Here are our picks for the next Sundance Film Fest hit

The Sundance Film Festival serves as an alarm clock, of sorts, a wake-up call for moviegoers lulled to sleep by the endless Oscar season and the mundane multiplex movies of the year's first months.

The annual Utah fest offers the first substantial look ahead at the promising independent fare of the new movie year.

Beginning Thursday night and running through Jan. 27, the confab is set to premiere scores of intriguing films that will shape the cinematic landscape in 2013, much as Sundance debuts like "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "The Sessions" did in 2012.

And who knows? If the multiple Academy Award-nominated "Beasts" is any indication, we could be getting a mini preview of next year's Oscar race as well.

It's hard to guess what movies will leave a mark, because few people have seen them, but we think it's never too early to get these premieres on your radar. Most of them don't have release dates yet, but they're sure to get them soon.