Caroleen Feeney Movies

Filmmaker Jose Padilha examines the ethical peccadilloes and procedural failings of a handful of anthropologists, with a tribe of native people suffering the consequences, in this documentary. In 1929, researchers first discovered the Yanomamo Indians, an indigenous tribe living in Brazil along the Amazon. The Yanomami were believed to be perhaps the last band of primitive peoples essentially untouched by civilization, and they became a favorite subject of study among anthropologists, especially in the 1960s. However, different studies of the Yanomami produced wildly different conclusions -- one book on the tribe described them as a warlike people who often fought amongst themselves, while another celebrated their society in which violence was little known. While different research teams may have had different perceptions of the Yanomamo tribe, nearly all of them made the mistake of interfering in the lives of their subjects, with disastrous results. Kenneth Good didn't just study the tribe, he married a 13-year-old Yanomamo girl, while Jacques Lizot frequently paid teenage Yanomamo boys for sex. Western anthropologists also unwittingly exposed the Yanomami to diseases for which they had no immunity, leading to widespread illness and death among the natives. In time, the Yanomami began actively driving anthropologists away, angry over the way in which their culture had been spoiled for the benefit of others. Secrets Of The Tribe was an official selection at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In 2003, filmmakers Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein traveled to Iraq and spent several months with 2/3 Field Artillery unit as young soldiers simultaneously tried to fight a war and keep peace shortly after George W. Bush had publicly announced major combat operations in Iraq were over. The result was the acclaimed documentary Gunner Palace, and six years later, Tucker and Epperlein catch up with some of the men of the 2/3 FA and find out what's become of them since returning home in How To Fold A Flag. Michael Goss is still dealing with the violence he witnessed in Iraq and has taken up a career as a wrestler as he tries to satisfy his need to somehow stay in battle. Javorn Drummond came from a poor family and planned to use his G.I. benefits to attend college. But getting the aid he deserves proves difficult, and now he has to help his mother who is living with cancer but has no medical insurance. Stuart Wilf was a wild kid into heavy metal when he joined the Army, and for all his high spirits and profane humor it's clear that he still hasn't put his demons to rest; at the same time he tries to support his mother, who now has another son in Iraq. And Jon Powers came home with a desire to serve his community and decided to run for office, only to become the victim of attack ads questioning his conduct while in uniform. How To Fold A Flag was an official selection at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Colin Beavan was a writer living in Manhattan who had the usual concerns over the future of the environment until he realized he wasn't doing much about it. Beavan decided that it was time he and his family did something to deal with the practical issues of global warming and environmental sustainability, so he set out on a grand experiment -- to see if he, his wife, Michelle Conlin, their young daughter, and their dog could live for a year in New York City without leaving any sort of carbon footprint. Michelle, a writer for Business Week with a taste for fashion, was a hard sell for the notion of spending a year without electricity, takeout, toilet paper, or motorized transportation, but in time she agreed and found that their new life was a life-changing experience. Colin, however, found his will tested by the experience and his ideals questioned when he began writing a book about his experiences and sharing his story with the news media, becoming a minor celebrity in the process. Colin and Michelle's friends Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein are filmmakers who decided to capture the family's year of environmental purity on film, and No Impact Man is a documentary that chronicles the nuts and bolts of living a carbon-neutral life as well as how the experience impacted the family. No Impact Man was an official selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Irena Salina directs this feature-length documentary about the industry and consumption of humankind's most precious resource: water. As African villages survive on potentially toxic water supplies out of sheer necessity, Salina explores how the corporate structure has come to control humanity's water supply, creating a dire situation that experts have come to refer to as the World Water Crisis. With issues of pollution, politics, and human rights all coming to a head with the issue, Salina points the finger at the specific corporate and governmental figures responsible for the crisis, and takes a look at how grassroots organizations work to fight the increasing privatization of water, hoping to end the imbalance in access to the precious resource that has already had mortal consequences for so many. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

