Best known for writing Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive, Hossein Amini makes his directorial debut with the ’60s noir-ish throwback, The Two Faces of January, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. Set in Greece in 1962, the film follows a vacationing American couple, Chester (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife Colette (Kirsten Dunst), who get intwined with a small-time conman named Rydal (Oscar Isaac) when he witnesses Chester committing a deadly crime at their hotel. Rydal offers to help the couple flee to Athens, and as the three evade the authorities on the streets, Chester is forced to compete with the younger Rydal for his wife’s affections.

In media roundtable interview conducted at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival, we spoke to Hossein about the film’s ’60s influences, his attraction to weakness in characters, Highsmith’s fascination with male competition, silent storytelling, the film’s period set and costume design, and more.

The Two Faces of January is out this Friday in San Francisco.

Your film resembles a lot of suspense noirs from the ’60s. What were some of your inspirations?
Hossein: I’m a total film nut, and I love film noir, so I couldn’t wait to get to Turkey to shoot that. I wanted to, in a way, recreate that period of [’60s cinema]. It was important to not be too contemporary with the camera moves. It was such a novel period in filmmaking, with the French New Wave and Italian cinema. I watched a lot of European movies from that time. But I always go back to ’40s and ’50s American film noir, because that was my first real movie passion. I remember seeing Kiss Me Deadly on the big screen, and it blew me away. It was the first time I fell in love with movies. Hitchcock is an influence as well. The French talk about a “film soleil” as opposed to a film noir, which is a film noir shot in the sunshine. I kind of love it. It’s that idea of oppressive heat and dust in these landscapes.

Did you feel that the more rugged landscapes revealed the real nature of the characters?
Hossein: That was absolutely the intention. We wanted to start off [Viggo] with this beautiful suit, and [Kirsten] with this dress, and gradually, as those layers are stripped off, it starts to reveal who they are. I remember liking those characters as I read the book. They’re so fragile, and I think it’s rare when you get movie characters who are weak. We make films about bad people or villains, but I think villains that are actually human are rare. I know how difficult that is; we did test screenings and the audience said, “I don’t have anyone to root for.”

I have to accept that, but I think that’s what makes [Patricia] such a great writer. She just strips these characters naked. She’s kind of cruel and compassionate to them as a writer, and that’s something I capture in the movie. I like Chester. I don’t know what other people think, but he was the character when I read the book that really made me want to do this. I felt he was jealous and drunk–all these weak human qualities–and yet there are sometimes moments of dignity.

Talk about the challenge of being an homage to those films without becoming “retro”.
Hossein: It is a fine line. Some people do find it goes too far into the Hitchcock pastiche, which wasn’t intentional. The characters are so modern; that would be my defense of what makes it contemporary. [Patricia] was so ahead of her time in that her characters change so quickly from being kind to cruel, from vicious to suddenly having remorse. It doesn’t happen in scenes; it happens almost within moments. One example is when they’re all sitting around at dinner and there’s dancing going on. Rydal is flirting with Colette, and then he remembers her husband is there, and he’s almost apologetic. That’s something about her writing that I found…it’s almost how I behave. That doesn’t say particularly good things about me, but I can suddenly be mean to my wife and feel terrible about it the very next moment. She captures this very modern psychology.

There’s a big father-son theme in the film.
Hossein: When I read the book I thought, what does The Two Faces of January mean? One is the idea of the god, Janus, that has got the two heads facing outwards. I thought it was interesting, because no matter how much [Chester and Rydal] hate each other, they’re twins, and they’re tied together. Also, it’s about the new replacing the old. Back in early times, the son would have to kill the father in order to become a man. There’s something about the sense of competition and admiration going together between a younger man and an older man. Highsmith is so fascinated with the relationships between men. I think she’s much more interested in that. In Ripley, she gets rid of Marge fairly quickly. The father-son thing is a way for her to show a love story and a hate story between men.

A lot of the storytelling in your film is told through the actors’ eyes. Some of the most significant scenes are silent.
Hossein: As a screenwriter, I’ve always felt the dialogue is there to set up those silences. It’s about the space between the lines. If you have a scene where a woman is on the phone with her lover, and then she goes to her husband and talks about the weather, it can be the most moving, powerful scene. The dialogue is irrelevant, really; it’s the subtext and the looks between them. In marriage scenes, the couple rarely talks about the problem, but the undercurrent is always there. I think that’s what I love about movies–the close-ups, the silences, the way you feel people’s pain. Quite often, we’d cut to who’s not talking in those three-way conversations, because I think that’s where the drama is.

