‘Sideways’ picked by Southeastern critics

Jamie Foxx and Annette Bening picked best actor and actress

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updated 9:16 a.m. ET Dec. 21, 2004

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - “Sideways,” a comedy about two friends on a wine-tasting road trip through California, was named best film of 2004 and Alexander Payne was named best director by the Southeastern Film Critics Association.

The critics voted Jamie Foxx best actor for “Ray” and Annette Bening of “Being Julia” for best actress. Charlie Kaufman won best original screenplay for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

“Maria Full of Grace,” directed by Joshua Marston, was named best foreign-language film, and the best documentary award went to Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

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Following “Sideways” in the group’s Top 10 list, announced Monday, were: “Million Dollar Baby,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Kinsey,” “The Incredibles,” “Finding Neverland,” “Ray,” “The Aviator,” “Hotel Rwanda” and “Before Sunset.”

The Southeastern Film Critics Association includes print, broadcast and Internet film critics from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Forty-three voted in this year’s awards, according to the group’s president, Betsy Pickle of The Knoxville News Sentinel.