Will 'Hunger Games' Rule The 2012 MTV Movie Awards?

Leading the pack with eight nominations, the Gary Ross-directed film could replace 'Twilight' as the film to beat.
By Fallon Prinzivalli

Jennifer Lawrence in "The Hunger Games"
Photo: Lionsgate

As "The Hunger Games" continues to dominate the worldwide box office, the announcement came Monday that the film is nominated for eight MTV Movie Awards. It leads the list with the most nominations alongside Kristen Wiig's Oscar-nominated comedy, "Bridesmaids."

"The Hunger Games," the first of three (possibly four) films adapted from Suzanne Collins' dystopian saga, is on course to break $400 million in earnings domestically. With break-out performances by the cast, it's no surprise that they're contenders for an array of categories. Entering their first ever MTV Movie Awards, Jennifer Lawrence and company are up for Movie of the Year, Best Cast, Best Female Performance (Lawrence), Best Male Performance (Josh Hutcherson), Breakthrough Performance ("Liam Hemsworth), Best On-Screen Transformation (Elizabeth Banks), Best Fight (Lawrence and Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig), and Best Kiss (Lawrence and Hutcherson).

The fan-favorite category of Best Kiss has Lawrence and Hutcherson up against their biggest competition: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, and Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. With "Twilight" gracing fewer categories, there's a good chance Twihards will be out for blood, vigorously voting for their beloved vampires to make sure they take home the golden popcorn for every nomination. Plus, Robsten has been the reigning champion for the past three years, always teasing that kiss the fans are hoping will finally happen this year. And as this is the last chance for Watson and Grint to nab the award, we may see the Potterheads' determination win out in the end.

This award is anyone's guess, but if we take a look at the figures, "Hunger Games" already has a promising start. As the premiere film in a franchise first made popular by the books, its opening weekend saw bigger numbers than both the first "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" films. We may be on the verge of a new era where fanged teeth and wands are out and bow and arrows are in.

Will we see the same numbers when it comes down to the ultimate award: Movie of the Year? Not only is "Hunger Games" battling it out again with "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 2," but the category also features two Oscar-nominated films, "The Help" and "Bridesmaids." Katniss and company are going to need to break out more than a few snares to dominate this one. It's a good thing they already have a big army of fans on their side.

With all the money "Hunger Games" enthusiasts have been pouring into its box-office reign lately, it's safe to assume their dedication to will bode well for the actors who play our favorite citizens of Panem. It's anyone's year, but the odds are definitely in its favor.

Do you think "The Hunger Games" will reign at the MTV Movie Awards, or will "Twilight" hold on to the crown? Leave your comment below!

Head over to MovieAwards.MTV.com to vote for your favorite flicks now! The 21st annual MTV Movie Awards air live Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. ET.

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Scientists uncover exciting lead into premature aging and heart disease

ScienceDaily (Apr. 30, 2012) ? Scientists have discovered that they can dramatically increase the life span of mice with progeria (premature aging disease) and heart disease (caused by Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy) by reducing levels of a protein called SUN1. This research was done by A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) in collaboration with their partners at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States and the Institute of Cellular and System Medicine in Taiwan. Their findings were published in the scientific journal, Cell, on 27^th April 2012 and provide an exciting lead into developing new methods to treat premature aging and heart disease.

Children with progeria suffer symptoms of premature aging and mostly die in their early teens from either heart attack or stroke. Individuals with Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (AD-EDMD) suffer from muscle wasting and cardiomyopathy, a type of heart disease that weakens and enlarges the heart muscle making it harder for the heart to pump blood and deliver it to the rest of the body leading to heart failure. Both diseases are caused by mutations in Lamin A, a protein in the membrane surrounding a cell's nucleus which provides mechanical support to the nucleus. SUN1 is a protein also found in the inner nuclear membrane, but there have been no previous studies to show how SUN1 interacts with the Lamin proteins.

The scientists wanted to investigate if SUN1 had any involvement in diseases caused by mutations in Lamin A, so they inactivated SUN1 in mouse models developed for progeria and AD-EDMD. These mouse models for progeria and AD-EDMD usually thrive poorly and have markedly short life spans as they die from premature aging and heart failure respectively. However, by inactivating SUN1 and reducing SUN1 levels in these mouse models, the scientists observed that the life spans of the mouse models for progeria and AD-EDMD doubled and tripled respectively.

"We actually expected that knocking out Sun1 in these mouse models would worsen their conditions and cause them to die faster but surprisingly we observed the opposite. This is the first time that Sun1 protein has been implicated in diseases linked to Lamin A and it is exciting how basic research has led to a discovery that can potentially have significant impact on us," said Rafidah Abdul Mutalif, who is pursuing her PhD at IMB and one of the main authors of this paper.

Prof. Colin Stewart, Principle Investigator at IMB, said, "Notably, the heart muscle of the mice was restored to near normal function and cardiac function improved when the levels of SUN1 were reduced. Mutations in Lamin A are frequently reported as a cause of heart disease and especially within a group of hereditary cardiomyopathies. This opens up a possibility that from these observations, reduction in SUN1 maybe of therapeutic use for other forms of heart disease. We are very excited about this discovery and look forward to further pursuing this lead which could potentially lead to development of new treatments for heart diseases."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Chia-Yen Chen, Ya-Hui Chi, Rafidah?Abdul Mutalif, Matthew?F. Starost, Timothy?G. Myers, Stasia?A. Anderson, Colin?L. Stewart, Kuan-Teh Jeang. Accumulation of the Inner Nuclear Envelope Protein Sun1 Is Pathogenic in Progeric and Dystrophic Laminopathies. Cell, 2012; 149 (3): 565 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.01.059

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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