I struggle so much with dialogue as a writer. I find it very hard to write. If I could write like Tarantino, I’m sure I’d be huge! [laughs] I find silent storytelling more interesting than people saying what they actually think.

Are you angling for a silent picture next?
Hossein: One of my favorite directors, [Jean-Pierre] Melville, who did Le Samorai and Le Cercle Rouge…there’s almost no dialogue in those.

Colette sort of fades into the background about halfway through the film. How does this compare to the book?
Hossein: The book has that thing of her disappearing from the picture. That was always there. When I wrote the script, I thought I needed to make it more of a triangle, and we shot it like that. In the book, it isn’t; Highsmith isn’t that interested in her. When I was editing with the editor, and when we test screened it, we found that Highsmith’s DNA came back to reclaim [the film]. People were more interested in the relationship between the men, the same way as an author she had been. We felt after a while that going back to the book and making her the catalyst and object of competition for the men [is better]. Kirsten resists that kind of thing, but I do think that her part was a struggle than the movie. She was better than the part, I think, and we both struggled to make that part better. But in the editing, the shape of the movie pushed it to her being watched as opposed to being in the center.

Talk a bit about the set and costume design. That must have been a fun experience to watch that come together.
Hossein: As a writer, my favorite thing about writing a script is the research. We went through a lot of ’60s photographs, which you can find on the web. It’s amazing, just home photos of people from that period. Then there are the movies from that period, like Alain Delon wearing a white suit. What I liked about directing for the first time was that everyone knows what they do so much better than you do, and it’s fantastic to watch how good other people are. If you let them, people really want to help you. I wonder if that happens on the second or third film, because maybe people step back. But here, being open to that was really helpful.

We may seem like reclusive budget-shirking obscure film enthusiasts over here at Way Too Indie, and well, some of us are, but we’re not living in any dark holes and far be it from of us to say that a film that had a little money behind it isn’t worth our notice. So here we are, covering our bases. In The Mainstream we’ll look at what’s doing well at the box-office (and secretly hoping it’s an indie darling) and all those major releases that demand our attention in the name of pop culture.

What do summer movie hits like Face/Off, Con Air, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Lost World, Batman & Robin, and Men in Black have in common with Summer 2014? They were all released in 1997, which is officially the last time we had as dismal a box office as we did this past summer. How surprising with such cinematic gems. I mean, come on, Nick Cage was in two of those. *Wink*

Yeesh. Do you see now why we encourage indie film viewing, people? The studios just can’t be trusted to give us good stuff.

Obviously we didn’t hate everything this summer. We’re almost embarrassed at how much we’ve been gushing over Guardians of the Galaxy (we swear we’re an indie site, honest). But with 12 sequels this summer, only 3 really proved that fans were asking for them with increased ticket sales, so 8 of them were clearly the studios guessing what we like and dismally failing once again.

Well hopefully we all got our fix of explosions and CG and we can move on into September and the fall and enjoy the somber, yet touching, offerings they have to bring.

That said, September is slightly droll.

The few things on our agenda from the mainstream is James Gandolfini’s last performance in The Drop, YA epic The Maze Runner, all-star studded comedy This is Where I Leave You, and, because Sam Rockwell can almost redeem any film (sorry The Way Way Back), we might also see Laggies. As for the indie side, The Guest, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, The Skeleton Twins, Tusk, The Two Faces of January, and Pride all have us pretty revved up.

Here’s your September release guide below. Happy watching, and hi-ho into fall!

September Preview

The Week of August 31

Forrest Gump (Rerelease), The Longest Week, Frontera, No No: A Dockumentary

The Week of September 7th

My Old Lady, No Good Deed, Search Party, Dolphin Tale 2, The Identical, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, 108 Stitches, The Drop, Atlas Shrugged Part III, The Quitter, Wheels

The Week of September 14th

The Guest, The Maze Runner, A Walk Among the Tombstones, This is Where I Leave You, Reclaim, Space Station 76, The Zero Theorem, Tusk, The Skeleton Twins, The Scribbler, Tracks, Hector and the Search for Happiness

The Week of September 21st

The Equalizer, The Boxtrolls, Laggies, Pride, A Matter of Faith, The Two Faces of January, The Song, Jimi: All Is By My Side, Two: The Story of Roman & Nyro 

