Wayne Knight Movies

A wicked warlock has cast a diabolical spell over Mystery, Inc. gang, and now it's up to Shaggy and Scooby-Doo to save the day. Join the lovable Great Dane and his easy frightened friend as they attempt to track down the Amazing Krudsky (voice of Wayne Knight), a second rate carnival magician who's using magic stolen from Princess Fairy Willow (voice of Hayden Panettiere) to transform everyone into grotesque Halloween monsters. If the dynamic duo can just hop on the Grim Reaper Railroad and make their way to Halloween land before Krudsky, perhaps they can retrieve the Goblin scepter from the Goblin King (voice of Tim Curry) and save the day. It's not an easy assignment, but fortunately Scooby and Shaggy have a little help from a friendly Jack O'Lantern and a flying broomstick that takes them on the ride of their lives. Additional voice talents include Jay Leno, Lauren Bacall, Wally Shawn, and Russi Taylor. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The childhood friendship between four lifelong friends is unexpectedly rekindled after one of them kills a notorious drug dealer and the rest of the group conspires to cover up the crime. Beer-guzzling widower Bobby Stork was locked into a downward spiral of depression when he ran across his old pal Mark Van Houten -- an unemployed doctor who now pays the bills by cooking up crystal meth. Upon relaying Mark's dilemma to their mutual friends, uptight Laith Rukkab and expectant father Hutto, the three pals agree that they need to snap their old friend back to reality before it's too late. In order to do so, Bobby, Laith, and Hutto agree to present Mark with the throwing stars that the four friends used to play with back when they were kids. Mark's best customer is a notorious drug dealer and animal porn producer named Reed, and when Laith and Bobby pass Reed's car on the way to deliver the throwing stars, they can't resist the opportunity to free the unwilling "actors" that are locked inside. But somehow, in the midst of the confusion, Laith drops one of the throwing stars in Reed's car.

Enraged by the break-in and infuriated by the fact that Mark hasn't finished cooking up his latest batch of meth, Reed notices a throwing star on Mark's table and assumes that he's found the person responsible for the break-in. In a fit of rage, Reed tries to murder Mark. But Mark is armed with a throwing star, and somehow manages to kill his attacker with a well-aimed throw. With precious little time to loose before the authorities catch on, Bobby, Laith, and Hutto go to work in helping get rid of the evidence and cook up a foolproof alibi. But these kind of cover-ups rarely go off without a hitch, and over the course of this eventful night these four friends will be forced to contend with an especially mischievous monkey as they each come to some startling realizations about the unexpected directions that their lives have taken as of late. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A boy and a dinosaur join forces to bring peace to their village in this animated feature inspired by the popular television miniseries Dinotopia. Kex (voice of Alec Medlock) is a 12-year-old boy who, after the sinking of the ship he's boarded, is stranded on an uncharted island. To his surprise, Kex finds himself in a land called Dinotopia, where dinosaurs have not only survived and developed the ability to speak, they've learned to live in harmony with human beings. Kex is befriended by a young dinosaur named 26 (voice of Alyssa Milano), who teaches him about life on the island, but when the powerful Ruby Sunstone is stolen by Ogthar (voice of Malcolm McDowell), a notorious villain on the island, both the young boy and his reptilian pal find themselves in great danger. Dinotopia: Quest for the Ruby Sunstone also features the voice talents of Jamie Kennedy, Kathy Griffin, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Diedrich Bader. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actor Rick Schroder makes his directorial debut with this inspiring drama set in the American Southwest. Black Cloud (Eddie Spears) is a young Native American who grew up in a violent household and is still struggling to come to terms with his family and his heritage. Black Cloud's life has forced him to be quick with his fists, and Bud (Russell Means), a longtime friend and mentor, has been coaching Black Cloud in boxing with the young man showing great promise in a Navajo Golden Gloves competition. Norm (Peter Greene), a scout for the United States Olympic boxing team, sees Black Cloud in the ring and is certain he has the potential to be a champion, but Black Cloud isn't certain if he wants to fight for anything besides his people. Meanwhile, Black Cloud has fallen in love with Sammi (Julia Jones), a pretty young Native American woman, but she has a child from a previous relationship with Eddie Young (Rick Schroder), a hot-tempered rodeo rider. When an argument between Eddie and Black Cloud escalates into a fistfight, Black Cloud viciously beats him, and soon Sheriff Powers (Tim McGraw) is on the lookout for the young man. Black Cloud also features Wayne Knight, Tim Sampson, and "Pooch" Marion Hall. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

