Perhaps inspired by critical consensus that suggested phrases like “not bad” or “could have been worse” or “beats a stick in the eye,” Americans looking to stave off cabin fever turned out in surprising force for Contraband, the rare mid-January studio release that isn’t completely awful. At $24.1 million, the film cruised into first place and significantly bolstered Mark Wahlberg’s star status in the process—if a generic thriller can enjoy that strong a mid-January opening, surely star power has something to do with it. (Unless the mini-cult of trainwreck Giovanni Ribisi performance appreciators is larger than we thought; for this crowd, Ribisi’s incomprehensible Cajun accent more than delivers the goods.) The 3-D version of Beauty And The Beast also did solid business, with $18.5 million for second, further encouraging the diabolical trend of 3-D conversion jobs on movies that were never intended for the format. That left Joyful Noise as the odd movie out, opening fourth with a weak $11.3 million, proving again that “Glee-ks” aren’t willing to pay money to extend their obsession with canned choir covers and synthetic melodrama.