The first two films in "The Twilight Saga" didn't win with the Razzies, but what about the third? Although "Twilight: Eclipse" has earned the best reviews of the three -- scoring 58 at Metacritic -- it has not escaped the notice of these kudos dedicated to celebrating the worst in film.

As the first post on the Razzies forum about "Twilight: Eclipse" notes: "How the three mopey/dopey stars of this franchise have managed to make it to their third movie without 'winning' a single Razzie yet is a mystery for the ages. But maybe this latest twitter-pated entry, sure to send 11-15 year-old girls into further twitching spasms of pre-pubescent pleasure, will finally do the trick."

In 2008, "Twilight" rated an utterly average 56 at Meta Critic. Although several critics were quite impressed with this first installment, none were dismayed and the movie escaped the wrath of the Razzies. However, "Twilight: New Moon" found fewer fans among the critics last year, meriting a mere 44 at Meta Critic. That score was weighed down with pans from the likes of Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times) who thought the sequel "takes the tepid achievement of 'Twilight' guts it, and leaves it for undead."

The first two films in "The Twilight Saga" didn't get nominated at the Oscars, but what about the third? "Twilight: Eclipse" has the best reviews of the trilogy, scoring 58 at Metacritic.

The Hollywood Reporter proclaims: "It took three films, but 'The Twilight Saga' finally nails just the right tone in 'Eclipse,' a film that neatly balances the teenage operatic passions from Stephenie Meyer's novels with the movies' supernatural trappings."

Last year, the Oscars expanded the best-picture list to 10 nominees so that popular films could make the cut. Two made it from the sci-fi/fantasy genres: "District 9" and "Avatar."

The first two "Twilight" movies swept the MTV Movie Awards, but, alas, didn't fare well with other kudos. Their stars weren't nominated at the Golden Globes, whose voters usually embrace sexy new hipsters. Neither film managed to score nominations for tech awards bestowed by the guilds.

So maybe all hope is drained from the possibility that "Twilight: Eclipse" will be taken seriously by any top Hollywood award. Even film critics who love "Eclipse", like Entertainment Weekly ("the movie is compulsively watchable; it has a passionflower intensity"), admit that it's "humorless teen romantic glop." Or is it?

Photo: Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in "Twilight: Eclipse." Credit: Summit

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Ah, not too long ago, Tom Cruise was a heartthrob coddled and cooed over at the MTV Movie Awards. Between 1993 and 2005, Cruise was nominated a dozen times and won twice: best male performance of 1997 ("Jerry Maguire") and 2001 ("Mission: Impossible II"). But now that his career looks like it's had all the blood sucked out of it, a vampire swooped down to Cruise's rescue at the awardscast tonight: stud du jour Robert Pattinson ("Twilight: New Moon"). Here's a replay of their memorable vignette.

RELATED LINKS

'Twilight: New Moon' vampires ruled the night at MTV Movie Awards

Poll: Was Sandra Bullock awesome or awful at MTV Movie Awards?

MTV Movie Awards prediction: 'Twilight: New Moon' will slay 'Avatar'

Pssst! Here's everything you need to know about tonight's MTV Movie Awards

Video: MTV

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Vampires ruled the night at the MTV Movie Awards as "Twilight: New Moon" snared the top prizes, winning best movie, kiss (Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart), male and female performance (Pattinson and Stewart, natch). Curiously, their costar Anna Kendrick won best break-out star for a different flick, "Up in the Air."

There was something especially creepy about the vampire sweep: it looked like a virtual repeat of the romp the original "Twilight" film performed last year at the MTV Movie Awards, winning best movie, kiss and female performance,

Among notable losses at the kudofest: Betty White may be the hottest senior in the tween world these days, but her "cop a feel" scene in "The Propopsal" lost best WTF moment to "naked trunk surprise" in "The Hangover."

BEST MOVIE: "Twilight: New Moon"

BEST KISS: Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson ("Twilight: New Moon")

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE: Robert Pattinson ("Twilight: New Moon")

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE: Kristen Stewart ("Twilight: New Moon")

BEST BREAKOUT STAR: Anna Kendrick ("Up in the Air")

BEST SCARED AS S--T PERFORMANCE: Amanda Seyfried ("Jennifer's Body")

GENERATIONS AWARD: Sandra Bullock

BEST WTF MOMENT: Ken Jeong ("The Hangover")

BEST VILLAIN: Tom Felton ("Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince")

BIGGEST BADASS STAR: Rain ("Ninja Assassin")

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE: Zach Galifianakis ("The Hangover")

RELATED LINKS

Poll: Was Sandra Bullock awesome or awful at MTV Movie Awards?

MTV Movie Awards prediction: 'Twilight: New Moon' will slay 'Avatar'

Pssst! Here's everything you need to know about tonight's MTV Movie Awards

Photo: MTV.com

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Who's nominated for the MTV Movie Awards, you wonder? Check out this list.

Who's going to win? Gold Derby predicts "Twilight: New Moon" will beat "Avatar" and "The Hangover" for best picture.

The Envelope will feature sexy photos of red-carpet arrivals here.

What will Aziz Ansari say in his opening monologue? "Usually, at these shows, the host has to point and trash celebrities, so I'll probably point and say look at the guy's dumb jacket!'" he tells Zap2It. "'That looks silly. Your hair looks bad.' I'll say stuff like that. That should work."

With "Twilight: New Moon" looming over the MTV Movie Awards as a top nominee and with MTV promising to air a preview of "Twilight Saga: Eclipse," Zap2It seeks out who's on Team Edward and Team Jacob.

Zap2It also probes the biggest "Twilight" cliffhangers of all: Will Robert Pattinson approve of his gift bag, seat and meal?

Who's performing? Who's presenting? The Associated Press breaks it down.

Katy Perry confesses "she may not wear any clothes" while performing, reports MTV.com.

Photo: MTV.com

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At the MTV Movie Awards, voters will surely prefer bloodsuckers ("Twilight: New Moon") to booze guzzlers ("The Hangover"), even though the latter flick leads with the most nominations (six compared with five for the vampire flick).

"Twilight: New Moon's" biggest foe for best picture is "Avatar" since these awards are decided by popular vote of Web users. "Avatar" was a bigger hit at the box office, earning $749 million versus $296 million for "Twilight." Oh, yeah, and "Avatar" earned more respect within Hollywood, reaping an Oscar nomination for best picture.

But "Twilight" will probably prevail at the MTV Movie Awards anyway. Last year at the MTV kudos, "Twilight" won best film, best fight (Robert Pattinson, Cam Gigandet), kiss (Pattinson, Kristen Stewart), female performance (Stewart) and breakthrough male performance (Pattinson). It suffered only two defeats. Taylor Lautner lost best breakthrough male (to costar Pattinson — only one could win the category) and best song ("Decode" lost to "The Climb" from "Hannah Montana: The Movie").

Winning last year doesn't hurt "Twilight's" chance to triumph again. All three installments of "The Lord of the Rings" won the same crown from 2002 to 2004.

Photos: "Twilight: New Moon" (Summit), "Avatar" (20th Century Fox)

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The cast of "The Hangover" shouldn't bother guzzling too much Champagne to celebrate leading with the most MTV Movie Award nominations (six). "Twilight: New Moon" may have merely earned five, but that's exactly how many MTV trophies the original "Twilight" claimed last year. Clearly, voters love blood guzzlers.

Last year at the MTV Movie Awards, "Twilight" won best film, best fight (Cam Gigandet, Robert Pattinson), kiss (Kristen Stewart, Pattinson), female performance (Stewart) and breakthrough male performance (Pattinson). It suffered only two defeats. Taylor Lautner lost best breakthrough male (to costar Pattinson — only one could win the category) and best song ("Decode" lost to "The Climb" from "Hannah Montana: The Movie").