August Box Office Domestic Grosses

1. Guardians of the Galaxy (Buena Vista) – $283,566,704
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Paramount) – $167,684,505
3. Let’s Be Cops (Fox) – $60,762,872
4. Into the Storm (WB) – $42,981,248
5.  The Hundred-Foot Journey (Buena Vista) – $42,097,623

2014 Year-To-Date Box Office Domestic Grosses

1. Guardians of the Galaxy (Buena Vista) – $283,566,704
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Buena Vista) – $259,766,572
3. The LEGO Movie (WB) – $257,759,191
4. Transformers: Age of Extinction (Paramount) – $244,480,845
5. Maleficent (Buena Vista) – $238,721,001

With the Oscars looming on the horizon, it’s time for filmmakers, actors, and studios to bring out the big guns and fight to nab one of those wee golden fellows. For cinema-goers, the fall season is the best time of year: With the summer blockbuster melee out of the way, our focus is shifted to the foreign dramas, auteur showcases, and breakout performances that will populate theaters through to the winter. It’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty, and with so many excellent films to look forward to in the next few months, we’ve compiled our list of 20 must-see films of the fall. Some we’ve seen, and some we haven’t, but all in all, this fall season is shaping up to be one to remember.

20 Essential Fall Films

#20 – Force Majeure

Ruben Östlund made a splash at Cannes back in 2011 with Play, a controversial film based on real-life incidents of a group of children elaborately mugging other kids their age. This year, Östlund returned to Cannes with a different kind of film. A family vacationing at a ski resort in the Alps has a close call with an avalanche, and an impulsive fight-or-flight action by the father causes the family unit to break down. Like it or hate it, Play showed that Östlund has remarkable directorial skills, and the praise from Cannes only has us more excited for his follow-up. After a bow at TIFF, Magnolia will release Force Majeure in October. Keep your eyes on this one, as it’s been one of the more buzzed about foreign films this year. [C.J.]

#19 – Tusk

In 2011, when Kevin Smith released his last feature film, Red State, he announced (with his usual long-windedness) that he’d be retiring from film directing after completing one more film. Since then he seems to have calmed down. At Comic-Con Smith did his usual “Evening with Kevin Smith” where he spent a lot of time talking about the new Star Wars film, before revealing the first trailer for his upcoming film Tusk. Based on a conversation Smith had on his podcast discussing a craigslist ad a man posted offering a free place to live to someone willing to dress as a walrus while there, Smith’s always-buzzing brain of course ran free with the very dark way such a scenario could play out. And the trailer indicates the film is just as creepy, dark, and (because it’s Smith) funny as his imagination could make it. Starring Justin Long as a podcast host investigating a reclusive old mariner in Canada, and playing up Smith’s offbeat sense of humor in lieu of Red State’s politically-charged tension, it seems like Smith may finally have found his perfect style of horror. Release date is September 19th, just in time for some pre-Halloween fun. [Ananda]

#18 – The Two Faces of January

A throwback to ‘60s romance thrillers (and appropriately set in the ‘60s itself), Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January throws three excellent actors—Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, and Kirsten Dunst—into a dizzying, dangerous love triangle set in sun-drenched Greece. An adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel, the film is rife with deception, jealousy, and murder, a treat for those of us with a taste for such noir-ish goodies. The film has gotten some decent buzz on the festival circuit, though it’ll likelier to please retro lovers than the mainstream masses when it hits in early October. [Bernard]

#17 – The Theory of Everything

I’m pretty much a sucker for anything involving Stephen Hawking. While he is most known for his brilliant advancements in physics, The Theory of Everything appears to center more around his personal life. Before being diagnosed with a fatal illness at 21 years old, he fell in love with his first wife while studying at Cambridge. Dealing with this tragedy, the film aims to be both heartbreaking and inspirational. Based on the trailer and the award season release date of November 7th, it seems that Eddie Redmayne (who plays Hawking) could be in early contention for an Oscar nomination. We hope to catch its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, so stay tuned for our coverage. [Dustin]

#16 – The Interview

The Interview received a good amount of unexpected publicity thanks to North Korea’s decision to file a complaint with the United Nations over the movie’s plot; TV personality Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) become involved in a secret CIA plot to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (Randall Park). This film, the 2nd from Rogen & his writing partner Evan Goldberg as directors following This Is The End, finds the Pineapple Express duo partying hard, rescuing puppies and manning DPRK tanks. Despite Sony’s decision to digitally alter aspects of the movie and (supposed) cutting of a rumored “face melting” scene, reuniting Rogen with Franco in this premise seems absurdly promising. [Zach]

#15 – Listen Up Philip

Because Alex Ross Perry had already mesmerized us with his previous no-budget film The Color Wheel, his newest film Listen Up Philip has been on our radar since its announcement. Then overwhelmingly positive reviews flew in from its Sundance premiere. Combine all of this with the fact Jason Schwartzman and Elisabeth Moss star in the film and you’ve got our full attention. Schwartzman playing an arrogant novelist seems like a perfect role considering his character from HBO’s Bored to Death. Perry is quickly becoming an independent director to keep an eye on, so mark your calendars for when Listen Up Philip opens in theaters on October 17th—we already have. [Dustin]

#14 – The Skeleton Twins

If someone wanted to convince me to watch Craig Johnson’s The Skeleton Twins and began the sentence with “Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig play twins,” I will most likely tune out anything else after that. Deep down I know my mind would already be made up: there’s no way I’m not watching this movie. Hader and Wiig have both grown out of their SNL multi-personas and transitioned into film; Wiig has been the more successful of the two thanks to Bridesmaids, but Hader’s small charming role in The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby hints at his untapped dramatic talent. In any case, The Skeleton Twins looks like a perfect showcase for both actors to show they have what it takes to be both funny and serious. Unveiled at Sundance to very positive response (it’s currently 100% fresh on the Tomatometer) the story deals with the reconnection of twins Milo and Maggie after they both manage to cheat death on the same day. [Nik]

#13 – Big Hero 6

Over the past two decades, Pixar Studios has taken most of the shine away from Disney Animation, and rightfully so. Toy Story is coming up on 20-years-old. Think about that for a second. Disney has had its share of recent hits with Tangled and Frozen, but those are films that aren’t really catered to me. What about a super-hero film about a boy and his robot companion with flavors of Japanese anime? Yeah, that sounds pretty good to me. Big Hero 6 has a lot of potential as a unique entry in the overpopulated super-hero genre. It doesn’t hurt that Baymax looks to be an impossibly cute robot character, on the level of Wall-E and the Iron Giant. I don’t know if the film will be as good as those films, but if it can deliver on the fun premise, it has a chance to be one of the most satisfying films of the year. [Aaron]

#12 – The Overnighters

Earlier this year at Hot Docs I called The Overnighters “a roller coaster” that’s bound to be one of 2014’s best documentaries. My feelings haven’t changed since. Jesse Moss’ remarkable film follows a small town in North Dakota going through an oil boom. As people across the country flock to the town looking for work, a local pastor’s decision to let new arrivals sleep in his church (housing is next to impossible to find) triggers a surprising chain of events. With a narrative so cinematic the doc could easily be adapted into a drama, The Overnighters starts out riveting and never stops. Drafthouse will release the film on October 24th, and don’t be surprised if this one ends up becoming an Oscar nominee. [C.J.]

#11 – White Bird in a Blizzard

This novel adaptation looks to be a stylized coming-of-age story about a teenager (played by Shailene Woodley) whose mother (Eva Green) suddenly disappears one day. The early buzz from its Sundance premiere had people praising Woodley’s brave performance as she swears up a storm and spends a fair amount of time undressed. Perhaps her acting career is evolving from Young Adult hits like Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars to more serious and adult roles. Although Green doesn’t have as much screen time as Woodley because of her character’s mysterious disappearance, it’s been said she makes every minute count. White Bird in a Blizzard will be available on VOD September 25th and in theaters October 24th. [Dustin]

#10 – The Guest

Adam Wingard is proving to be one of the most formidable directors in modern horror, with 2013’s excellent You’re Next infusing the tried-and-true slasher genre with a quirky style that’s both primal and electro-cool. The Guest, his latest offering, again takes an old-school set-up and kicks it in the teeth, straight into the new millennium. Dan Stevens plays a soldier who visits the Peterson family, claiming to have been a close friend of their son, who was killed in action. The family invites him to stay, but as random acts of violence begin to pop up throughout town, young Anna (Maika Monroe) suspects they may stem from their mysterious visitor. I’ve just come from a press screening of the film as I write this, and let me tell you—The Guest is bloody freakin’ brilliant. Go see it when it’s released on September 17th. [Bernard]

#9 – Nightcrawler

Dan Gilroy’s debut feature as a director burst onto the scene with a trailer full of frantic energy. Led by what looks like a batshit performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, he continually reiterates the motto, “If you want to win the lottery, you have to make the money to buy a ticket.” The actor looks increasingly unhinged as freelance crime journalist Lou Bloom, pursuing cop cars and moving bodies to get the perfect crime scene shot before that chill-inducing shot where he screams while grasping at the bathroom mirror. The director, Gilroy, has written several films including Tarsem’s The Fall; however, worthy of note he is the brother of Tony Gilroy (also a producer on Nightcrawler), whose debut as a director (Michael Clayton) became one of the most compelling adult dramas of the last decade. Nightcrawler debuts at TIFF in September before its October 31st U.S. release. [Zach]

#8 – The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby

Most years when I sit down and think about the best films of the year, there is usually one or two picks near the top of my list that are unquestionably flawed, but incredibly daring in its writing and structure — last year’s The Place Beyond the Pines, for example. I don’t know a lot about The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, but the thought of one film basically splitting into two different films from the differing perspectives of a failed relationship has me beyond intrigued. The studios recent decision to theatrically release the film in three different version (labelled Them, Him, and Her) has me wondering if this is going to be cinema gold or a complete train wreck, but it definitely has my attention. [Aaron]

#7 – Stray Dogs

I caught Ming-liang Tsai’s movie at last year’s TIFF, and was floored by its audacious nature and relentless control. It’s a very particular wheelhouse that Tsai’s movies play in, but if it happens to be yours then Stray Dogs will not disappoint. The central narrative storyline deals with a small impoverished family unity (a father and his two children,) as they move around the outskirts of Taipei and try to survive. Those familiar with Tsai’s won’t be surprised to hear about incredibly long takes of actors staring off into oblivion, or a slightly grotesque scene featuring cabbage, but Stray Dogs is nothing if not one of the year’s greatest examples of transcendental and deeply captivating works of cinematic art. The film is finally getting a theatrical release on September 12th courtesy of Cinema Guild. [Nik]

#6 – Foxcatcher

Capote and Moneyball director Bennett Miller returns with what many have described as his passion project, a film about the late John du Pont, whose attempt to support the US wrestling program in spite of declining mental health. The unlikely actor portraying du Pont is comedian Steve Carell in a part tailored for Oscars consideration, flanked by both Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo in strong roles. While the film was among our writer Nik’s Cannes disappointments this year, there are many touting not only the highly anticipated performances. After stops at TIFF and NYFF in September and October, Foxcatcher opens everywhere on November 14th. [Zach]

#5 – Dear White People

It’s about time a filmmaker set their sights on race in America, especially with people claiming the country is now living in a “post-racial” society. Justin Simien’s debut feature Dear White People is an ensemble following several black students at an Ivy League school, a premise Simien uses to open up a funny and probing insight into what race and identity means today. Back at the LA Film Festival, our writer Ananda said Dear White People is “sharply written” and “progressive and humorous”, and we can’t wait to see it once it comes out on October 17. [C.J.]

#4 – Whiplash

Whipping up a mighty buzz-storm at Sundance, Damien Chazelle’s drummer drama Whiplash stars Miles Teller as a young percussionist pushed to the breaking point by his vicious drum instructor, played by JK Simmons. Teller has been living up to expectations with each role he tackles, proving to be one of the most promising new faces in movies, and combined with Simmons’ veteran savvy, sparks should fly as their combative mentor-pupil story unfolds. Since Sundance in January, the excitement surrounding the film hasn’t fizzled in the slightest, a strong indicator that we’re in for a treat when it drops in October. [Bernard]

#3 – Interstellar

I’m partly tempted to explain Interstellar’s placement toward the top of our most anticipated Fall films list by simply stating “Because Chris Nolan” and “Because Matthew McConaughey”, but if you need qualifiers, I bet I can think of a few. For starters, the ambiguity surrounding the film for so long indicates (and it would be par for the course with Nolan) that Interstellar might be more than we yet know. The latest trailer gives us plenty to stew over. Dirt storms show a water shortage on Earth and Matthew McConaughey’s character, Cooper, is a father faced with the difficult decision of leaving his children to travel through a wormhole to find a new planet for humans to survive on. Along with fellow spacetraveler, Brand (Anne Hathaway), and a few others, Cooper and the small team travels through some gorgeously crafted foreign galaxies. Further motivation to see the film in IMAX. But knowing Nolan, who loves his late reveals and complicated relationships, we can almost guarantee that Interstellar will, ahem, take us further into space and story than we can even imagine. The film releases on Nov. 7th, which seems like forever. [Ananda]

