Actor Ernie Hudson at Cinespace Chicago. Photographer: Michael Becker Ernie Hudson Sowing Seeds with Grace & Frankie by Jay S. Jacobs It’s funny the curveballs that life throws you. Take Ernie Hudson. After a good 40 years hustling, hitting the casting offices and sets and craft services tables of hundreds of movies and TV series, making a name for himself as a go-to guy in Hollywood, was finally hitting a point where he was thinking maybe it was time to slow down a bit. That

Year by the Sea YEAR BY THE SEA (2017) Starring Karen Allen, Yannick Bisson, Celia Imrie, S. Epatha Merkerson, Michael Cristofer, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Jane Hajduk, Kohler McKenzie, Alvin Epstein, Amy Van Nostrand, Andria Blackman, Anastasia Tsikhanava, Zachariah Supka and Tyler Haines. Screenplay by Alexander Janko. Directed by Alexander Janko. Distributed by Real Women Make Waves. 114 minutes. Not Rated. In his song “Beautiful Boy,” John Lennon wrote, “Life is what happe

Jill Hennessy – World Café Live – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – December 2, 2015 Photo by Jim Rinaldi © 2015. Jill Hennessy A Little Bit of Comfort by Jay S. Jacobs There is sometimes a bit of mistrust of actors who suddenly decide to become musicians.  And while it is true that some of them are trying to exploit their name recognition, more and more often it is turning out that those actors really are talented singer/songwriters who just became well known in a different mediu

Marina Squerciati stars in “Chicago PD” Marina Squerciati Walking the Beat on Chicago PD by Jay S. Jacobs Thanks to veteran producer Dick Wolf (the Law & Order series), Chicago is not just a toddlin’ town, but Windy City is the go-to place for young TV professionals. In the last few years, Wolf has created a series of procedural shows based on the town, looking in on the police in Chicago PD, rescue workers in Chicago Fire and now doctors in the latest addition, Chicago Med. 

Katherine Waterston and John Leguizamo in “The Babysitters.” John Leguizamo, Katherine Waterston and David Ross Adventures in Babysitting by Jay S. Jacobs The hot-button topic film The Babysitters was a low-budgeted labor of love. Written and directed by David Ross, it starts as a star-crossed infatuation story that spirals wildly out of control. A teen babysitter who has a crush on one of her clients somehow ends up a hardened high-school madame. The movie stars John Leguiza

Richard Price Richard Price Living a Lush Life in Some Small Dive by Ronald Sklar Since he was a mere twenty-four, writer Richard Price has been greatly admired for his amazing ear for dialogue, his seemingly seamless writing style and his compelling urban plots. His new novel, Lush Life (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux), about worlds colliding on New York’s contemporary Lower East Side, is just the right Price: a living and breathing thing in your hands. It’s not often that a new

Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD (2006) Starring Albert Brooks John Carroll Lynch, Sheetal Sheth, Jon Tenney, Fred Dalton Thompson, Amy Ryan, Homie Doroodian, Kavi Raz, Emma Lockhart and Penny Marshall. Screenplay by Albert Brooks. Directed by Albert Brooks. Distributed by Warner Independent Pictures. 98 minutes. Rated PG-13. The divide between the Eastern and Western world has become so cavernous that just the title of this movie

CROSSING JORDAN — NBC Series — Pictured: Jill Hennessy as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh — NBC Photo: Chris Haston Jill Hennessy crossing Jill by Jay S. Jacobs When the 2003 television season started, fans of the popular forensic drama Crossing Jordan were surprised to find the show was not on NBC’s schedule.  Many asked if the show been canceled.  How could that be?  The show had strong ratings and a passionate following.  Where was Crossing Jordan? They needn’t have worried.  NBC had