DALLAS-FORT WORTH FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCE

Best Picture

1.    The Descendants

2.       The Artist

3.       Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

4.       Midnight in Paris

5.       The Tree of Life

6.       Hugo

7.       50/50

8.       Drive

9.       Shame

10.    Moneyball

Best Director

1.    Alexander Payne (The Descendants)

2.       Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

3.       Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)

4.       Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

5.       Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

1.    George Clooney (The Descendants)

2.       Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

3.       Michael Fassbender (Shame)

4.       Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

5.       Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

1.    Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

2.       Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)

3.       Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)

4.       Charlize Theron (Young Adult)

5.       Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

1.    Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

2.       Albert Brooks (Drive)

3.       Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

4.       Armie Hammer (J. Edgar)

5.       Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

1.    Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)

2.       Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)

3.       Octavia Spencer (The Help)

4.       Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)

5.       Carey Mulligan (Shame)

Best Screenplay

1.    Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne and Jim Rash (The Descendants)

2.       Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)

Best Cinematography

1.    Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life)

2.       Janusz Kaminski (War Horse)

Best Animated Film

1.    Rango

2.       The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Best Documentary

1.    Cave of Forgotten Dreams

2.       Project Nim

3.       The Interrupters

4.       Page One: Inside the New York Times

5.       Buck

Best Foreign Language Film

1.    A Separation

2.       The Skin I Live In

3.       Incendies

4.       13 Assassins

5.       Certified Copy

Of Gods and Men

Russell Smith Award for Best Independent Film

                We Need to Talk About Kevin

This marks the first group to be dominated by The Descendants. Remember when it shocked us all and won the LAFCA? Well, that time, that was its only award, and from a group which didn't seem likely to honour this film above all others. The DFWFCA, on the other hand - I suppose there's no reason why not. It's not great news for The Artist, which ranks second each time it appears on this list, losing out to The Descendants every time, including Best Director - Alexander Payne's first win of the season, surprisingly. But this is a small group, so The Artist ought not to fear; anyway, two years ago, Dallas was the only group to nominate Maggie Gyllenhaal for her performance in Crazy Heart - not only from the critics' groups, but from all precursor groups - before she was nominated for an Oscar, and even then, she was Dallas' fifth place supporting actress.

With support here, this makes it a good day for Kirsten Dunst, Michael Shannon, Christopher Plummer and Carey Mulligan, all of whom have received boosts at least twice today already.