LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``The Matrix'' a sci-fi extravaganza starring Keanu Reeves, snagged three prizes including best movie at the ninth annual MTV Movie Awards Saturday. Reeves walked off with the best male performance trophy and shared the best fight prize with co-star Laurence Fishburne. ``It's all good,'' Reeves told reporters backstage, in characteristic understatement. The box office smash, which won four Academy Awards in March, stars Reeves as Neo, whose body undergoes a cybertronic retrofit so that he can save the world against malevolent technological forces. Plans are underway to shoot two back-to-back sequels in Australia, set for release in Christmas 2002 and the summer of 2003, said producer Joel Silver.

Winners of the MTV Movie Awards, which aim to be a hipper alternative to the staid Oscars, are decided by votes cast either online, via telephone or at Blockbuster Video locations. The trophy resembles a tub of golden popcorn. Actress Sarah Jessica Parker of ``Sex and the City'' hosted, and her dozen costume changes included several see-through items. The event was taped at the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, and will be broadcast on MTV on June 8. The music cable network's overseas outlets will also air the show in coming weeks, beginning with MTV Europe on June 10. Last year's show attracted an average 6.6 million viewers in the United States, a 70 percent increase over the previous year, according to MTV.

The other multiple winners this year were spy spoof ``Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' and ``Cruel Intentions'' with two prizes each. The latter film, a contemporary update of ``Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' targeted to the teen audience, won prizes for best kiss (between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair) and best female performance (Gellar). Gellar and Blair briefly kissed on stage when they picked up their joint award, and Gellar later made a point of smooching with boyfriend Freddie Prinze Jr. before going up for the second time. Blair thanked Gellar for the ``hours of practice.'' The ``Austin Powers'' sequel was honored for best villain (Mike Myers) and best on-screen duo (Myers and Verne Troyer). The diminutive Troyer's trophy came up to his thigh. Since the show is taped and later edited, many of the participants took the opportunity to let off some steam. In announcing the nominees for best villain, presenter Mark Wahlberg said, ``... let's give it to Charlton Heston for being head of the NRA (National Rifle Assn.)'' In picking up his best comedic performance prize, ``Big Daddy'' star Adam Sandler read out an acceptance speech purported to be written by his seven-year-old co-stars, identical twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse. ``Adam Sandler deserves this prize you gave him 'cos he makes people who can't read feel like they are Albert Einstein,'' Sandler said.

The organizers also screened parody clips of hot movies. An animated sequence from the creators of ``South Park'' pitted the heroes of their sophomoric TV cartoon series in a gladiatorial contest against Russell Crowe and his ``Gladiator'' crew and a team of Scientologists led by John Travolta. One of the ``South Park'' kids uses Scientology scripture to wipe himself. The ``South Park'' creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, won the best musical performance for ``Uncle F++ka,'' a tune from last year's feature version of their cable TV show. ``When I wrote the song ``Uncle F++ka'' I didn't realise it would touch so many lives,'' Parker said backstage, adding he hoped ``it would stand as a song about freedom for everyone.''

Other winners included ``The Sixth Sense'' star Haley Joel Osment who picked up the breakthrough male performance prize. Julia Stiles of ``10 Things I Hate About You'' won the corresponding female prize.

Asked backstage where she would display her trophy, Stiles noted that she was going to an East Coast college in August. ``I don't know. Would that be really obnoxious to put it in your dorm room? Probably.'' ``Star Wars'' creator George Lucas won the best action sequence prize for ``Stars Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace.'' Director Spike Jonze, who received an Oscar nomination for his feature debut ``Being John Malkovich,'' received the pre-announced prize for best new filmmaker. Musical performers included shirtless R&B star D'Angelo, teen pop sensations 'N Sync and hard rock veterans Metallica.

Forget Kevin Spacey and Hilary Swank--it's Fat Bastard and Keanu Reeves who rule in MTV's warped version of the Oscars.

Mike Myers' crude spoof Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and techno-thriller The Matrix shagged the competition rotten Monday, each nabbing six nominations for the 2000 MTV Movie Awards.

In typical fashion, MTV wheeled out another mixed bag of acclaimed films and popcorn flicks for its antidote to the Oscar snoozefest, boasting categories like best on-screen smooch and best action sequence.

Along with Austin Powers and The Matrix, best movie nominations included Best Ppicture Oscar winner American Beauty, gross-out high-school comedy American Pie and creepy dead-folks film The Sixth Sense.

The typically raucous ceremony, hosted this year by bubbly Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker, will be taped in Los Angeles June 3, and aired June 8 at 9 p.m.

The best indication of how MTV works? American Beauty received just two nominations. (That's, uh, below the three noms handed to Adam Sandler's Big Daddy).

Meanwhile, Dangerous Liaisons update Cruel Intentions received five nominations, including best male performance (Ryan Phillippe, best female performance (Sarah Michelle Gellar), and best kiss (Gellar locking tongues with Selma Blair).

And once again, MTV was there for Jim Carrey, even when Oscar dissed him. Carrey received a best male performance nomination for channeling Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon. Last year, Carrey also took home the golden popcorn for his Oscar-snubbed lead role in The Truman Show.

Here's a complete list of all the nominees:

         BEST MOVIE: 
         The Sixth Sense 
         American Pie 
         The Matrix 
         Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 
         American Beauty 

         BEST MALE PERFORMANCE: 
         Bruce Willis, The Sixth Sense 
         Keanu Reeves, The Matrix 
         Adam Sandler, Big Daddy 
         Ryan Phillippe, Cruel Intentions 
         Jim Carrey, Man on the Moon 

         BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE: 
         Sarah Michelle Gellar, Cruel Intentions 
         Drew Barrymore, Never Been Kissed 
         Neve Campbell, Scream 3 
         Julia Roberts, Runaway Bride 
         Ashley Judd, Double Jeopardy 

         BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE: 
         Adam Sandler, Big Daddy 
         Mike Myers, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 
         Jason Biggs, American Pie 
         Parker Posey, Scream 3 
         Ice Cube, Next Friday 

         BEST ON-SCREEN DUO: 
         Bruce Willis/Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense 
         Adam Sandler/Sprouse Twins, Big Daddy 
         Keanu Reeves/Laurence Fishburne, The Matrix 
         Tom Hanks/Tim Allen, Toy Story 2 
         Mike Myers/Verne Troyer, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 

         BEST VILLAIN: 
         Mike Myers, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged me 
         Sarah Michelle Gellar, Cruel Intentions 
         Matt Damon, The Talented Mr. Ripley 
         Christopher Walken, Sleepy Hollow 
         Ray Park, Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace 

         BREAKTHROUGH MALE PERFORMANCE: 
         Jason Biggs, American Pie 
         Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense 
         Jamie Foxx, Any Given Sunday 
         Wes Bentley, American Beauty 
         Michael Clarke Duncan, The Green Mile 

         BREAKTHROUGH FEMALE PERFORMANCE: 
         Julia Stiles, 10 Things I Hate About You 
         Carrie-Anne Moss, The Matrix 
         Selma Blair, Cruel Intentions 
         Shannon Elizabeth, American Pie 
         Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry 

         BEST MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: 
         Mike Myers and Verne Troyer, "Just the Two of Us," Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 
         Matt Stone and Trey Parker, "Uncle Fucka," South Park 
         Matt Damon, Jude Law and Fiorello, "Tu Vuo' Fa L'Americano," The Talented Mr. Ripley 
         Heath Ledger, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," 10 Things I Hate About You 

         BEST KISS: 
         Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny, Boys Don't Cry 
         Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair, Cruel Intentions 
         Katie Holmes and Barry Watson, Teaching Mrs. Tingle 
         Drew Barrymore and Michael Vartan, Never Been Kissed 

         BEST FIGHT: 
         Mike Myers vs. Verne Troyer, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 
         Edward Norton vs. himself, Fight Club 
         Keanu Reeves vs. Laurence Fishburne, The Matrix 
         Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor vs. Ray Park, Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace 

         BEST ACTION SEQUENCE: 
         The Blair Witch Project, "End Sequence" 
         The Matrix, "Rooftop/Helicopter Sequence" 
         The Mummy, "Sand Monster Scene" 
         Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace, "The Pod Race" 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fresh from winning four Oscars last month, sci-fi blockbuster ``The Matrix'' heads the list of nominees for the ninth annual MTV Movie Awards, the cable network said Monday.

Along with the spy spoof ``Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,'' ``The Matrix'' is competing in six categories. The teen romance ``Cruel Intentions'' landed five nominations.

The ceremony, which honors films with such unconventional categories as best villain and best kiss, will be taped in Los Angeles on June 3, and will air June 8. Sarah Jessica Parker, a co-star of HBO's ``Sex and the City'' will host.

Proving that the tastes of the Hollywood bigwigs who vote for the Academy Awards do not always intersect with those of MTV's youthful demographics, five-time Oscar-winner ``American Beauty'' received just two MTV nominations.

It was overshadowed by such fare as the bawdy high school comedy ``American Pie'' and supernatural thriller ``The Sixth Sense'' which received four nominations each.

The five films competing for best movie are ``The Sixth Sense,'' ``American Pie,'' ``The Matrix,'' ``Austin Powers'' and ''American Beauty.''

``The Matrix'' is also competing in best male performance (Keanu Reeves), best on-screen duo and best fight(Reeves and Laurence Fishburne), breakthrough female performance(Carrie-Anne Moss), and best action sequence.

``Austin Powers'' was also cited for comedic performance and villain (Mike Myers), and best on-screen duo, musical performance and fight (Myers and Verne Troyer).

The nominations are chosen through a national poll of MTV viewers who can vote for the winner either online, via telephone or by casting a vote at Blockbuster video stores.

``American Beauty's'' other nomination was Wes Bentley's nod for breakthrough male performance. Other films with multiple nominations included ``Big Daddy'' and ``Star Wars: Episode I -- The Spy Who Shagged Me'' with three each.

``The Matrix'' won all four Academy Award categories in which it was competing: sound, sound effects editing, visual effects and editing.