The Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott

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The Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott

Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott delivers your weekly dose of pop culture with the Parting Shot. Every week you’ll get celebrity interviews, award show coverage, and the rundown on exactly what to watch, read, and listen to in culture. Consider the Parting Shot your one stop shop for everything pop culture.

  1. 8 HR AGO

    Nora Ephron at the Movies: Ilana Kaplan’s Deep Dive on What Made Ephron Great

    There are very few directors whose personality is so central to their work, and Nora Ephron is one of those directors. A multi-hyphenated powerhouse of creativity, Ephron’s films like Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail and Julie & Julia cemented her status as the epitome of a very specific–and cozy–mood that would in many ways define her legacy after her death in 2012. Of course, she was so much more than just a filmmaker–she was a prolific writer of nonfiction and fiction–her films have gone on to become little pieces of her personality that fans now watch to get that full Nora Ephron experience. And that’s why Ilana Kaplan’s new book ‘Nora Ephron at the Movies: A Visual Celebration of the Writer and Director Behind When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, and More,’ is so, so special. Kaplan spoke with Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott about where her love for Ephron started, why Ephron mattered, and what impact her films had on the art of the romantic comedy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    33 min

  2. 5 DAYS AGO

    For Malala Yousafzai, the Apple TV+ Film ‘Bread & Roses’ is Personal

    “Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are banned from access to education and women are limited from work.” That is the stark reality that motivated Malala Yousafzai to lend her name as a producer to the documentary Bread & Roses (Apple TV+). Directed by Sahra Mani and co-produced by Jennifer Lawrence, the film follows three Afghan women (filmed in secret) as they live under and resist the Taliban oppression. “I believe that while the Taliban are trying to silence women, amplifying their voices through this documentary, is a form of resistance.” For Mani, the message of this film is of vital global importance. “Afghan women [are] paying the price the high price today, the world might pay the price tomorrow... We need solidarity of the world right now, tomorrow might be [too] late.” For Yousafzai, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient who rose to prominence after surviving a failed Taliban assassination attempt at 12 years old, this is an issue that is rooted in the inalienable right to dignity and personal freedom. “We all remain committed to it, and we'll keep fighting til the day we see every Afghan girl going to her school again, and every Afghan women getting their equal rights, living in dignity.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    15 min

  3. 6 DAYS AGO

    Mayan Lopez on Why We Need More Sitcoms, Now More Than Ever

    For Mayan Lopez, who stars, co-created and produces NBC’s Lopez vs. Lopez alongside her father, George Lopez, she tells Newsweek that we need more sitcoms, now more than ever. “You don’t gotta reinvent the wheel of sitcom, but we do the wheel well.” On Lopez vs. Lopez, Mayan and George play fictionalized versions of themselves, with many of the storylines blurring the line between fact and fiction. “My dad and I, we weren't really speaking very much before the first season started. I was actually nervous, like myself, but my character wasn't. So playing her gave me the confidence to be more direct with my dad and not be afraid that he was going to leave my life, as that's part of our previous history of just not talking. And as the show has gone on it, she's helped me grow into myself.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    27 min

  4. 20 NOV

    John David Washington on the Family Affair Behind 'The Piano Lesson’

    For John David Washington, bringing Netflix’s The Piano Lesson (November 22) from stage to screen was a family affair. His father, Denzel, produces while his brother, Malcolm, directs the film adaptation of August Wilson’s play about the Charles family in 1936 Pittsburgh as they wrestle with selling a family heirloom, a piano descended from ancestors who were slaves. “I don’t think you have to be a Black American to relate to this story.” But it wasn’t just working with his family that meant something to him. “I’m thinking about Sam [Samuel L.] Jackson, who originated the role in 1987. Michael Potts. LaTanya [Richardson] Jackson. I’m thinking about Stephen [McKinley] Henderson. I’m a part of that now. That gives me so much power and encouragement.” And while “the whale of truth that we’re floating along here is the underbelly of the antebellum South, the Jim Crow era,” Washington says the universal messages runs deeper. “If you understand that, we also talk about something else. It’s what’s so brilliant about August Wilson’s work.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    26 min

  5. 14 NOV

    Matlock’s Skye P. Marshall Says Working with Kathy Bates is Like Winning the Lottery

    For Skye P. Marshall, getting the part of Olympia on CBS’ Matlock is the culmination of a lot of hard work. “Every decision I've made in my career has led me to this moment. I'm a winner.” On Matlock, Marshall’s Olympia is a successful attorney at a prestigious New York City law firm who suddenly must contend with Madeline “Matty” Matlock (played by Kathy Bates), who has reentered the work force later in life. “At the beginning, we're not friends, but we're not just colleagues. And then over time, you'll start to see that that really is the love story.” While on the surface the two women are very different, they soon realize that the things about them that others use against them–Olympia’s race, Matty’s age–are actually things they can use to their advantage. “We both use it to our advantage because our need of doing good and defending the victims who cannot afford to fight for themselves.” When Marshall got the part, she says, “I screamed and cried a lot. The call felt like hitting the lottery. The call felt like what I would imagine LeBron James received in 2003 when he was the number one draft pick.” But after wrapping this season, with another season already greenlit by CBS, Marshall says one of the biggest takeaways from working with Bates so closely is how real Bates is. “Kathy has never forgotten where she's come from. Genuinely, she does not believe that she's better than the PA or the cater waiters. She doesn't.”  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    31 min

  6. 13 NOV

    Aldis Hodge Knows He Was Destined to Play Alex Cross

    Aldis Hodge’s career has been busy since his debut as a child actor in the 1995 film Die Hard with a Vengeance, but he says all that work has culminated in Prime Video’s Cross (November 14). “It just feels like the work that I’ve done in the past 35 years of my career has led up to this.” Hodge plays Alex Cross, a detective who uses forensic psychology to capture serial killers. The character was made famous in the popular James Patterson novels and film adaptations starring Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry. “If I wasn’t on this show, I’d be watching it, because it’s the kind of show I’ve been waiting for for a long time.” And Hodge is going to have that chance, because before the first episode even aired, Prime Video announced that they were renewing it for a second season. “That’s a huge leap of faith for them to step out for us, but it also validates the work that our entire crew, our cast, our producers and writers [are doing]. And it is very rare that it happens, but it just lets us know how special this project actually is, and how lucky we are to be a part of it.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    27 min

  7. 12 NOV

    Wendi McLendon-Covey Is the Comedy Icon We Need Right Now

    After 10 years of playing Beverly Goldberg on The Goldbergs, Wendi McLendon-Covey was not eager for a break. “I need to go do a job where I can just throw everything at it and then come home totally exhausted.” Luckily for her, NBC’s St. Denis Medical was waiting. “I loved the premise of the show and I love this character.” McLendon-Covey plays Joyce, a colorful hospital administrator surrounded by stressed-out doctors and nurses at a quirky medical facility in Oregon. “When you’re in a hospital, you don’t think anything’s funny, but, I’m sorry, hospitals are hysterical. They’re not supposed to be, but there’s always something you can look at and say, ‘I’m glad that’s not happening to me.’” Joyce is another hysterical character in a long list of funny people McLendon-Covey has played. One in particular she can’t seem to shake: Deputy Clementine Johnson on Reno 911! The Comedy Central series has had many incarnations since it debuted in 2003. “Listen, crime will never go away. So we’ll always have a reason to get back together.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    28 min

  8. 8 NOV

    Sharon Horgan’s Uncertain Yet Brilliant Path to Apple TV+’s ‘Bad Sisters’

    Sharon Horgan has a resume packed with award-winning comedy, but when it came to crafting Bad Sisters (Apple TV+, November 13) she had to find the right balance. That’s because “a very difficult subject matter,” about Irish sisters who plot to murder the abusive husband of one of the women, had to “sit alongside quite a farce.” Adapted from a Belgian series, Horgan took “some of the murders out, and I put more of the sisters in, and more of the effects watching your family member go through this.” “I think you can take chances in the script with where you choose to have a laugh or to release the pressure, or just have something really sort of out-and-out stupid.” Now in its second season, even though that husband is out of the way, after the Peabody Award-winning and Emmy-nominated first season, that doesn’t mean things have gotten easier for the sisters. “Life just doesn’t become hunky-dory, you’ve got this poison you’re still carrying it around.” For Horgan, she’s particularly proud that she was able to find that delicate balance of tone. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    29 min
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Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott delivers your weekly dose of pop culture with the Parting Shot. Every week you’ll get celebrity interviews, award show coverage, and the rundown on exactly what to watch, read, and listen to in culture. Consider the Parting Shot your one stop shop for everything pop culture.

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