Beverly Hills (California), Jan. 17 (Reuters): The race for Hollywood?s top film honours, the Oscars, turned into a three-way contest on Sunday when The Aviator, Sideways and Million Dollar Baby took top Golden Globe Awards.

Veteran director Martin Scorsese?s The Aviator, about the life of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, earned three Golden Globe honours, more than any other film, including best film drama, best dramatic actor for Leonardo DiCaprio playing Hughes, and best original score for composer Howard Shore.

But Scorsese lost best director honours to Clint Eastwood, whose female boxing drama Million Dollar Baby has been a hit with critics.

The movie also earned Hilary Swank the Golden Globe for best dramatic actress playing a woman pugilist.

Coming into the Golden Globes, Sideways had been the most nominated movie with seven nominations overall to six for The Aviator.

Sideways walked off with two awards, one for best musical or comedy and a second for best screenplay for director Alexander Payne and his writing partner Jim Taylor.

The Golden Globes, given out by the 93-member Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are Hollywood?s first major show of the awards season.

They often tip movie fans on which films might go on to win Oscars, given on February 27.

Eastwood?s victory sets up a likely head-to-head Oscar race with Scorsese, who has never won an Oscar.