While writer/director Hal Salwen won over critics and festival audiences with his low-key directorial debut, Denise Calls Up, his second feature, His and Hers, never made it past the festival circuit. Salwen next produced Duane Incarnate, a quirky romantic comedy. Gwen (Caroleen Feeney, who appeared in Salwen's earlier films) narrates the strange tale of her and her three friends, the statuesque Fran (Kristen Johnston), the lovely Connie (Cynthia Watros), and the dumpy, unemployed Wanda (Crystal Bock). Three of the four pals seem to be feeling particularly good about their lives. They're all in fulfilling relationships, and Gwen's trainer boyfriend (Jim Gaffigan) has them on an exercise and diet program. One day, Wanda, who has no luck with men, tells them that she's met the perfect guy, and fallen completely in love with him. As she describes him, with his good looks, fancy job, and incredible passion for her, he sounds too good to be true, and Gwen begins to suspect that Wanda has invented him. Challenged to produce her new beau, Wanda introduces the tall, handsome Duane (Peter Hermann) to the gang. Her friends are incredulous and soon grow extremely jealous. Their own relationships begin to self-destruct, and some unusual weather patterns have Gwen believing that Wanda has somehow conjured Duane through the force of her imagination, and thereby ruptured the very fabric of the universe. The three distraught women team together, determined to break up the happy couple at all costs. Shot on-location in New York City, Duane Incarnate had its world premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Bernard Rose directed this look at the sordid underside of the film business and one man's attempts to come to terms with his mortality in this fallen world, in a story loosely based on Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Ivan Beckman (Danny Huston), a hot-shot talent agent at the powerful Media Talent Agency, unexpectedly dies, and soon his colleagues are scrambling among themselves over the shards of Ivan's leftover business, with Barry Oaks (Adam Krentzman) eager to take over representation of Don West (Peter Weller), a major star Ivan signed shortly before his death. Everyone assumes that Ivan died of a drug overdose, but as viewers watch his last few days in flashback, they learn that Ivan was diagnosed with a severe case of lung cancer as he was trying to put together a deal with firebrand director Danny McTeague (James Merendino), actress Constanza Vero (Valeria Golino), and West. As the dynamic businessman is forced to confront his mortality, he is dragged into a binge of booze, drugs, and women with West, while he also tries to decide how to confront his family and his girlfriend Charlotte (Lisa Enos) with the grim news about his health. Ivansxtc. (To Live and Die in Hollywood) was shot using digital video equipment and a skeleton crew -- according to Rose, a reaction in part to studio interference over his 1997 adaptation of another Tolstoy work, Anna Karenina. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Two couples share an evening of bad karma in this domestic drama. Matt (Saul Rubinek) is a musicologist who has devised a computer program that can spontaneously compose music; however, one of the first pieces it comes up with features a prominent quote from "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." His girlfriend Kim (Caroleen Feeney) is a computer expert with a nasty sense of humor; Matt thinks she may have fudged his program just to make him look silly. Nancy (Bonnie Bedelia) is a distinguished college professor who has been granted tenure at Harvard. Her husband Wes (David Strathairn) has a fragile ego, and it hasn't been soothed by his recent denial of tenure at the less prestigious institution where he teaches. Nancy and Wes have invited Matt and Kim over for dinner; Nancy and Matt were once lovers, which puts Wes on edge at the outset, and Kim seems to find him an amusing target for her sarcastic sense of humor. Wes finally begins to lose his grip when he discovers that a $50 bill is missing and is convinced that Kim has pocketed it. Kim denies it, but even after the bill turns up, Wes is convinced that she -- or someone -- has it in for him. Bad Manners screenwriter David Gilman adapted this material from his play Ghost in the Machine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Three disparate Texas sisters reunite to celebrate the wedding of the youngest and end-up having a thrilling adventure racing across the prairie with a fortune in stolen loot. The sisters, Francis, Mary Katherine, and the irrepressible spitfire CJ Crowley, whom the other two had to bail out of jail, were abandoned by their father in 1974 (this situation is presented via black and white flashback in the prologue and at various points throughout the story). No sooner is CJ free than she returns to the strip joint where she works. The owner is an ex-Texas Ranger, Wood Grimes. It was he who had their father sent to prison. CJ isn't there long, before Grimes fires her for sassing back. To get even, the sisters swipe a key and steal the loot that Grimes, their father, and another stole many years before. It was the murder of the third crook that got their father, Travis, sent to prison, but the girls think Grimes is the real killer. As the women flee with the booty, they have time to rehash their pasts and discuss their feelings about their father. At one point they encounter Beau, a handsome, overly-polite cowboy with whom Francis has a romantic fling. The story begins and ends at the famous"Cadillac Ranch" a combination burial ground and art gallery devoted to the luxurious old cars. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this comedy, a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox tries to cope after his knuckleball puts another player into a coma. To escape the publicity, pitcher Billy Conway changes his name and moves to Ireland. He meets Heather O'Neil, and independent feisty woman trying to avoid Parker Danagher, a local salesman who tries to court her. Romance ensues. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, two thugs are sent to Ireland to collect a small debt. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this action drama, Frank DaVinci is out to avenge the murder of his sister. To follow through with his vendetta he enlists the aide of a hired killer and a group of Vietnam Vets. Violence and explosions ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi