The end of the year is usually a great time for festivities because there are usually many different choices. With all of the enthusiasm for the popular sports seasons intertwined with the quite eventful holiday season, it is very easy to lose track of the film industry’s biggest and most important period of the year; Oscar season. For many film pundits, this is their regular season football, the Oscars ceremony is their Superbowl, and the movies are their teams. The Toronto International Film Festival is part of their extensive pre-season fervor.

​From Sept. 6 to 16, TIFF’s 10-day cinematic experience is bustling with new creative outings from both veteran and rookie filmmakers showcasing their talent as well as their compelling cultural, personal and sometimes political agendas.

Swathes of fans and journalists alike have an opportunity to finally placate their anticipation and enjoy some of the year’s best work, coming in all sorts of genres from a thrilling piece of horror nostalgia in the new “Halloween” to a deeply personal exploration of addiction in the drama “Beautiful Boy.” This festival’s extensive collection of films provides the additional ability for the film press to anticipate the Oscar season, as it is a great indicator as to which films could have a chance to be part of the highly prestigious and competitive Oscar race.

So, what should you be watching this year?

​Apart from personal stories, TIFF’s roster has some more visceral pieces, such as Damian Chazelle’s “First Man.” Chazelle is a celebrated up-and-coming director who made waves with his directorial debut with the award-winning “Whiplash.” After his last year’s effort, “La La Land” proved to audiences that he is very esteemed director who could smoothly navigate through a modern musical while providing unique visual style and seamless grace in directing; Chazelle returns with what many critics and reviewers are calling one of the best movies of the year.

In the vein of popular movies such as “The Right Stuff” and “Apollo 13,” “First Man” takes a familiar cinematic storyline about America’s heroes bravely venturing into the depths of space, and turns it into an intimate, human-oriented, historical drama focusing on the sacrifices and stakes of implementing the daunting ordeal or space travel and its effects on the psyches of the famous astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin — who dared to take up the mantle.

After his Oscar-nominated performance in “La La Land,” Ryan Gosling returns to star in Chazelle’s work as Neil Armstrong himself and is joined by talents such as Claire Foy (“The Crown”) and Jason Clarke (“Zero Dark Thirty”) among others. With an 88 percent on the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, “First Man” has great potential for success and looks like the movie to beat in the upcoming Oscar season.

​Back down on Earth, audiences can look to be inspired by Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut “A Star is Born.” Following the similar formula are the other “A Star is Born” movies, which has been thrice remade since the 1937 David O. Selznick classic, starring the likes of Judy Garland (1954) and Barbara Streisand (1976), Bradley Cooper offers a fresh take on the tale 42 years later and is accompanied by breakout star Lady Gaga, and other great talents like Dave Chappelle and Sam Elliot (“The Big Lebowski”).

If you aren’t familiar with the story, the basic outline follows a veteran musical idol whose career is in the early stages of decline (Cooper) encountering a talented aspiring singer (Gaga) who has doubts about herself and her future career. The story then springs off as both of their careers become intertwined and they become romantically involved, leading to successes, failures, and a riveting personal romance tent-poled by excellent directing and acting performances. Although Cooper has never dealt his hand in directing before, the track record for actors-turned-directors has been proven excellent with famous talents such as Ben Affleck, Clint Eastwood and Mel Gibson.

Based off of generally positive early reactions and a 96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it looks like Cooper has joined the ranks, but it isn’t to say that Cooper’s acting performance should be overlooked. After solidifying himself as a leading man in popular outings like “American Sniper” and “Silver Linings Playbook” — which garnered him two Oscar nominations for best actor — he is someone to look forward to seeing in “A Star is Born.”

But not taking credit away from Lady Gaga, whose incredible career in the music industry and a Golden Globe-winning performance in the TV show “American Horror Story” makes her a perfect candidate to star as the aspiring singer alongside Cooper. Her singing ability complements this movie greatly and her performance is not something to be missed.

​Apart from what many critics are calling the front runners of the Festival, many other movies have debuted which should not be overlooked. “Beautiful Boy,” starring “The Office’s” Steve Carrel, and rising star Timothee Chalamet is expected to move audiences with its cryptic and deeply personal tale of a father dealing with his son’s addiction to methamphetamine.

Both actors are also looking to secure yet another Oscar nomination for acting this year. Following the theme of another great year in acting is Melissa McCarthy’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” which follows a struggling biographical publicist who relies on deception to keep her career from falling apart. Breaking out of her stereotypical goofy, raunchy roles, McCarthy looks to bring a broken yet captivating performance — which many are praising to be her best one to date. She is and also looking to acquire a possible acting nomination.

Apart from these standouts, there are many other films that debuted which have proven well with critics and deserve to be visited, a few being “Green Book,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” and “Boy Erased.” 

Given that many of these films are going into wide release very soon, TIFF offers a great introduction to the movies which many might miss this year and will help hinder confusion about unknown properties come the Academy Awards ceremony.