With the start of the New York Film Festival, critics will be looking for the next Oscar contender and Best Picture winner.

The Academy Award winner for the past two years has gone on to premiere at this festival. Both "12 Years a Slave" and "Birdman" premiered at the festival after successful runs in other top film festivals.

NYFF got off to a start with the world premiere of "The Walk," a film that had been garnering Oscar buzz for the past months. That is mostly due to the fact that "Life of Pi," "Captain Phillips" and "Gone Girl" all opened the festival. Out of all these films, two were nominated for Best Picture while "Gone Girl" went on to get multiple award nominations and one Oscar nomination.

"The Walk" opened to mostly good reviews but there were many critics who disliked it. Some criticized it for banality and while others were wowed for its visual prowess. However, it is still a question mark on whether or not this will actually make the Academy Awards.

For one thing the movie is likely to get nominated for Best Visual Effects, especially since it had the difficult task of recreating the Twin Towers in the most accurate way possible. Many have already stated this movie is this year's "Life of Pi," "Hugo" and "Gravity." Those films were all in 3D and nominated for Best Picture. All three films also won Best Visual Effects. However, when these movies made their festival bows, reviews were ecstatic and critics praised the movies immediately.

"The Walk" is definitely also a contender in the sound categories and perhaps score. Joseph Gordon-Levitt could also be up for Best Actor, especially since he speaks French with a very good Parisian accent. However, there are no major supporting roles in the film.

As for the Best Picture and Best Director nominations those are categories still up for grabs. Robert Zemeckis has only been nominated for Best Director once and that was back in 1994 for "Forrest Gump." That film also won Best Picture and became a classic.

Since then, only four movies have been nominated for Oscars in many categories. However, none have been nominated for Best Picture or Best Director.

"The Walk" will have to face a tough competition as well. While there are no secure Best Pictures, many pundits are already predicting that "Brooklyn," "Spotlight," "Room," "Carol," and "Steve Jobs" will earn major nominations. The film will also have to look out for "Bridge of Spies," "The Hateful Eight," "Joy," "The Revenant" and "In the Heart of the Sea," especially since they have not premiered. All in all the competition is just getting started and unless "The Walk" is able to get traction at the box office and with critics it could end up being a miss.

"The Walk" made its world premiere on Sept. 26 with a red carpet gala and Q&A afterward. The New York Film Festival continues until Oct. 10.