#2 – Birdman

Despite some slight foreboding after watching the trailer for Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film is still one of my personal must-see films of the year, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, Iñárritu has yet to truly disappoint me (yes, I even liked Babel) and perhaps I’m even more inclined towards his new film because his last one, Biutiful, was so undeservedly neglected by many. Secondly, this is cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki’s first post-Gravity project to see release and he’s a guy who knows how to make pretty pictures, plus there’s reports of more long take wizardry in Birdman. Add to that the ensemble cast of Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis and Naomi Watts all lead by a resurgent Michael Keaton, and there’s really no need to go any further. The film will open the Venice Film festival, play the New York Film Festival, and then unspool for the public on October 17th. [Nik]

#1 – Gone Girl

Top of the list is the latest from a perennial favorite, David Fincher. Not only is he master of the book to film adaptation, but he excels when working with crooked characters. And Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel Gone Girl is a character-study in marital crookedness. In the film, Ben Affleck plays Nick Dunne, a man whose wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), goes missing on their 5th wedding anniversary. When her disappearance goes public, Nick finds himself the primary suspect and the most hated man in the country, and as detectives uncover more around the case, Nick begins to question just how well he knew his own wife. I predict the sort of character mastery we’ve seen in House of Cards and Social Network combined with the nerve-fraying plot development of Se7en and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Rumor has it the ending is slightly different than the book, co-written by Flynn and thus having her blessing, so even those of us familiar with the novel should be in for some new twists come October 3 when the film is released. It’s going to be a dark and twisty fall, and we can’t wait. [Ananda]

The Los Angeles Film Festival continued its Gala screenings Tuesday with The Two Faces of January. First time director Hossein Amini has proven he understands the art of calculated and slow-building periodic drama as the screenwriter of subdued gems The Wings of the Dove and Jude. He’s even proven he can handle drama of a more fast-paced nature with his script for 2011’s Drive. But Amini’s directorial début seems to hint at a possible film truth — that perhaps writing talent and directorial talent come from two different places.

Set in Greece in 1962, The Two Faces of January is based on the Patricia Highsmith novel of the same name. She who gave us the inspiration for similar film adaptations The Talented Mr. Ripley and Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. Highsmith weaves thrillers involving characters that fall into one of two categories: those who have and those who covet. The Two Faces of January is no exception, telling the tale of American couple Chester and Colette MacFarland (Viggo Mortenson and Kirsten Dunst) on vacation in Greece, both the epitome of American wealth and refinement. The two catch the eye of part-time tour guide and sometime swindler Rydal (Oscar Isaac), an American who has been living in Greece, avoiding his family to the point of missing his own father’s funeral.

After catching Rydal staring at them, Colette investigates and Rydal charms them into an outing at the flea market, and later dinner. Enamored with the young Colette, and clearly in awe of the stylish Chester, Rydal rushes to return a bracelet Colette left in the taxi after their evening out. When he gets to the hotel he finds Chester in a precarious position involving an unconscious man. From there Rydal’s ambition and daddy issues pull him into the mounting troubles of Chester and Colette, while his increasing attraction to Colette forces him to travel into darker and darker territory to protect them.

Amini, while clearly capable of writing great characters, falters somewhat in getting his actors to help push the story along. The tacit tension between the three of them is certainly evident in their spectacular performances, however the film’s pacing is lacking, each of their misery only adding to the heap and not building off one another. Viggo Mortenson has made a believable transition from the smoldering heroes he’s played in the past, to an older cocksure man of leisure. Oscar Isaac continues to be the best part of almost every movie I’ve seen him in of late (even the recent and truly stunted In Secret, another film of wasted performances), his chiseled face and hungry expressions always conveying his lust for the sort of life he thinks he wants. Kirsten Dunst seems to be the deficient element, though not likely by any fault of her own as she’s given us plenty of remarkable performances over the years. Instead Amini underutilizes Dunst’s character, rather than allow the story to flow from her anchor as the strongest link between the three of them. As a result, Rydal’s infatuation seems unwarranted, Chester’s growing jealousy equally so.

With a distinctly classic feel, the soft lighting and bright colors of Greece are a stark contrast to the darker moments of vulnerability and madness woven through the few days the film covers. Cinematographer Marcel Zyskind (Dancer in the Dark) could hardly make the exotic locales of the film look anything but beautiful. Amini’s ambitions are clear, often utilizing distinctly Hitchcockian motifs. A closing foot chase scene through the pebbled streets of Istanbul could have been pulled straight out of a 50’s black and white film-noir. Steven Noble’s costume design is distractingly sophisticated. Clearly Amini has all the pieces: the looks, the feel, the music, the actors, but where he seems to falter is where Hitchcock most excelled — delving into the psychology of his characters.  Where Hitchcock would dig deeper, Amini has only given us surface level and thus being truly invested in their collective fate is rather hard to muster. The story plays out melodramatically, instead of thrillingly.

