Chistoph Walz poses backstage with his award for best supporting actor in a motion picture for "Django Unchained" at the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, January 13, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Hollywood's biggest stars turned out on Sunday for the 70th Golden Globe Awards, with "Lincoln" and Iran hostage thriller "Argo" in a close race for the top honor, best movie drama.

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Jessica Chastain, best actress nominee for thriller "Zero Dark Thirty," Claire Danes, star of the TV show "Homeland," and "Girls" creator and star Lena Dunham braved unusually chilly Southern California weather in traditional strapless or plunging gowns as they made their way down the red carpet for the glitzy dinner ceremony.

Jodie Foster, who will be receiving this year's lifetime achievement award, "Silver Linings Playbook" nominee Bradley Cooper and Golden Globe-nominated "Life of Pi" director Ang Lee were also among the early arrivals, while screaming fans in bleachers awaited George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson, who will be among the A-list presenters.

Eyes also will be on comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who are jointly hosting the three-hour event for the first time and who have promised "the sloppiest, best ever" Golden Globes ceremony.

"Lincoln," Spielberg's account of US President Abraham Lincoln's battle to end slavery, heads into the evening with seven nominations.

But it faces strong competition from "Argo," and Quentin Tarantino's spaghetti Western-style slavery drama, "Django Unchained," which have five apiece from Globe organizer, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

With Osama bin Laden movie "Zero Dark Thirty" and visually arresting shipwreck tale "Life of Pi" rounding out the best dramatic film contest, pundits say it is hard to predict which film will come out on top.

"They really seem to like Tarantino at the HFPA," said Pete Hammond, awards columnist for entertainment industry website Deadline.com.

"But I am guessing it will come down to 'Argo' versus 'Lincoln.' They like them both enormously at the HFPA, so I think it's a battle to the finish for those two," Hammond told Reuters.

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The 70th annual Golden Globe Awards