Just because "Twilight" won best film last year doesn't mean "New Moon" is ill-starred. All three installments of "Lord of the Rings" won the same crown from 2002 to 2004.

But the romp by "Rings" does suggest that a movie other than "The Hangover" might have a shot at besting "Twilight: New Moon." That's "Avatar, which, just like "Rings," was a fantasy blockbuster that broke box-office records. Or, rather, "Avatar" is sci-fi, that is, a genre voters preferred when picking past best films "Transformers" and "The Matrix."

Because winners are decided by Web-based votes, that sets up a fierce cyber war between "Twilight" and "Avatar" fanatics. Everybody, duck!

Check out all nominations here and cast your ballot. See our forum posters' reactions to the nominations here.

Photos: "Twilight: New Moon" (Summit), "Avatar" (20th Century Fox)

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Aziz Ansari just watched "Twilight" and "Twilight: New Moon" for the first time in order to bone up on the film franchise that will probably sweep the MTV Movie Awards again, just like it did last year. But this year Ansari will be involved, according to the L.A. Times blog Show Tracker.

"Insiders tell Show Tracker exclusively that the comedian and 'Parks and Recreation' star is in final negotiations to host the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, slated to air live June 6 from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City," reports Denise Martin. "Last week, Ansari spent a couple of days live-tweeting his first-ever viewings of 'Twilight' and its sequel 'New Moon.'"

Show Tracker recalls last year's award romp: " 'Twilight' swept the evening at the 2009 ceremony -- five awards including the one for best movie -- and stars Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart turned up to present a special extended trailer for 'New Moon.' (With the third 'Twilight' film, 'Eclipse,' premiering June 30 -- and with MTV long leading the charge in all things 'Twilight'-related -- one presumes viewers this year will get a similar treat.)"

Photo: NBC

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If you're in the neighborhood of the Kodak Theatre and can't get into the Oscars this weekend, try the next best thing. Drop by the Hollywood Museum one block away – it's located in the Max Factor Building at 1660 N. Highland Ave., where you can see costumes and artifacts from leading nominees like "The Hurt Locker," "The Blind Side," "Inglourious Basterds," "Julie & Julia," "The Young Victoria," "Bright Star," "(500) Days of Summer" and "Star Trek" mixed in with treasures from Oscars past, like "Gone With the Wind," "Ben-Hur," "Gladiator" and even the first film to win best picture, "Wings."

I serve as guest curator every year to organize this exhibition titled "And the Winner Is …," which celebrates all films up for kudos throughout the award season. We even feature items from such popular films as "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Twilight: New Moon" (yes, yes, we have a Taylor Lautner costume in addition ones worn by Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart) and Miley Cyrus' concert film. Some of them were up for guild awards or even -- yikes -- Razzies.

On display are lots of actual historic statuettes, such as Oscars, Golden Globes ("Ben-Hur," best drama picture; "Dynasty," best TV show), and a Razzie (Sly Stallone, worst actor of the century, award still unclaimed). Also, you can view most of my personal collection, which includes Katharine Hepburn's Oscar nomination plaques for "Suddenly, Last Summer" and "The Rainmaker," plus her membership cards in the academy, Tony Award (best play, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"), Writers Guild Award ("High Noon"), Emmy (best comedy series, "Phil Silvers Show") and more.

Many thanks go to some real winners who pulled this exhibit together: museum president and founder Donelle Dadigan and her team Steve Nycklemoe, Kenny Horn, Robert Freeman and Jennifer Smith. Also the folks at Apparition, Columbia, Fox Searchlight, Paramount, Summit, Warner Bros. and Weinstein Co. who contributed costumes and props, and my colleagues at the Los Angeles Times who contributed sponsorship.

The Hollywood Museum is located on Highland Ave. just a few steps south of Hollywood Blvd. It's open Wednesdays to Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $15 per adult, $12 for students and seniors, $5 for kids age 5 and younger. The museum accepts Citipass and Go L.A. cards.

