Golden Globes share the love, but 'Argo' and 'Les Miserables' win top honors

This year at the Golden Globes, no one film swept the awards. In a year of so many good films, it was great to see multiple works be recognized. Unlike the Oscars, the Globes name best pictures in two categories. Les Misérables grabbed Best Comedy/Musical, in a field that also saw Silver Linings Playbook as a strong contender. Argo, surprisingly, won Best Drama. Zero Dark Thirty
and Lincoln were also in the drama category, and both seemed more likely to win. Lincoln is still considered the big favorite for the Oscars, and an appearance by former president Bill Clinton to introduce the film may give the feature the extra push to win come Oscar-time. Especially when its competitor, Zero Dark Thirty, appears to have drawn mainly criticism from elected officials. Argo will also be at a disadvantage when it comes to the Oscars. Although Ben Affleck won Best Director at the Globes, he didn't even get nominated in the category at the Oscars. Best Director and Best Film nearly always track together. But if there's any year where this rule will be thrown out the window, it's this year.

The Golden Globes' double awards based on genre show that there are still some Oscar races that are up in the air. Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress in a comedy/musical for Silver Linings
Playbook, while Jessica Chastain grabbed the honors for Best Actress in a drama. They both gave great speeches, too. This category will be a tough one to choose between, but if it's about recognizing both an actress and a a great film, my vote is for Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty. Anne Hathaway's win for Best Supporting Actress in Les Misérables only confirms she's a lock for the category.

Hugh Jackman was recognized for his work as Best Actor in a comedy/musical for  Les Misérables, but it's pretty clear that Daniel Day-Lewis, the winner in the Best Actor for a drama category for Lincoln, is the favorite for the Oscars. Christoph Waltz carried home the statue for Best Supporting Actor in Django Unchained (the fact that it's a "supporting" role is likely some Weinstein finessing). Django also won in the Best Screenplay
category. Quentin Tarantino, who also directed the picture, called the award a huge "surprise." Django is a bit more edgy than the Academy usually goes for, though they did give the violent-comic Western five nominations. I think Waltz is a more likely win than Tarantino when it comes to the Oscars. There, Tarantino will compete in the Original Screenplay category, which also includes Amour, Zero Dark Thirty, Flight, and Moonrise Kingdom.

Zero Dark Thirty has long been the horse I've been betting on, but at this point it may be just my favorite horse. It won only one of its four categories, Best Actress for Chastain, though the performer took time in her speech to personally thank director Kathryn Bigelow for the strong female character who leads the charge in the procedural thriller. When it comes to the box office, though, ZDT looks like it will be enjoying the same level of success as Argo. The "other drama about the CIA" this year opened to just under $20 million and has earned five-and-a-half times its opening weekend to date. Zero Dark Thirty finally expanded after weeks in specialty release and opened to $24 million. If it follows the trajectory of Argo, it could also be looking at a total north of $100 million.

This is a year not only of incredibly strong films, but incredibly successful ones at the box office too. Five honorees had spots in the top ten this week. Django Unchained placed fourth with $11 million, but had a 44% drop, larger than any of its previous weeks. That may be because of two new offerings, Gangster Squad and A Haunted House, that cut into its audience. Gangster Squad drew many under 35s, likely fans of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, to open to $16.7 million. One spot higher, the horror spoof A Haunted House debuted to $18.8 million. Blacks made up half the audience, and Latinos another 30%. Since Django had been playing well to black audiences, it likely lost viewers to that release.

In fifth place, Les Misérables dropped 36% to stay in the seven figures another week, finishing with $10.1 million. Lincoln, in seventh place, added 16% to earn $6.3 million. Silver Linings Playbook also had a bump of 38% to $5 million, likely thanks to the Golden Globes. The only big winner not in the top ten was Argo. In nineteenth place, it went up 57% to $1.2 million, not so bad for a movie now in theatres for three and a half months.

This Friday, the Golden Globe-honored films should continue to see strong business. Silver Linings Playbook will ride on its win to expand wide. Best Actress winner Jessica Chastain will appear in the thriller Mama, and Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe will star in the crime picture Broken City. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a presenter at last night's awards, will star in The Last Stand. As for the Oscars? They're just forty days away.