Aside from showing feature-length movies, documentaries and short films, the 2004 Phoenix Film Festival was host to four separate tributes to men (no women this year, sadly) who have excelled in their craft.
On Friday afternoon, character actor Dylan Baker, of Road to Perdition, Head of State and the upcoming blockbuster Spider-Man 2, was feted for his long years of service. Baker, who came with his young daughter, spoke to a crowd of about one hundred about his craft and the best way to be an actor. His best pearl was that an actor has to "direct themselves" in order to be successful in their craft. Baker is also well-known for his years of work on and off Broadway, acting and directing. However, it's most likely that he will get the most recognition of all for the new Spider-Man film.
Friday night was big for any fan of Bluto or Elwood Blues, as director John Landis came to town for a tribute. The high-school dropout-turned-stuntman-turned-director, of such films as Three Amigos!, Trading Places and The Blues Brothers, charmed his audience from the get-go, immediately commenting that the clip show of his work seemed to cut every film's clip off right before the punchline of the jokes.
The only tribute I missed was the one that took place on Saturday afternoon, for screenwriter-director Michael Tolkin. Tolkin, who's written The Player, Deep Impact and had a hand in the new film The Punisher, received a Copper Wing Award and talked about his craft.
Saturday night drew the biggest crowd to the Peter Fonda tribute. After the showing of the film The Hired Hand and a clip show, which featured him in Easy Rider, The Limey, Ulee's Gold, and The Laramie Project, Fonda took the stage to talk about making The Hired Hand, his directorial debut, and about making movies. However, the conversation always seemed to turn to the influence his father, Henry Fonda, had on him; from the times when he was forced to run up and down the stairs of the five-story townhouse he lived in to get ready for breakfast to the film Peter directed Henry in, the elder Fonda dominated things. A slight point of interest: unless my eyes deceived me, a mere two seats away from Peter was Jane Fonda herself. Good to see the family supporting each other.
On Sunday night, following the premiere of Laws of Attraction, the Copper Wing Awards for the short films, documentaries and feature-length films were presented. The emcee for the evening, and I don't know why they chose him, was ex-"SNL" alum Jerry Minor. Minor was quite funny in his short time on-stage and managed to charm the audience.
According to the audiences, the best picture at the Film Festival was Black Cloud, directed by former child star Rick Schroder (who was on hand for the entire film festival). The film also won awards for cinematography and ensemble acting. According to the judges, the best picture was the theater-themed comedy Break a Leg, which also won for best screenplay and director (each was accepted by Phillip Angellotti).
It was another successful year for the Film Festival, and I, for one, can't wait for next year's event to start.
Josh Spiegel is an entertainment reporter for the Web Devil. Reach him at Joshua.Spiegel@asu.edu