There are people who like to watch a ball game every once in a while, and then there are baseball fans, individuals of rare dedication whose passion for their favorite team defies conventional logic, and this comedy-drama follows a group of fans whose devotion to their hometown heroes is rarely tainted by the fact they almost never win. It's a typical summer afternoon, and a group of fans are watching the Chicago Bruins play a typically lamentable game from the cheapest seats in the stadium. Decker (Peter Reigert) is the owner of a hardware store who is playing hooky to watch the game. Marvin (Brad Garrett) and Zig (Wayne Knight) are compulsive gamblers who will bet on anything -- even the hapless Bruins. Richie (Hal Sparks) is a loyal Bruins booster who probably knows more about the team than the players do. Melody (Sarain Boylan) is a sexy fan who likes going to the game, getting some sun, and showing off her figure. And Greg (Matt Craven) likes to follow the game, even if he can't see the players -- he's blind. Bleacher Bums was based on a long-running stage play created by Chicago's Organic Theater Company; Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz were among the actors who wrote and performed the play in its original incarnation, and Stuart Gordon, who went on as a filmmaker, also contributed to the script, as well as directing the premier production. This film adaptation of Bleacher Bums was produced for the Showtime premium cable network, where it premiered in the spring of 2002. Incidentally, in the stage version of Bleacher Bums, the baseball team in question was the Chicago Cubs, but the team and Major League Baseball refused to give the producers of the film permission to mention the Cubs in this adaptation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A very loose remake of the classic multi-star comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), this madcap comedy is directed by Jerry Zucker, one third of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker comedy team and director of Ghost (1990). John Cleese stars as an eccentric casino owner who devises a contest pitting six teams against each other in a race to claim two million dollars from a locker in New Mexico. The competitors are Owen (Cuba Gooding Jr., who ends up driving a bus full of Lucille Ball imitators, a foreigner (Rowan Atkinson) who hitches a ride in an organ donor vehicle, and a recently reunited mother and daughter (Whoopi Goldberg and Lanei Chapman) who anger a "squirrel lady" (Kathy Bates) -- much to their regret. There are also two con artist brothers (Seth Green and Vince Vieluf), the upright Nick (Breckin Meyer), who gets a lift from cute but psychotic pilot Tracy (Amy Smart), and the eccentric Pear family, headed up by Jon Lovitz. Rat Race also stars Dave Thomas, Kathy Najimy, Wayne Knight, Dean Cain, and Paul Rodriguez. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Buzz Lightyear, the plastic spaceman who helped conquer the toy box in the wildly popular Toy Story films, returns in this animated adventure. Buzz (voice of Tim Allen) and his partner Agent Z (voice of Diedrich Bader) have devoted themselves to keeping Gamma Quadrant in Deep Space free of evildoers, but when Agent Z is lost in battle, Buzz is determined that from now on, he has to go it alone. However, after the evil Emperor Zurg (voice of Wayne Knight) kidnaps Buzz's allies, the LGM -- aka Little Green Men (voice of Patrick Warburton) -- Commander Nebula (voice of Adam Carolla) orders Buzz to bring along reinforcements as he flies into battle. With the help of female Space Ranger Mira Nova (voice of Nicole Sullivan), LGM-designed android XR (voice of Larry Miller), and janitor/aspiring Space Ranger Booster (voice of Stephen Furst), Buzz sets out to defeat Zurg's minions and bring back the LGM safe and sound. Unlike the first two Toy Story features, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins was created using traditional cel animation rather than digital computer animation techniques, though computer animation was used for the film's prologue. The film's theme song is sung by another noted space voyager, William Shatner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Author Edgar Rice Burroughs once suggested that animation would be the ideal medium to bring his Tarzan to the screen, and 81 years after the first film about the famous ape-man, Disney brings us the first full-length animated film starring the King of the Jungle. After