Robert Bauer Movies

In this independent drama, three teenage girls find themselves dealing with that most adult of responsibilities, parenthood, when they unexpectedly become pregnant. Shanika (Tamara LaSeon Bass) was abandoned by her drug-addicted mother and has bounced from one foster home to another ever since. When she meets an older man, she's desperately looking for love, but has to settle for sex, and is unprepared for the consequences. Aracely (Tonatzin Mondragon) is forced out of her family's home when her parents discover she's having a baby. With nowhere else to go, she moves in with her boyfriend; however, he is barely able to provide for himself, let along help support Aracely and the baby. And Tina (Keely Vint) was herself the child of a teenage mother. Tina passes herself from one boyfriend to another; when she discovers she's pregnant, she realizes to her despair she not sure who the father is. Bellyfruit was shown as part of the 1999 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Robin Wirkus (Debrah Farentino) is upset by the terms of her late husband's will, which will provide for Kelly (David Caruso) so long as he keeps an eye on Robin. Elsewhere, the discovery of the "wrong" corpse leads to a murder conspiracy involving a hotelier and a concierge. And Sipowicz's (Dennis Franz) teenaged son, Andy Jr. (Michael DeLuise), faces a drug charge. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Something to Live For: The Alison Gertz Story was one of a myriad of early 1990s TV movies centering around the AIDS issue. Molly Ringwald stars as Alison Gertz, an upscale Manhattanite who thinks she knows her way around. Still, Alison conducts an "unprotected" one-night affair, which results in her contacting the AIDS virus. Despite her alleged smarts, Alison continues to seek out sexual partners and can't understand why they're reluctant to sleep with her, even though she belatedly offers to use contraceptives. Perhaps if it had been made five years earlier, and perhaps if it didn't have its characters speaking fluent pop profundities, Something to Live For might have been one of the truly important made-for-TV AIDS sagas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Most TV movie reference books have given up mentioning the hundreds of unsold pilots that dot the video landscape. Parker Kane, originally telecast in 1990 and then rerun in 1992, is one of those orphans that has fallen through the research cracks. It's possible the film is due for a revival thanks to the present-day popularity of its star Jeff Fahey. Fahey plays Parker Kane, a cop turned private eye. Always a maverick, albeit an honest one, Kane supersedes the authority of his p.i. license when a close friend is murdered. The trail of clues leads to a major-scale scam involving the dumping of toxic waste. Guest star Patti LaBelle plays a nightclub singer during the less hectic moments of Parker Kane. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It was perhaps inevitable that Klingon Lt. Worf would be forced to choose between his human colleagues and his own species. This occurs when a band of fugitive Klingon warriors, rescued by the Enterprise, announce their plans to reestablish their former warrior glory. To do this, they intend to stage a revolt against the Federation, and they insist that Worf go along with their scheme. First telecast March 26, 1988, "Heart of Glory" was scripted by Maurice Hurley, from a story by Hurley, D.C. Fontana, and Herbert J. Wright. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Largely improvised by director Rob Reiner and his cast, This Is Spinal Tap looks and sounds like a "real" documentary, with Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest as David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls, and Nigel Tufnel, the key members of a going-nowhere British heavy metal band called Spinal Tap. The "group" started as an informal skiffle band, eventually maturing into an R&B act called the Thamesmen (their hit was "Gimme Some Money"). After going through a psychedelic period with "Listen to the Flower People," the band mutated into Spinal Tap, a hard rock outfit responsible for such albums as "Intravenous DeMilo," "The Sun Never Sweats," and "Bent for the Rent." This Is Spinal Tap finds them in the midst of their first American tour in years as they support their new LP Smell the Glove, with filmmaker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner), who specializes in TV commercials, on hand to document the occasion. Just about anything that can go wrong does: shows get canceled, stage props go wrong, wireless guitar pickups start broadcasting air-traffic reports, no one shows up for in-store appearances, David's girlfriend tries to take over the band, they wind up billed second to a puppet show at an amusement park, and the group teeters on the verge of breakup. After the film's initial release, McKean, Guest, and Shearer did a short club tour as Spinal Tap; the "band" reunited in 1992 for a new album, Break Like the Wind, followed by a full-fledged tour and TV special, The Return of Spinal Tap. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi