1. "A Star Is Born"

A movie highly noted for being Bradley Cooper's directorial debut, who also stars alongside acclaimed singer Lady Gaga who first broke into the acting with her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the FX hit series "American Horror Story", "A Star Is Born" powered its way onto the movie scene at the Venice Film Festival. Opening to universal acclaim, critics praised the film for dynamite chemistry exhibited by Cooper and Lady Gaga, the direction, but most importantly, since its a music drama, the music.

Boasting a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes mirrored by a 9.1/10 rating on IMDB, astounding numbers that haven't been seen since Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight", don't be surprised to see Cooper's rookie, but far above amateur behind the scenes efforts, run the competition out of Dolby in February.

2. "Roma"

Debuting on the big screens at the Venice Film Festival, "Roma" stole the show from right under the feet of Bradley Cooper's rookie directorial efforts by walking off with the Golden Lion. Written and directed by Alfonso Cuoran, the acclaimed auteur seamlessly translated his success from "Gravity" and "Children of Man", with critics praising his latest project for his visually enthralling, commanding craft, and for the personal element sown into the narrative which many considered to be the most powerful, and close to the heart, of Cuoran's career.

As a runner-up for People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, "Roma" has also been chosen to represent Mexico for Best Foreign Film and the 91st Academy Awards. With one nomination in the bag, expect "Roma" to challenge for other categories it hopes to turn into hardware.

3. "BlacKkKlansman"

Competing for the Palm d'Or, and winning the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, Spike Lee's latest biopic was a masterful return to form from the days of "Do the Right Thing". Recounting the story of an African-American police officer who successfully infiltrated and masqueraded as a member of a local KKK Chapter in Colorado, "BlacKkKlansman" won praise for its contemptuous, hard-hitting style as a narrative extracted from history and reshaped in such a way to confront the emboldened racism that has tainted the American political scene courtesy of Donald Trump's administration. Fierce, crass, and amalgamated with a drop of satire, "BlacKkKlansman" will certainly be fighting to wrest power at an award ceremony with a long history of favoring Caucasian films.

4. "First Man"

Like "Roma" and "A Star Is Born", "First Man" had its day view at the Venice Film Festival. Directed by Harvard alumnus Damien Chazelle, responsible for the masterpieces "Whiplash" and "La La Land", and written by Josh Singer, who authored the scripts for "The Post", and "Spotlight", the overwhelming presence of Oscar power once again delivered with epic finesse in a biopic recounting Neil Armstrong's first ascent to the moon.

With Chazelle receiving praise for his gritty realism and hellbent obsession employed in his directing, the auteur's latest work was also bolstered by powerful performances on the part of Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy. Riding a torrent of rave reviews, Chazelle is certainly making a case to further decorate what is already decorated, but still young, career.

5. "On the Basis of Sex

In the midst of the #metoo era that has been an age of reckoning for the entertainment industry, there is no better film or story befitting of such a time than that recounting the early life of famed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg long before her appointment by Bill Clinton to serve on the highest court in the United States. With Felicity Jones playing the young Ginsburg and looking to replicate her Oscar-nominated performance in "The Theory of Everything", "On the Basis of Sex" will also be Mimi Leder's directorial debut. But what is more significant about this behind the scenes management choice is that similar to how Ginsburg was the first women to be on two law reviews, Leder was the first female student to be admitted into the American Film Institute.

With the success of Bradley Cooper's first film as a director, Leder will be looking to cement the 2018-2019 season as a year of firsts. This will also be the first script that writer Daniel Stiepleman has had produced. The odds will certainly be stacked against "On the Basis of Sex" as an all-rookie team, but the odds were even higher against Ginsburg when she was trying to break into the legal profession is one of the very few female attorneys in her day.