a disaster at sea causes their ship to sink off the coast of Africa, a British couple finds their way to shore with their infant son in tow. However, the parents are killed by a leopard, leaving the baby to fend for himself. The child is discovered by a gorilla named Kala (voice of Glenn Close), mate of Kerchak (voice of Lance Henriksen), the leader of the tribe of apes. While Kerchak is taken aback by the foundling and would just as soon leave him in the jungle, Kala's maternal nature is stirred. Kala and Kerchak take the baby with them, naming him Tarzan and raising him among their own. Although Tarzan (voice of Tony Goldwyn) grows up painfully aware that he's different from the apes, he comes to love and respect the gorillas and learns their ways, while they accept him into their tribe as he grows to adulthood. However, Tarzan's idyllic life in the jungle is changed forever by the arrival of Professor Porter (voice of Nigel Hawthorne), his daughter Jane (voice of Minnie Driver), and their guide, a hunter named Clayton (voice of Brian Blessed). The Professor and Jane have arrived in Africa to study the wildlife in its natural habitat, although Clayton would prefer to bag as many trophies as he can. When the explorers encounter Tarzan, they at first think they've discovered the missing link, although soon realize that he's as human as they are. Tarzan finds himself torn between his desire to be with his own kind (and the new, unfamiliar emotions that he feels for Jane) and his loyalties to the gorilla family that raised him -- especially since Clayton sees the apes not as friends but as prey. Dominated by fast-paced jungle action sequences, Tarzan also features voices by Rosie O'Donnell and Wayne Knight, as well as new songs by Phil Collins. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the concluding half of Seinfeld's controversial series finale, Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Kramer (Michael Richards), and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) find themselves stranded in Latham, MA -- and even worse, they are facing arrest for violating the town's new Good Samaritan law (it seems there was this mugging...). Hoping to beat the rap -- and make it to California in time for Jerry to sell his proposed sitcom "about nothing" -- the gang engages the services of flamboyant lawyer Jackie Chiles (Phil Morris). Alas, the prosecution has managed to round up a daunting array of witnesses to bolster their case against the foursome, including Sidra (Teri Hatcher) of "they're real and they're spectacular" fame, the Soup Nazi (Larry Thomas), Marla the Virgin (Jane Leeves), and the Bubble Boy (Jon Hayman) -- while the sour-faced judge (Stanley Anderson) with the familiar-sounding name fumes, and a vengeful Newman (Wayne Knight) chuckles from the sidelines. As for the now-legendary final scene...haven't we had this conversation before? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Resolving the cliffhanger ending of Season Three, Season Four of 3rd From the Sun finds the Solomon family--actually a team of aliens who've assumed human form while on a fact-finding mission on Planet Earth--desperately searching for their kidnapped colleague Harry Solomon (French Stewart), handicapped by the loss of their extraterrestrial powers at the behest of their disgruntled leader The Big Giant Head. Once this crisis is resolved, we have time enough to become acquainted with the newest member of the cast, Larisa Oleynik, cast as Alissa Strudwick, the new human girlfriend of alien scientist Tommy Solomon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) (who is still confined to his teenaged body despite his advancing years). The off-and-on romance between group leader Dick Solomon (John Lithgow), who has taken a job as a teacher at Pendleton College, and Dick's colleague Dr. Mary Albright (Jane Curtin), undergoes more "offs" than "ons" this season. That's because Mary has been promoted to college dean, making her Dick's boss--and he doesn't like the situation one teeny tiny bit. Season Four's better episodes include "Collect Call for Dick", a broad spoof of the current Beanie Babies craze in which Dick becomes obsessed to the point of addiction over accumulating a huge collection of "Fuzzy Buddy" toys; "I Am Dick Pentameter", featuring Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne) as an airheaded eccentric who comes between Dick and Mary; "Indecent Dick", wherein Sally Solomon (Kristen Johnson) has become so comfortably in her earthly "female" form that she's willing to pose for a nudie magazine, much to the chagrin of her human beau Officer Don (Wayne Knight); and "Two Faced Dick", an all-stops-out laff riot in which Sally requests a "gender reassignment" and is allowed to exchange bodies with Dick. Also: The Solomons are threatened with being exposed as aliens when forced