Leveraging nostalgia and star power, the film is enticing even as it makes one hungry to put on an older classic. He may not yet be a writer-director double-threat, but this is an elegant first film from Hossein Amini.

Way Too Indie loves Film Independent and their support of independent cinema, so we’re quite excited to see the line-up announcement for this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival. This year marks 20 years of the festival and to mark the occasion they are showcasing films inspired by the city.

The festival kicks off with the North American première of Bong Joon-Ho’s Chris Evans helmed, sci-fi action film, Snowpiercer and will close with the première of Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys, based on the hit musical and starring Christopher Walken. Gala screenings include Ira Sachs’ Love Is Strange, which stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina as longtime companions who finally get to marry only to be separated by housing issues, Justin Simien’s Dear White People about black students at Winchester University who take action over a racist frat party, and Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January, starring Viggo Mortenson and Kirsten Dunst as misguided tourists caught up in a murder mystery.

A few of the competing categories below and the full list and press release here.

Competing in the Narrative category

10 Minutes, Dir. Lee Yong-Seung, South Korea
Comet, Dir. Sam Esmail, USA.
Lake Los Angeles, Dir. Mike Ott, USA.
Man From Reno, Dir. Dave Boyle,  USA
Recommended By Enrique, Dir. Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia, USA/Argentina/France
Runoff, Dir. Kimberly Levin, USA
Someone You Love, Dir. Pernille Fischer Christensen, Denmark
Uncertain Terms, Dir. Nathan Silver, USA
The Young Kieslowski, Dir. Kerem Sanga, USA

Competing in the Documentary category

Billy Mize and the Bakersfield Sound, Dir. William J. Saunders, USA
The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest, Dir. Gabriel London, USA/Canada
Meet the Patels, Dirs. Geeta V. Patel, Ravi V. Patel, USA/India
My Name Is Salt, Dir. Farida Pacha, Switzerland/India
Out in the Night, Dir. blair dorosh-walther, USA
Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story, Dir. N.C. Heikin, USA
Stray Dog, Dir. Debra Granik, USA
Walking Under Water, Dir. Eliza Kubarska, Poland/Germany/UK

Tomorrow night, the 57th annual San Francisco International Film Festival (April 24-May 8) kicks off its program of 168 films representing 56 countries. Seeing every film in that span of time is a veritable impossibility (though San Francisco is full of sun-depraved cine-maniacs ready to jump at the challenge), so we’re going to take a look at some of the highlights in the festival’s catalog for anyone planning on hopping over to the Bay Area and joining in on the fun.

Opening up the festival tomorrow night at the Castro Theater is Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January, a Greece-set suspense thriller starring Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen, an American couple on holiday who find themselves inextricably linked to a shifty tour guide (Oscar Isaac) after a fatal accident in a hotel room forces them to frantically find a way out of the country. Evoking Hitchcock’s touristic action-romance romps, the film should send the festival on its way nicely.

Speaking of being on holiday, Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip to Italy (pictured above) looks to walk on the lighter side of vacationing. A sequel to 2011’s The Trip, the film stars English funnymen Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing inflated versions of themselves as they, like in the first film, take a culinary tour of expensive restaurants, making each other chuckle along the way with improvised chatter and–of course–spot-on Michael Caine impressions.

On the darker side of traveling lies Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, about a sociopath Japanese office assistant who flies to Fargo, North Dakota in search of a buried treasure she glimpsed in the famous Coen Brothers movie. For some reason, she believes a suitcase full of money buried in the snow by Steve Buscemi in a fictional movie exists in real life…and that totally piques my interest for some reason…

The film that’s got me frothing in anticipation more than any other is Night Moves (pictured above), by ridiculously talented writer/director Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff, Wendy and Lucy). It’s a safe bet that, like her previous films, we’ll be treated to a smorgasbord of deliciously cinematic imagery to support a wholly unique script (set, as in all her previous efforts, in Oregon). The political thriller stars Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning as environmentalist lovebirds who, with marine veteran Peter Sarsgaard, hatch a plan to blow up a dam. This one looks to be a less contemplative and more narrative-driven movie than we’re used to seeing from Reichardt, which excites me to no end.

The fest’s centerpiece presentation is the Bay Area-set teenage drama Palo Alto, directed by Gia Coppola and starring Emma Roberts, James Franco, and Jack Kilmer. Based on a book of short stories written by Franco about his experience growing up in the titular Bay Area community, the film aims to be a more authentic take on teenage life than your typical high school drama, casting appropriately-aged actors in all roles and eschewing tropes like stereotypical clique dynamics.

Richard Linklater is set to receive the Founder’s Directing Award at SFIFF, and he’s bringing Boyhood, his much buzzed-about coming-of-age movie, along with him. We’ve all heard by now that the film is pretty good and that it took  an unprecedented 12 years to make, which is reason enough to check out the film at the festival, but sweetening the deal is that a career highlight reel of the indie pioneer will also be shown, and Linklater will participate in an on-stage interview. Doesn’t get much cooler than that!

There are two films with the word “Summer” in the title playing at the festival, but seriously, they couldn’t be any more different. Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders) chronicles the rise of the Civil Rights movement in his powerful documentary Freedom Summer, focusing on the significant, eruptive events in Mississippi in the summer of 1964. Director Michael Tully’s nostalgia comedy Ping Pong Summer (pictured above), set in a 1985 Maryland beach town, follows 13-year-old Rad Miracle (Marcello Conte) as a simple family vacation turns into one of the most memorable summers of his life.

Closing out the festival is actor-turned-director Chris Messina’s Alex of Venice, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the titular workaholic attorney, whose negligence of her family drives her husband (Messina) to walk out of their lives. As Alex’s strictly organized life begins to spiral out of control, she scrambles to restore some semblance of order, in the process discovering what’s truly important to her. The film also stars Don Johnson as Winstead’s father in a standout role.

For more information and ticketing info, visit sffs.org

Today, the San Francisco Film Society (and its new executive director Noah Cowan) announced the full lineup for the 57th annual San Francisco International Film Festival, running from April 24-May 8. Consisting of 169 films from 56 countries, the festival looks to present a broad selection of both domestic and world cinema features. 200 filmmakers and special guests are expected to attend.

Opening up the festival will be Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January, a Greece-set suspense-thriller starring Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, and Oscar Isaac. Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto will serve as the fest’s Centerpiece Film, while actor Chris Messina’s directorial debut Alex of Venice, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Don Johnson, will wrap up the festival’s 15-day run.

Receiving awards at this year’s festival will be Pixar’s John Lasseter (2014 George Gund Craft III of Cinema Award), Richard Linklater (Founders Directing Award), screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (Kanbar Award), and film historian David Thomson (Mel Novikoff Award), with more to be announced.

Some standouts: Kelly Reichardt’s (Meek’s Cutoff) environmental activist drama Night Moves starring Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, and Peter Sarsgaard, looks to be another excellent entry into the acclaimed indie filmmaker’s oeuvre;  The Skeleton Twins, a sibling drama starring SNL favorites Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, who will be in attendance at the fest; Young & Beautiful, a drama from Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool) billed as “a portrait in four seasons and four songs”; and Boyhood, Linklater’s unprecedented coming-of-age story filmed over 12 years.

For the full schedule, check out sffs.org

The 57th Annual San Francisco International Film Festival, which runs from April 24-May 8, has announced its opening night film as The Two Faces of January, starring Oscar Isaac, Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst, which will be making it’s North American premiere at the fest. Closing out the festival will be Alex of Venice, the directorial debut of actor Chris Messina starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Don Johnson.

“We are delighted to offer these exceptional films by first-time directors who are best known for their work in other areas of the film world,” said San Francisco Film Society Executive Director Noah Cowan. “Championing talented artists who aren’t afraid of taking risks is at the heart of the Film Society’s mission and our ongoing support of filmmakers around the world. I can’t think of a better pair of films to kick off and wrap up what is going to be an amazing festival.”

The Two Faces of January (above) marks a directorial debut as well, in this caseof screenwriter Hossein Amini (Drive). Set in Greece, the thriller sees Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst play a couple who fall into a dangerous dilemma with an Athens tour guide (Oscar Isaac) following a murderous incident at their hotel.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars in Chris Messina’s Alex of Venice as a workaholic environmental lawyer whose husband (Messina) is fed up with being a stay-at-home father and decides to stay elsewhere. Winstead is left at home with her son and actor father (Don Johnson) and is forced to hold the family together all by herself.

For more festival info, visit sffs.org