Dallas Critics Name 12 YEARS A SLAVE As Best Of 2013

The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, of which I am a proud member, has selected Steve McQueen's searing drama 12 Years A Slave as the best film of 2013.

Matthew McConaughey was named Best Actor for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club, and Cate Blanchett as Best Actress for Blue Jasmine. Supporting nods went to Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) and Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years A Slave).

Alfonso Curaon was voted Best Director for Gravity The film was also recognized for Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki) and Best Musical Score (Steven Price).

Other films named as 'best' in their category included Frozen (animated), Blue is the Warmest Color (foreign-language), and Twenty Feet From Stardom (documentary).

Fruitvale Station received the Russell Smith Award, named for the late Dallas Morning News film critic. The honor is given annually to the best low-budget or cutting-edge independent film.

Eligibility is fairly broad for our local group, but the film must have had a theatrical release in the U.S. during the calendar year. Most of my selections were different than what is named here, but almost all of the top picks of the group as a whole were films that were also somewhere on my ballot.

Here's the complete press release:

The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association voted the historical drama 12 YEARS A SLAVE as the best film of 2013, according to the results of its 20th annual critics' poll released today.

Rounding out the composite list of the top 10 films of the year were GRAVITY (2), NEBRASKA (3), AMERICAN HUSTLE (4), DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (5), HER (6), THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (7), INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (8), CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (9) and MUD (10).

For Best Actor, the association named Matthew McConaughey for DALLAS BUYERS CLUB. Runners-up included Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 YEARS A SLAVE (2), Bruce Dern for NEBRASKA (3), Tom Hanks for CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (4) and Leonardo DiCaprio for THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (5).

Cate Blanchett was voted Best Actress for BLUE JASMINE. Next in the voting were Sandra Bullock for GRAVITY (2), Judi Dench for PHILOMENA (3), Meryl Streep for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (4) and Emma Thompson for SAVING MR. BANKS (5).

In the Best Supporting Actor category, the winner was Jared Leto for DALLAS BUYERS CLUB. He was followed by Michael Fassbender for 12 YEARS A SLAVE (2), Barkhad Abdi for CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (3), Daniel Bruhl for RUSH (4) and Jonah Hill for THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (5).

For Best Supporting Actress, the association named Lupita Nyong'o for 12 YEARS A SLAVE. Runners-up were June Squibb for NEBRASKA (2), Jennifer Lawrence for AMERICAN HUSTLE (3), Julia Roberts for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (4) and Sally Hawkins for BLUE JASMINE (5).

Alfonso Cuaron was voted Best Director for GRAVITY. Next in the voting were Steve McQueen for 12 YEARS A SLAVE (2), Alexander Payne for NEBRASKA (3), David O. Russell for AMERICAN HUSTLE (4) and Martin Scorsese for THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (5).

The association voted BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR as the best foreign-language film of the year. Runners-up included THE HUNT (2), THE GREAT BEAUTY (3), THE WIND RISES (4) and THE GRANDMASTER (5).

TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM won for Best Documentary over THE ACT OF KILLING (2), STORIES WE TELL (3), BLACKFISH (4) and THE GATEKEEPERS (5).

FROZEN was named the best animated film of 2013, with DESPICABLE ME 2 as runner-up. John Ridley won the Best Screenplay award for 12 YEARS A SLAVE over a tie between Bob Nelson for NEBRASKA and Spike Jonze for HER.

The award for Best Cinematography went to Emmanuel Lubezki for GRAVITY, followed by Sean Bobbitt for 12 YEARS A SLAVE. The association gave its award for Best Musical Score to Steven Price for GRAVITY.

The association voted FRUITVALE STATION as the winner of the Russell Smith Award, named for the late Dallas Morning News film critic. The honor is given annually to the best low-budget or cutting-edge independent film.

The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association consists of 29 broadcast, print and online journalists from throughout North Texas. For more information, visit www.dfwcritics.com.