Barry Corbin Movies

Spring fever hits Cicely big time as the townsfolk await the annual breakup of the winter freeze. The seasonal madness includes the traditional "running of the bulls" -- only they aren't really bulls. Meanhile, the ever-bickering Joel (Rob Morrow) and Maggie (Janine Turner) are suddenly and passionately attracted to each other. Holling (John Cullum) is spoiling for a good fight -- with anyone. Shelly (Cynthia Geary) develops an insatiable appetite for classic literature. And Maurice (Barry Corbin) becomes fascinated by visiting state tropper Barbara Semanski (Diane Delano), in town to investigate a series of quirky petty thefts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This hard-boiled throwback to the film noir dramas of the 1940s and '50s is directed by filmmaker and actor Dennis Hopper, based on the novel Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams. Don Johnson stars as Harry Madox, a drifter who settles in a small Texas town and begins secretly setting small fires, setting up his planned heist of the local bank run by eccentric Julian Ward (Jack Nance). To pay the bills while he puts his robbery scheme in motion, Harry gets a job working at a used car lot owned by the ailing George Harshaw (Jerry Hardin), whose promiscuous vamp of a wife, Dolly (Virginia Madsen), immediately begins a torrid affair with Harry. Harry's also powerfully attracted to the gorgeous Gloria Harper (Jennifer Connelly), an innocent, virginal secretary at the car dealership with a dark secret involving a creepy blackmailer, Frank Sutton (William Sadler). The Hot Spot also stars Charles Martin Smith, Barry Corbin, and Leon Rippy. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Strange things always happen in Cicely during the Aurora Borealis, and those "things" are even stranger in this final episode of Northern Exposure's first season. Lost in the woods, Joel (Rob Morrow) is rescued by a legendary sasquatch-like creature named Adam -- who turns out to be a human being, a sociopath, and a damned good gourmet cook. Elsewhere, Chris gives up his radio job to construct a towering sculpture and along the way forms a symbiotic relationship with an African-American stranger named Bernard (Richard Cummings Jr.), who has motorcycled into Cicely on a mission...and who is no stranger after all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Northern Exposure made its first appearance as an eight-week Thursday-night "tryout" on CBS in the late summer of 1990. With swift, sure strokes, the series' producers quickly established that 27-year-old Dr. Joel Fleischman (Rob Morrow), freshly graduated from Columbia University Medical School, was required to spend four years working in Anchorage, AK, to pay off 125,000 dollars in student loans. Though Joel had seldom strayed off his native Manhattan Island, he took a deep breath and prepared for his journey northward (the alternative was a 10,000-dollar fine and/or 18 years in jail). Upon arrival in Anchorage, Joel discovered that his services were no longer required -- but there was an opening in the tiny (population 815) Alaskan village of Cicely, whose only doctor had just died. Throughout the eight episodes of Northern Exposure's first season, Joel bemoans his "exile," desperately tries to pull strings to get out of his contract...and slowly, almost imperceptably becomes adjusted to his new life in Cicely.

Just as the series wasted no time in establishing its locale and premise, so too did the writers vividly bring the other characters to life with efficiency and economy. During season one, the viewer was introduced to Joel's attractive landlady Maggie O'Connell (Janine Turner), the local air-taxi pilot, whose love life was complicated by an inexplicable "curse" whereby all of her boyfriends were doomed to die under bizarre but undeniably amusing circumstances (her latest beau, fellow pilot Rick Pederson (Grant Goodeve), knew he was living on borrowed time, but managed to survive the series' first season). Also seen for the first time were worldly ex-astronaut Maurice J. Minnifield (Barry Corbin), who owned Cicely lock, stock, and barrel, and entertained dreams of transforming the remote community into the "Alaskan Riviera"; Maurice's best friend, the aggressively masculine tavern owner Holling Vicoeur (John Cullum); Holling's 18-year-old fiancée, Shelly Tambo (Cynthia Geary), former "Miss Northwest Passage"; Maurice's Native American assistant, Ed Chigliak (Darren E. Burrows), an orphan with a murky past and an overwhelming desire to gain fame as a big-bucks moviemaker; and Chris Danforth (John Corbett), the quirky, poetic morning DJ on Cicely's radio station KBHR, who functioned as the series' combination narrator and Greek chorus. Also seen in these formative episodes were Ruth-Anne Miller (Peg Phillips), no-nonsense proprietor of the local general store, and Marilyn Whirlwind (Elaine Miles), a poker-faced Eskimo who worked as a nurse in Joel's medical office.

By the end of season one, the series had introduced at least two of the peripheral characters who would add to the funkiness and eccentricities of Cicely from time to time. The first was Adam (Adam Arkin), a shaggy, sociopathic brute who happened to be a "damn good" gourmet cook; and the second was Bernard (Richard Cummings Jr.), a peripatetic African-American who turned out to be the rootless Chris Danforth's half brother. Although Northern Exposure set no fires in the ratings, the word-of-mouth buzz about the series was sufficiently encouraging for CBS to give it another limited-run tryout in the spring of 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tom Skerritt plays an end-of-tether CIA agent in Red King, White Knight. His superiors persuade Skerritt to take one last assignment: to prevent the assassination of the Russian president. Max Von Sydow plays Skerritt's opposite number at the KGB, who despite orders to kill the American agent, teams up with him to save the Soviet leader. Meanwhile, Skerritt's private life is complicated by the return of ex-lover Helen Mirren. Though unrated, the film contains violence and nudity. Produced for the HBO Cable Service, Red King, White Knight was first telecast November 25, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this special-effects laden sci-fi adventure, a specially designed woman with super powers is sent out to insure that the corporation that designed her claims ownership of a priceless antique spaceship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This six-hour miniseries, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Larry McMurtry, revitalized both the miniseries and Western genres, both of which had been considered dead for several years. Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones star as fun-loving Gus MacRae and taciturn Woodrow Call, respectively, a pair of longtime friends and former Texas Rangers who crave one last adventure before they bow to their advancing years. Convinced that animals will thrive on the lush grasslands of Montana, Woodrow persuades Gus to undertake the arduous, 3,000-mile cattle drive there. Rounding up over a thousand head from Mexican rustlers south of the border, the men recruit a diverse crew of hands to help them. Among the party are Woodrow's illegitimate son Newt Dobbs (Rick Schroeder), local prostitute Lorena Wood (Diane Lane), and old compatriots Joshua Deets (Danny Glover), Jake Spoon (Robert Urich), and Pea Eye Parker (Tim Scott). Storms, hostile natives, poisonous snakes, and rustlers take their toll on the company before Montana is reached in an adventure that is equal parts Greek tragedy and classic, John Ford-style oater. Originally developed in the 1970s as a script by McMurtry for director Peter Bogdanovich and stars Henry Fonda, John Wayne, and James Stewart, Lonesome Dove earned 18 Emmy nominations and inspired a pair of miniseries sequel as well as two attempts at an ongoing television series. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

In this thriller, city slickers chuck their careers, pull up stakes and take up residence at a peaceful lakeside community to escape the urban rat race. Unfortunately, they soon discover that things are not as peaceful as they seem when the husband finds a mutilated corpse floating in the lake. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Travis Rogers (George Newborn) is a young man slated to marry his childhood sweetheart Stephi (Leslie Hope) in this romantic comedy. Just days before the wedding, Travis leaves his Texas ranch and buys a hot red sports car from Jonni Tigersmith (Kimberly Foster), the sex kitten sales person. Jonni takes off with Travis and the two go racing in a high-speed chase across Texas while Stephi waits patiently at the altar. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

High school student Alan Boyce has it all: looks, charm, popularity, excellent grades, a promising future. So why does Boyce abruptly commit suicide? As the shock waves of the boy's death reverberate through the halls of his school, the other students--particularly Boyce's best friend Keanu Reeves--ask themselves if they, too, are capable of self-destruction. As for the adults, Boyce's suicide is one more of a myriad of mysteries concerning "Generation X" (though it was not yet so labelled in 1988). While the film offers no easy answers, either for the characters or the audience, Permanent Record ultimately demonstrates that there are ways to cope with the pressures of life other than taking one's own life. An added bonus: the teenagers in the film act like genuine teenagers, not like TV sitcom wisecrackers or oversexed cretins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This uneven comedy came and went quickly in commercial release. An American triathlete (Mark Neely) trains for an upcoming event, with the main competition coming from a pretty Russian exchange student (Terry Farrell). Billy Barty excels in his character role as a diminutive Russian, and the slapstick rivalry between the two event announcers and some sight gags help but fail to bring this feature to the finish line. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide