition of a "modern classic," so MTV deserves credit for being on top of its game in honoring influential films that, for the most part, have withstood the relative test of time.
That said, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Transformers started a troubling trend in recent years, and the last two Best Movie winners have been the goth romance blockbusters "Twilight" and its sequel, "New Moon."