"Gravity," "Her" tie for L.A. critics' Best Film prize

LOS ANGELES – In a tie vote, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association awarded their prize for Best Film of 2013 to two films, each with strong science fiction leanings: "Gravity," a 3-D spectacle of an astronaut stranded in outer space, and "Her," a quirky futuristic romance in which a lonely man rebounds from divorce to fall in love with the voice of his computer's operating system.

The critics group also came up with tie votes in several other categories, underscoring the lack of front-runners in an awards season unusually rich with memorable performances.

The group awarded Best Actress to both Cate Blanchett, as the heroine of Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine," and Adele Exarchopoulos, star of the French coming-of-age drama, "Blue Is the Warmest Color."

The critics also couldn’t decide between James Franco as a criminal ringleader in "Spring Breakers," or Jared Leto as a transgrander AIDS patient in "Dallas Buyers Club," for Best Supporting Actor; both men won.

Winning and runner-up choices of the L.A. film critics (whose voting Sunday was relayed on Twitter) were revealed, with little overlap from last week's voting by the New York Film Critics Circle and National Board of Review.

"Gravity"'s Alfonso Cuaron's won the Best Director prize (he also shared Best Editing). Spike Jonze was a runner-up for "Her" in both the director and screenplay categories.

Bruce Dern won Best Actor for "Nebraska," with "12 Years a Slave" star Chiwetel Ejiofor the runner-up. Their co-stars were recognized in the Best Supporting Actress category: Lupita Nyong'o won for "12 Years a Slave," with June Squibb the runner-up for "Nebraska."

Technical prizes were split among "Gravity" (cinematography and editing), "Her" (production design), and the Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis" (which picked up a music award).

"Blue Is the Warmest Color" was named Best Foreign Film, while Sarah Polley's "Stories We Tell" won  Best Documentary. Best Animation was the French feature, "Ernest & Celestine."

The group also awarded special citations to the creative team of "12 Years a Slave," producer Megan Ellison ("Zero Dark Thirty," "Her"), and the Criterion Collection.

2013 LAFCA Winners:

Best Picture (tie): "Gravity" and "Her"

Best Actor: Bruce Dern, "Nebraska"
Runner-up: Chiwetel Ejiofor, "12 Years a Slave"

Best Actress (tie): Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine"; and Adele Exarchopoulos, "Blue Is the Warmest Color"

Best Supporting Actor (tie) James Franco, "Spring Breakers," and Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club"

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years a Slave"
Runner-up: June Squibb, "Nebraska."

Best Director: Winner: Alfonso Cuaron, "Gravity"
Runner-up: Spike Jonze, "Her"

Best Screenplay: Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke, "Before Midnight"
Runner-up: Spike Jonze, "Her"

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, "Gravity"
Runner-up: Bruno Delbonnel, "Inside Llewyn Davis"

Best Foreign Film: "Blue Is the Warmest Color"
Runner-up: "The Great Beauty"

Best Documentary: "Stories We Tell"
Runner-up: "The Act of Killing"

Best Animation: "Ernest & Celestine"
Runner-up: "The Wind Rises"

Best Production Design: K.K. Barrett, "Her"
Runner-up: Jess Gonchor, "Inside Llewyn Davis"

Best Editing: Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger, "Gravity"
Runner-up: Shane Carruth and David Lowery, "Upstream Color"

Best Music Score: T Bone Burnett, "Inside Llewyn Davis"
Runner-up: Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett, "Her"

Douglas Edwards Independent/Experimental Film/Video Award: "Cabinets Of Wonder: Films and a Performance by Charlotte Pryce"

New Generation Prize: Megan Ellison

Legacy of Cinema: The Criterion Collection

Special Citation: The creative team of "12 Years a Slave"