Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)
The crew of the Enterprise are on Earth after defeating Khan at the cost of losing Spock's life. Sarek, Spock's father visits Kirk demanding to know what happened to Spock's katra (soul), but Kirk has no knowledge of what Sarek is talking about and lets him do a mind meld. Sarek leaves thinking his son is truly lost. Meanwhile, Dr. McCoy is acting strangely and trying to hire transport back to the Genesis planet where the crew of the Enterprise ejected Spock's body in a coffin. Dr. McCoy gets arrested in the attempt since the Genesis planet is now restricted and classified. Captain Kirk hears about McCoy's strange behavior and realizes that Spock must have put his katra in McCoy when he mind melded with him. Kirk tries to get permission to take the Enterprise and deliver McCoy to Vulcan but is denied by Starfleet. Left with no choice, Kirk hijacks the Enterprise along with his crew. But unknown to Kirk, the Klingons have become very interested in the Genesis device that has the power to wipe out a planet and convert it into a new planet. They take the research team on the Genesis planet hostage which includes Kirk's son. And Kirk finds out that Spock's body has somehow been regenerated and he is alive.John Larroquette plays one of the Klingon crewmen. See if you can tell which one.
Blind Date (1987)
Blind Date is a hilarious Blake Edwards movie about a harried business executive who needs a date for an important corporate dinner with a prestigious client. Bruce Willis known for his roles in Moonlighting and Die Hard plays Walter Davis who reluctantly accepts a blind date arranged by his brother Ted (Phil Hartman). Kim Basinger plays the blind date Nadia Gates, a beautiful southern belle. There's just one teeny, tiny little problem. Nadia can't drink or she loses control. Heedless, of the danger, Walter thinking one little drink of champagne can't hurt soon learns differently. Nadia completely goes wild and turns Walter's life upside down.I first watched this movie because I'm a fan of Moonlighting and Bruce Willis. I also like Blake Edwards' Pink Panther movies with Inspector Clouseau played by Peter Sellers. I thought the movie was fun and lighthearted. And it had some hilarious moments. But I think the parts I liked the best was John Larroquette's portrayal of the jealous ex-beau David Bedford. He plays a lawyer (gee, what does that remind me of) who's totally obsessed with Nadia and can't bear to see her with anyone else. He relentlessly harrasses Walter and Nadia throughout the evening until Walter completely loses his composure and forces David to do the "moonwalk" at gunpoint. It's worth seeing the movie just to see John Larroquette trying to copy Michael Jackson's famous moonwalk. Anyway, if you like slapstick comedy and John Larroquette, this is a fun movie to see.
Richie Rich (1994)
This movie is based on the comic book character of Richie Rich the poor little rich boy who had everything but friends. Macauley Culkin who I loved in the Home Alone movies plays the part of Richie Rich who longs to be able to play like the normal kids. His butler, Cadbury, arranges for Richie to stay at the Rich Mansion instead of flying to England with his parents to meet the Queen. He surprises Richie by bringing children as guests to play with him. Richie is thrilled and shows them some of his favorite entertainments like his Kid-a-pult, gigantic swimming pool, his personal roller coaster and even his own McDonald's. Meanwhile, Laurence Van Dough played by John Larroquette has planted a bomb on the plane intending to take over Rich Industries after the tragic demise of the family. But he didn't count on Richie not going with his parents or Richie taking over the reins of the business until his parents return.This was a very cute movie and John Larroquette was great as the villian.
To see a list of John's other movies and shows, visit the Internet Movie Database which has a comprehensive list of John's work.
The 10th Kingdom (2000)
When The 10th Kingdom was first aired on NBC in February, I watched out of curiosity not expecting to be too impressed because I didn't see how they could do such a huge miniseries (10 hrs!) using fairytales. In my mind, a miniseries should be a dramatic epic of tragedy and romance and people facing seemingly insurmountable odds - you know like Roots, Thorn Birds, etc. But I immediately fell in love with this miniseries even though I didn't get to see all of it on television because of the strange viewing schedule. But I bought the complete NBC miniseries set - 3 VHS Cassettes, the novel and the soundtrack and never regretted it.For those who've not heard of The 10th Kingdom, it is a story of two people from New York who get caught up in a plot by an evil Queen to rule the 9 Kingdoms. The 9 Kingdoms is a land in another dimension where fairytales are real. Snow White, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Greta the Great are all great Queens who formed the 9 kingdoms in the golden age of 'happy ever after.' Unfortunately, 200 years later, happy ever after doesn't last and Snow White's grandson, Prince Wendell is turned into a dog by an evil Queen who has escaped Snow White Memorial Prison. Prince Wendell escapes the Queen by jumping through a magic traveling mirror that takes him to New York's Central Park. The Queen sends three ruthless trolls and a crafty half-wolf man after him. The trolls who after stepping through the magic mirror into New York, proclaim this new magical land as part of the troll nation and rename it The 10th Kingdom.
When Virginia Lewis (Kimberly Williams) runs into the dog prince, that is the beginning of a new adventure for both her and her father Tony Lewis (John Larroquette). They become trapped in the 9 kingdoms with trolls, gypsies, a terminator-like huntsman and an evil Queen who threaten them as they try to find a way back home to New York and also help the dog prince to get his body back and save the 9 kingdoms.
I think this is one of John's best movies. I liked him as a New Yorker who didn't care for the ridiculous fairytale customs of the 9 kingdoms, and as a father who had to come to terms with his daughter's pain about her mother abandoning them. And as always, John brought his special humor. If you like fantasy with a good story then see this movie.
Till Dad Do Us Part (2001)
"Till Dad Do Us Part" is a movie sort of like "Father of the Bride." Gavin Corbett played by John Larroquette learns that his daughter is getting married to a radical ecologist who has no job and routinely gets arrested in protest rallies. Dismayed, Gavin sees a young college graduate in his firm who he thinks is a far better prospect for his daughter and sets about to get them together and prevent his daughter's impending doom. It was kind of interesting seeing John Larroquette playing the same type of part as Steve Martin. In "Father of the Bride," Steve Martin played George Banks the father of Annie (Kimberly Williams). But in that instance, it was more like a case of sibling rivalry. George Banks was jealous of his daughter's fiancee because he felt like he would no longer be number one in her life. Sort of like a new baby entering into the family and the brother or sister no longer gets as much attention as they did before. But in "Till Dad Do Us Part" I think I was more on the father's side. I didn't think the daughter should marry that guy either. Maybe I'm the controlling type too - I don't know. The message of the movie seems to be that you can't control everything in your life or someone else's and that sometimes you have to just trust people to make their own decisions in life. In any case, it was great seeing John Larroquette and Markie Post together again. And it would be great if this could be made into a series like John mentioned in Live with Regis.
Wedding Daze (2004)
"Wedding Daze" is a mix between the television series "Happy Family" and the movie "Father of the Bride." In it. Jack Landry, played by John Larroquette, is planning a second honeymoon around the world with his wife Audrey (Karen Valentine) but then suddenly there is a family emergency and his fashion model daughter Nora is moving back home after breaking her leg. Another daughter, Teri, also moves back home after discovering her boyfriend has been cheating on her. Just when it seems like the Landry's are one big happy family again, Nora's italian photographer follows her to America and asks for her hand in marriage. Like the "Father of the Bride" movies, Jack must adjust to all the wedding preparations except in this case, one by one, each of his daughters fall in love and announce they're getting married. Gradually, Jack and Audrey's plans for traveling around the world shrinks down to visiting Las Vegas as the wedding becomes a grander threesome wedding. This is a sentimental, good-feeling movie where more important than plans for a second honeymoon is treasuring family memories.
