BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — ‘‘Argo’’ is in big with the Golden Globes, but not so much with the Academy Awards. ‘‘Lincoln’’ is sitting pretty with the Oscars but was mostly left out in the cold at the Globes.

Sunday’s Globes left the Feb. 24 Academy Awards picture still muddled, with the Iran hostage thriller ‘‘Argo’’ winning for best drama and director for Ben Affleck, a prize he already knows he can’t win at the Oscars, where he wasn’t even nominated.

The night left ‘‘Argo’’ taking home the top prize at the Globes but standing as a longshot for best picture at the Oscars, where films almost never win if their directors are not nominated.

In a breathless, rapid-fire speech, Affleck gushed over the names of other nominees presenter Halle Berry had read off: Steven Spielberg for ‘‘Lincoln,’’ Ang Lee for ‘‘Life of Pi,’’ Kathryn Bigelow for ‘‘Zero Dark Thirty’’ and Quentin Tarantino for ‘‘Django Unchained.’’

‘‘Look, I don’t care what the award is. When they put your name next to the names she just read off, it’s an extraordinary thing in your life,’’ Affleck said.

Meantime, Spielberg’s ‘‘Lincoln’’ came in leading the Globes with seven nominations but won only one award, best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis. ‘‘Lincoln’’ also leads the Oscars with 12 nominations, with Spielberg, Day-Lewis and co-star Sally Field all in the running for possible third Oscars.

‘‘If I had this on a timeshare basis with my wonderful gifted colleagues, I might just hope to keep it for one day of the year, and I'd be happy with that,’’ Day-Lewis said.

The night featured former President Bill Clinton getting a standing ovation after introducing ‘‘Lincoln’’ and Jodie Foster coming out without really coming out as this year’s winner of the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. Foster joked that celebrities are now expected to reveal they’re gay ‘‘with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime-time reality show.’’ She declined: ‘‘My reality show is so boring.’’

‘‘Les Miserables’’ was named best musical or comedy and won acting honors for Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway.

Besides the three wins for ‘‘Les Miserables’’ and two for ‘‘Argo,’’ the show was a mixed bag, with awards spreads around a number of films.

‘‘Zero Dark Thirty’’ star Jessica Chastain won the Globe for dramatic actress as a CIA agent obsessively pursuing Bin Laden.

Other acting prizes went to Jennifer Lawrence as best musical or comedy actress for the oddball romance ‘‘Silver Linings Playbook’’ and Christoph Waltz as supporting actor for the slave-revenge tale ‘‘Django Unchained.’’

‘‘Les Miserables,’’ the musical based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel, earned Jackman the Globe for musical or comedy actor as tragic hero Jean Valjean. Hathaway won supporting actress as a single mom forced into prostitution.

‘‘Thank you for this lovely blunt object that I will forevermore use as a weapon against self-doubt,’’ Hathaway said, cradling her trophy.

Jackman was a bit hoarse from the flu, but his Globe win seemed to be the right antidote.

‘‘I was kicking myself for not getting the flu shot, but it appears that you don’t need one. I feel great,’’ Jackman said.

But when it comes to Hollywood’s highest honors, ‘‘Les Miserables’’ has the same obstacle as ‘‘Argo,’’ also failing to earn a best-director slot for filmmaker Tom Hooper at the Oscars.

Last Thursday’s Oscar nominations held other shockers, including the omission of fellow Globe directing nominee Kathryn Bigelow for ‘‘Zero Dark Thirty.’’

Clinton upstaged Hollywood’s elite with a surprise appearance to introduce Spielberg’s ‘‘Lincoln,’’ which was up for best drama. The film chronicles Abraham Lincoln’s final months as he tries to end the war and find common ground in a divided Congress to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery.

Lincoln’s effort was ‘‘forged in a cauldron of both principle and compromise,’’ Clinton said. ‘‘This brilliant film shows us how he did it and gives us hope that we can do it again.’’

Amy Poehler, co-host of the Globes with Tina Fey, gushed afterward, ‘‘Wow, what an exciting special guest! That was Hillary Clinton’s husband!’’

Lawrence won as best actress in a musical or comedy for her role as a troubled widow in a shaky new relationship. The Globe winners in musical or comedy categories often aren’t factors at the Oscars, which tend to favor heavier dramatic roles.