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"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "Land of the Lost" are tied for the most Razzie Award nominations, scoring seven chances each to take gold paint-sprayed statuettes hailing the worst films of 2009.

Also noteworthy: two of this year's Oscar players could also end up as Razzie stars when trophies are doled out one night before the Academy Awards gala. Oscar ceremony co-host Steve Martin is nominated for worst actor in "Pink Panther 2." No other actor has ever been up for a Razzie the same year he or she emceed the Academy Awards, although Martin's co-host on March 7, Alec Baldwin, was nominated for a Razzie in 2003 (worst supporting actor, "Cat in the Hat").

Sandra Bullock is considered an Oscar best actress front-runner for "The Blind Side," but she's also nominated for 2009's worst actress for "All About Steve." If Bullock claims both trophies, she'll be the first star ever to pull off the dual win in the same year. Others have done so in nonacting categories. In 1992, Alan Menken won two Oscars for composing the music in "Aladdin" and a Razzie for a tune in "Newsies." In 1997, Brian Helgeland reaped an Oscar for writing "L.A. Confidential" screenplay and a Razzie for penning "The Postman."

Two stars have been nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year for the same role, but they lost: James Coco ("Only When I Laugh") and Amy Irving ("Yentl"). Halle Berry famously bagged a Razzie soon after her Oscar, but three years separated her wins for "Catwoman" (2004) and "Monster's Ball" (2001).

John Wilson, Razzie president and founder, tells Gold Derby that "Transformers 2" creator Michael Bay is overdue for Razzie glory after a past worst-picture loss for "Armageddon" (1998) and two defeats for worst director: "Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor" (2001). "Bay is totally talent-free and untouched by the muse," Wilson says with a sigh.

Wilson says that 2009 was such a banner year for bad movies that the Razzies considered expanding their worst-picture list to 10 nominees like the Oscars' best-picture list, "but then I realized that our membership is only one-tenth of the academy, and it would have no meaning. It would be just like the Golden Globes where a movie can win with only 17 votes."

If the Razzies had expanded its top category, "Twilight: New Moon" would've been nominated for worst picture since it came in sixth place in the voting, so alas, it got snubbed.

" 'Twilight: New Moon' just wasn't bad enough," Wilson adds, noting that its star Taylor Lautner also barely missed out receiving a nomination for worst supporting actor. Nonetheless, he was cited along with "Twilight" costars in the category for worst screen couple as "Kristin Stewart and either Robert Pattinson or Taylor Whatz-His-Fang." Pattinson is nominated for worst supporting actor, and "New Moon" is listed in the race for worst screenplay.

Wilson is surprised at a few omissions from the performance lists. "Gerard Butler had a banner bad year with 'Gamer,' 'The Ugly Truth' and 'Law Abiding Citizen,' and Nicolas Cage was terrible in 'Knowing,'" he says. "In any other year they would've been nominated."

It's the Razzies' 30th anniversary year, so it's time to bestow prizes for worst filmmaking of the decade. They'll be doled out with 2009's trophies at Hollywood's Barnsdall Gallery Theatre at 7:30 p.m. March 6.

WORST PICTURE OF 2009
"All About Steve"
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"
"Land of the Lost"
"Old Dogs""
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (a.k.a. "Trannies, Too")
 
WORST ACTOR OF 2009
All Three Jonas Brothers, "Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience" 
Will Ferrell, "Land of the Lost" 
Steve Martin, "Pink Panther 2"
Eddie Murphy, "Imagine That"
John Travolta, "Old Dogs"

WORST ACTRESS Of 2009
Beyonce, "Obsessed"
Sandra Bullock, "All About Steve"
Myley Cyrus, "Hannah Montana: The Movie"
Megan Fox, "Jennifer’s Body" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Sarah Jessica Parker, "Did You Hear About the Morgans?"