to file their first IRS form in "Dick and Taxes"; another near-exposure occurs in "Alien Hunter", with Kathy Bates playing the highly suspicious title character; and as the "family" comes to face to face with the Internet for the first time, Harry Solomon and his human sweetie Vicki discuss the possibility of having children, in "Y2dicK". The fourth season ends with the long-awaited arrival on earth of the Big Giant Head, who calls himself "Stone Philips" but whose human form very closely resembles that of William Shatner. Having shown up to rake the Solomons over the coals for failing to fulfill their mission, the Big Giant Head not only demotes Dick as high commander, but also manages to impregnate the hapless Vicki--who, in the process, becomes the first human on the series to tumble to the Solomons' alien status. 3rd Rock from the Sun wrapped up its fourth year on the air with two more Emmy Awards, as John Lithgow collected his third statuette and Kristen Johnson received her second. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In her efforts to "understand" a New Yorker cartoon, Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) takes up cartooning herself -- but her boss, Peterman (John O'Hurley), knows a Ziggy rip-off when he sees one. Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) is aghast when performance artist Sally Weaver (Kathy Griffin) puts on her latest one-woman show: "Jerry Seinfeld -- The Devil." George (Jason Alexander) likes his girlfriend, but for the life of him can't figure out why (can it be that she looks like Jerry?). And looming over all this is the brutal honesty of Kramer (Michael Richards) -- which benefits no one, himself included. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Three of the fantasy sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun opens with another dilemma for the group of space aliens who have assumed the human form of the "Solomon" family for the purpose of gathering intelligence on the planet earth: It seems that group leader Dick Solomon (John Lithgow) has been ordered to marry Janet (guest star Roseanne), the niece of his superior back on his home planet, the Big Giant Head. Dick somehow manages to wriggle out of this because of his loyalty to his earthling sweetheart Mary Albright (Jane Curtin)--a loyalty that unfortunately proves to be a one-way street when Mary (still unaware that Dick is an alien) breaks off their relationship, thus launching a recurring motif wherein both Dick and Mary would like to get back together, but are too stubborn and prideful to admit it. In another story strand, Janet's arrival on earth proves so unnerving to Officer Don (Wayne Knight) that he immediately begins suspecting that an alien invasion is imminent--never dreaming that his own girlfriend Sally Solomon (Kristen Johnson) is herself Not Of This World. As for the other two members of the alien team, scientist Tommy Solomon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)--a middle-ager trapped in the body of a human teenager--yearns to date someone closer to his "real" age (such as Mary) and later "retires" to a nursing home, while doltish crew member Harry Solomon (French Stewart) undergoes an offbeat reunion with his former pet, who has likewise taken on human form. Midway through the third season the Solomons must themselves fend off extraterrestrials when the earth is invaded by Venusians disguised as buxom females (including models Angie Everhart and Cindy Crawford) in the two-part episode "36!24!36 Dick". And in a later two-parter, "Just Your Average Dick", John Cleese does a screamingly funny turn as nutty professor Dr. Liam Neesam, who turns out to be an alien-in-disguise himself--not to mention a worthy adversary for Dick in the war to win Mary's hand and heart. The traditional season-ending cliffhanger finds a romantic "kiss and make up" dinner being ruined when the volatile former boyfriend of Harry's human girlfriend Vicki (Jan Hooks) bursts in and kidnaps Harry--just in time for the Solomons to miss an extremely vital transmission from their home-planet superior officer, The Big Giant Head. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After an unfortunate encounter with an Exacto knife, Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) receives an infusion of Kramer's blood -- and he isn't keen on being regarded as a "blood brother." George (Jason Alexander) finds both his appetite and his libido increasing thanks to some vanilla-scented incense. Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) works overtime to prove she is responsible enough to watch her friend's child -- then wishes she hadn't. Phrases key to the action include "pinch weasel" and "free love buffet"; and as a bonus, Lloyd Bridges returns as octogenarian health freak Izzy Mandelbaum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide