Latest news with #Cordelia
Hospitality Net
4 days ago
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Sofitel reinvents the hotel uniform and unveils an exclusive collaboration with the French designer Cordelia de Castellane
This new collection, embodying the highest standards of French savoir-faire, will be rolled out across Sofitel hotels throughout 2026. Comprising 45 pieces, the Vestiaire has been thoughtfully designed to suit all professions and destinations, while expressing an elegant, fluid, and boldly contemporary style — a reflection of the renaissance of Accor's most quintessentially French luxury brand. Empowering 25,000 employees to embody the French Zest Sofitel and Cordelia de Castellane have teamed up to create a new closet for all employees at the brand's 120-plus hotels worldwide. With her experience of the most prestigious French luxury houses, Cordelia brings a touch of modernity and sophistication to this collection, while preserving the finest standards of French craftsmanship. Conceived as a celebration of the brand's hotel teams - 25,000 employees worldwide - and the culture of personalized service inherited from the French art of hospitality, this collaboration embodies the very essence of French elegance. With its flowing, resolutely Parisian cuts, accessories and unostentatious elegance, it breaks with the monotony often associated with traditional uniforms, offering instead a bold and authentic expression of French chic. The partnership marks a key milestone in Sofitel's ongoing renaissance, as the brand continues its global expansion with 32 new openings planned over the next three years. All of these properties embody the Sofitel spirit, blending French zest with local cultural richness, a commitment symbolized by the 'Cultural Link', the iconic logo creating a bridge between world's cultures. The new Vestiaire features the graphic Sofitel logo in a collection of exclusive prints, transforming Sofitel's visual signature into a luxurious monogram. A high-end, modular and evolving Vestiaire Designed with flexibility in mind, the Sofitel wardrobe introduces a fresh fashion-forward approach tailored to every role and destination. Under the artistic direction of Cordelia de Castellane, the collection seamlessly blends timeless silhouettes with practical needs, offering a variety of noble fabrics, textures, and color palettes suitable for both city hotels and resorts. Each piece has been crafted using flexible and durable materials — internationally tested across pilot hotels — to meet the everyday needs of hotel staff. The wardrobe adapts to all body types, roles, and climates, ensuring both comfort and elegance. In line with Sofitel's CSR commitments, each uniform is made from high-quality materials built to withstand daily demands while remaining effortlessly elegant, thanks to refined details and impeccable finishes. This wardrobe also reflects Sofitel's dedication to responsible luxury. Developed in partnership with Paris Good Fashion, the initiative ensures every step of production respects principles of sustainability, repairability, and recyclability — reducing environmental impact and contributing to more responsible resource management. Cordelia de Castellane, shaping the creative universe of Sofitel Vestiaire The inspiration underpinning this new collection draws directly from the unique creative world of Cordelia de Castellane, a designer whose work is marked by a fusion of tradition and modernity. Her vision of luxury combines timeless elegance with creative audacity, subtly blending classic and contemporary elements. The Sofitel Vestiaire is much more than a uniform: it's a manifesto. It's a tribute to our teams, who are the first to embody the renaissance of Sofitel. It reflects the joy of embracing a brand, the pride of being its ambassador, and the desire to wear our values in silk, knit, or cotton. We want this wardrobe to be emotionally resonant, exacting and refined, but also effortlessly chic. That's why we needed a visionary. This partnership with Cordelia de Castellane is the meeting of two visions of luxury, united by a shared passion for exceptional design. Maud Bailly, CEO of Sofitel Legend, Sofitel, MGallery and Emblems For me, Sofitel is a madeleine de Proust. It brings back childhood memories, iconic hotels, and a very specific vision of French luxury. Sofitel is more than a hotel brand — it's a way of life, a natural elegance paired with a deep openness to the world. Paris was a major inspiration for this collection — because Paris means effortless chic, cultural richness, precision tailoring, and that uniquely bold creativity. I wanted to imagine a wardrobe that expresses this Parisian sophistication, but also the warmth of hospitality and the pride of representing a house. These are garments designed to last, to move with the body, and to make every team member feel beautiful, free, and proud, adds Cordelia de Castellane. About Accor, a world-leading hospitality group Accor is a world-leading hospitality group offering stays and experiences across more than 110 countries with over 5,600 hotels and resorts, 10,000 bars & restaurants, wellness facilities and flexible workspaces. The Group has one of the industry's most diverse hospitality ecosystems, encompassing around 45 hotel brands from luxury to economy, as well as Lifestyle with Ennismore. ALL, the booking platform and loyalty program embodies the Accor promise during and beyond the hotel stay and gives its members access to unique experiences. Accor is focused on driving positive action through business ethics, responsible tourism, environmental sustainability, community engagement, diversity, and inclusivity. Accor's mission is reflected in the Group's purpose: Pioneering the art of responsible hospitality, connecting cultures, with heartfelt care. Founded in 1967, Accor SA is headquartered in France. Included in the CAC 40 index, the Group is publicly listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and on the OTC Market (Ticker: ACCYY) in the United States. For more information, please visit or follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.
Business Insider
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
‘Right Move at the Right Time,' Says John Vinh About Nvidia Stock
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has faced challenges with the launch of its Blackwell platform, but the AI chip giant is now making aggressive moves to get production back on track. Stay Ahead of the Market: Discover outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks. Filter, analyze, and streamline your search for investment opportunities using Tipranks' Stock Screener. One example is a strategic decision to switch from the Cordelia compute board (2 CPU x 4 GPU) back to the Bianca board (1 CPU x 2 GPU) for its GB300 chips on the Blackwell Ultra platform. According to KeyBanc's John Vinh, an analyst ranked in the top 3% of Wall Street stock pros, the switch likely stems from signal integrity issues tied to the SXM socket interface used in Cordelia. While SXM was intended to enhance serviceability and supply chain flexibility, Vinh believes Nvidia's move suggests the company isn't willing to let technical hiccups delay its rollout timeline. 'We believe NVDA decided to switch back to the Bianca board design in order to maintain its 4Q25 launch schedule for GB300 and to provide a more seamless transition from Blackwell to Blackwell Ultra,' the 5-star analyst noted. That decision could be pivotal. Vinh had flagged concerns over Nvidia's dependency on heavy second-half shipments to hit its 30,000-unit NVL rack target, with 70% of that volume expected later in the year. By reverting to the Bianca board, Nvidia effectively neutralizes that risk. The new configuration acts as a drop-in replacement for its existing GB200-based NVL72 racks, easing the upgrade path and maintaining production momentum. This latest positive development comes in the wake of some recent negative headlines. Most notably, Nvidia disclosed it may face up to $5.5 billion in charges for F1Q26, following new export license requirements imposed by the Trump administration on its China-targeted H20 chip. Adding to the pressure, Huawei recently launched its Ascend 910C AI chip, which matches the performance of Nvidia's H100 by combining two of its earlier 910B GPUs. Even with the recent headwinds, Nvidia shares are trading at a forward P/E of 17x, a discount to the peer average of 20x. That valuation gap, combined with long-term tailwinds, has Vinh sticking with his Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating and a $190 price target, implying a potential 85% upside over the next year. (To watch Vinh's track record, click here) There's widespread agreement with that take amongst Vinh's colleagues; based on a mix of 37 Buy recommendations vs. 5 Holds, the analyst consensus rates NVDA stock a Strong Buy. Going by the $168.49 average price target, a year from now, shares will be changing hands for a 64% premium. (See NVDA stock forecast) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks' Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks' equity insights.
Express Tribune
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
A murder, a dinner, a detective
It's not easy being a TV snob. Ask anyone who is still haunted by Kenneth Branagh's diabolical grey moustache in Murder on the Orient Express. Or, while we are at it, anyone who still feels physical pain at the memory of Daniel Craig's horrifying Benoit Blanc accent in both of the Knives Out films. If you are this snob and refuse to accept incorrectly coloured facial hair or slaughtered Texan accents from your fictional detectives, Netflix's murder mystery The Residence and its eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp are here to save the day. In simple terms, if Craig's Benoit and Branagh's Poirot are the boiling tea that spills from kettle to hand, Uzo Aduba's (Orange is the New Black) Cordelia is the dab of toothpaste you smear on your burn. Magnetic protagonist Created by Paul William Davies and produced by Shonda Rhimes' Shondaland, those who have admired the show's anthemic knowledge of the White House layout will be intrigued to learn that it was inspired by Kate Andersen Bower's nonfiction book, The Residence: Inside The Private World Of The White House. The Residence's answer to Sherlock Holmes, Cordelia has the fashion sense of Indiana Jones, the memory of an elephant (or a CPU) and a lot more love for birds and tinned mackerel than she does for her fellow people. For the sake of a dead man in the White House, however, Cordelia is willing to battle her low tolerance for humanity during eight hour-long episodes, wading through the myriad of exhausting stories nearly every suspect brandishes before her. By eruditely extracting nuggets of truth from bald-faced lies misformed memories, Cordelia ever so satisfyingly unmasks the murderer she has pursued in a long awaited denouement, sliding into place amongst television's other great brainiacs – and making our fictional world of whodunits all the better for it. Stitched together with a watertight script and original jazzy orchestral soundtrack by Mark Mothersbaugh (whose work you can also relish on The Royal Tenenbaums), here lies a murder mystery that is the equivalent of a box of posh chocolates: irresistible and unforgettable. A classic whodunnit Have no fear if you have an aversion to gore. The only individual who experiences any sort of violence here is our poor dead victim, and his murderer is kind enough to carry out their little escapade away from the prying eyes of the camera. This crime is as aseptic as these things can be, and if we are privy to any blood, we almost have to squint to see it. What, then, do we need to craft this box-of-chocolates bloodless whodunit? We begin with a dead White House head usher, AB Wynter, brought to life – if only for a short while – by Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito, meeting his end at the hands of a devious killer. Our devious killer strikes amid a chaotic Australian state dinner where nearly everything that can go wrong has already done so. Had our hapless usher not already perished before the night was over, it is entirely possible he would have keeled over from the stress of managing the circus that is his staff. Sadly for him, this is his circus, and these are his monkeys. Like the stoic captain of the Titanic, he is there at the helm, prepared to go down with his ship to the bitter end. Part of Wynter's circus includes an assistant usher who wants his job, a volatile chef aching to serve her guests a meal with literal fire, a pastry chef who has meticulously crafted a dessert slated to offend Australians (you may not believe desserts can hurt feelings, but this pastry chef finds a way) a social secretary who has no idea where to seat her guests, a drunk butler, and whole host of additional subordinates who have either publicly wished Wynter ill will or proclaimed a loud desire to kill him. This is something they are about to heartily regret. In addition to these tiresome subordinates wreaking havoc, Wynter also has important guests to keep placated: Kylie Minogue (yes, the real Kylie) with an oddly specific request, Hugh Jackman (not the real one, but be on the lookout for a the back of a dark head and an upbeat Australian voice), an Australian prime minister, a wayward foreign minister, a POTUS with the personality of wet cardboard, alongside the President's idiot brother causing no end of trouble somewhere upstairs. Wynter does not have to deal with any of these people for too long, because his corpse is soon found on the third floor of the White House, two floors above the state dinner. A horde of befuddled law enforcement agents from the Secret Service, FBI and CIA converge upon this unfortunate finding, trying to find any way of passing this off as a suicide so that the state dinner remains as untainted as possible. (The first rule of hosting is that when explaining dead bodies to your guests, suicide trumps murder.) The woman saviour Unfortunately for all of these law enforcement head honchos, the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department has the foresight to bring his friend Cordelia alongside him. Within minutes of examining Wynter's body, Cordelia throws water all over everyone else's fervent hopes of a suicide. Wynter, as is obvious to everyone except the police officers who have cast a cursory glance his way, was definitely murdered, and it is now Cordelia's daunting task to find out who, amid the hundreds of people and menagerie of mendacious witnesses in the building, could have done it. Testing her acerbic wit to the outermost bounds of its tether, Cordelia's job is not helped by the President being awkward about acquiescing to her investigative methods, nor the superfluous agents (or 'dudes', as she labels them in a most unimpressed manner) pestering her about when she will be done, not unlike a child in the backseat asking, "Are we there yet?" The beauty of The Residence lies not just in how Cordelia solves an unsolvable murder without killing anyone herself, but the primal human emotions that drive the actions of every person she speaks to, as well as those of the only man beyond her reach: Wynter himself. The deck is laid out. There are no unfair surprises or rabbits pulled out of thin air. Like Cordelia, you need to take the time to get to know the people at the periphery of this murder. Do not be the viewer who grunts, "This could have been a two-hour film," The best box of chocolates should never be rushed and demands it be remembered and revisited. The Residence is that box of chocolates. It exists to be savoured from start to finish – and all over again.
Gulf Today
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
‘The Residence': Uzo Aduba delights in Netflix murder mystery
OK, so think 'Scandal,' but take out the sex and the spying and the occasional gruesomeness and all but one suspicious death, and add more wit, a lot of bird-watching, a dash of 'Knives Out' and a lot of behind-the-scenes-at-the-White-House-family-quarters dish, and you'll get 'The Residence,' the latest Netflix offering from Shonda Rhimes' factory of addictive TV. Starring a delightfully unimpressed Uzo Aduba as eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp, 'The Residence' is a murder mystery unfolding over eight episodes, in which Cordelia and a gaggle of hangers-on try to figure out why White House lead usher A.B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito, mostly turning up in flashbacks) was found dead on the Game Room floor after a state dinner. (Nonspoiler alert: Netflix didn't make the final episode available for preview, so I have no idea whatsoever whodunit — but let's just say I, like Cordelia, have my suspicions.) Though now might not be the ideal time for a screwball comedy set in the White House, rest assured that 'The Residence' is strictly apolitical and might actually provide a cheerful diversion from daily news; the residence staffers on the show emphasize that (as in real life) they work for the house, not the specific administration. The show is inspired by Kate Andersen Brower's 2015 nonfiction book 'The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House,' and fascinating tidbits from that book pop up in the show; for example, the fact that first families, often to their surprise, are billed for their own food at the White House. And Lyndon B. Johnson's legendary obsession with having the hottest, strongest shower possible appears in a late episode, as the pet cause of fictional president Perry Morgan (Paul Fitzgerald). The fun here, though, is in the performances, and in the snappy pacing that wouldn't be out of place in a rat-a-tat '30s rom-com. Series creator Paul William Davies (a 'Scandal' veteran) rapidly introduces us to a vast crowd of characters: Cordelia, a genius detective who loves tinned mackerel and would really rather be bird-watching; FBI special agent Edwin Park (Randall Park), reluctantly paired with Cordelia; would-be head usher Jasmine Haney (Susan Kelechi Watson); usher/loose cannon Sheila Cannon (Edwina Findley); Reese Witherspoon-ish social secretary Lilly Schumacher (Molly Griggs); the president's ne'er-do-well brother Tripp (Jason Lee); a rather dramatic pastry chef named Didier (Bronson Pinchot); and ... sorry, I need to catch my breath here, something the show doesn't really let you do. Anyway, there seem to be approximately 200 main characters, including a senator played by Al Franken who caused me to think for much too long that wow, that actor really looks a lot like Al Franken, and a very funny running gag involving Hugh Jackman. Things unfold in a way familiar to anyone who's read an Agatha Christie novel or watched Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc: The detective asks questions, hears multiple versions of what happened, looks for clues, gets distracted by rare birds. (OK, that last thing is a fresh twist.) It's great fun to follow the twisty cameras up and down the beautifully re-created White House hallways, to watch as the rapid-fire narrative zips from one scene to the next, to appreciate Aduba's multiple variants on Cordelia's weary resignation to being the smartest person in the room. (I loved the slightly blase tone which she sighs, upon seeing an array of men determined to weigh in on the investigation, 'That is a lot of dudes,' and the way she gets people to confess to things simply by holding her face very still.) And there are enough supporting players from 'Veep' (Park, Fitzgerald, Isiah Whitlock Jr.) to make you wonder whether Julia Louis-Dreyfus' President Selina Meyer might suddenly sashay into the room and start barking orders; a welcome thought indeed. Tribune news Service
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Every Disney live-action remake, ranked from worst to first
For the past three decades, Disney has been steadily transforming its library of classic animated movies into live-action features. So it was inevitable that Snow White would join the ranks of the remakes, to be followed by Lilo & Stitch this summer, and Moana next year. There are five other animated remakes currently in development, and at some point, Disney's going to run out of movies to make twice! To mark Snow White's arrival in theaters on Friday, we've ranked every Disney live-action remake. There are some caveats, however. This list is limited to the actual remakes, rather than prequels, spinoffs, and sequels. The so-called live-action Lion King is also excluded, since it wasn't live-action at all. It was just made with some very realistic CGI, and it belongs among animated films rather than in this roundup of live-action Disney remakes. With that in the mind, here is the official Gold Derby ranking, from worst to first. More from GoldDerby 'The Residence' finale: Cordelia clocks A.B. Wynter's murderer - here's who killed the chief usher 'The Residence' at the Emmys: Which categories can the murder mystery crack? Kathy Bates would be the oldest Emmy winner in her category's history (and it's not even close) Rotten Tomatoes: 27 percent Metacritic: 38 percent Worldwide box office: N/A Streaming: Disney+ Where's the Robert Zemeckis who made Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Because there's very little of that guy in Disney+'s live-action remake of Pinocchio. While very technically proficient, and even visually impressive at times, this film simply goes through the motions of the story without recapturing any of its soul. Tom Hanks is largely wasted as Geppetto, and Wicked's Cynthia Erivo has what amounts to a cameo as the Blue Fairy. Most of this film relies on the performance of Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as the voice of Pinocchio, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as pal and conscience Jiminy Cricket. We'll say this for Pinocchio: Pleasure Island's true nature is still unsettling in the remake. Rotten Tomatoes: 46 percent Metacritic: 51 percent Worldwide box office: $353.3 million Streaming: Disney+ Dumbo is Tim Burton's most recent film for Disney, and quite likely his last, according to the director himself. Some of his other remakes took bold swings that improved upon the original Disney cartoons. Dumbo wasn't one of those movies, and it's vastly inferior to the 1941 film. Heck, we'd pick Operation Dumbo Drop over this one! Burton had a great cast to work with, including Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Eva Green, and Danny DeVito. However, the human side of the story completely overshadows Dumbo in his own movie. There are also plenty of baffling dramatic choices, including an ending where the circus decides to forgo the use of animal performers in favor of people dressed up as animals. This is supposed to be 1919, not the 2020s. Rotten Tomatoes: 39 percent Metacritic: 50 percent Worldwide box office: $320.7 million Streaming: Disney+ Casting Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil was a truly inspired choice, and John Hughes' script stays pretty close to the plot of the 1961 film and Dodie Smith's original story. House's Hugh Laurie pops up in a fun turn as Jasper, one of Cruella's henchmen. This remake didn't win over critics, but audiences loved it. Where the movie really loses something special is due to the decision to keep the animals from speaking English as they did in the original cartoon. The animal actors are very expressive, but it's just not the same. The film also unforgivably erases the heroic actions of the animated feature's sole feline character, Sergeant Tibbs. That alone deserves a very loud hiss. Rotten Tomatoes: 65 percent Metacritic: 61 percent Worldwide box office: N/A Streaming: Disney+ The familiar rivalry between Peter Pan (Alexander Molony) and Captain Hook (Jude Law) gets a little touchy-feely in Peter Pan & Mary, the last of the Disney+ original live-action remakes... at least for now. Law does seem like he was the right choice to play Hook, but he loses some of the character's wonderfully over-the-top villainous swagger when the one-handed captain reveals his real connection to Peter. As for Wendy (Ever Anderson), she and her brothers join Peter on a trip to Neverland to explore the promise of never having to grow up. This film trips all over itself while trying to avoid the racist stereotypes of the 1953 original, and it's just not as much fun to watch. Rotten Tomatoes: 67 percent Metacritic: 48 percent Worldwide box office: N/A Streaming: Disney+ Disney+'s first-ever original movie was the remake of Lady and the Tramp, and it's largely faithful to the 1955 animated film. While previous live-action adaptations shied away from talking animals, this film let Lady (Tessa Thompson) and Tramp (Justin Theroux) keep their voices. And it wouldn't have worked without them. It was unintentionally hilarious that Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham plays the man who lovingly serves spaghetti and meatballs to Lady and the Tramp, And this film did pay more of its attention to its human cast, including Thomas Mann and Kiersey Clemons as Lady's owners. It's good enough as a movie, but it doesn't outshine the original. Rotten Tomatoes: 80 percent Metacritic: 63 percent Worldwide box office: $70 million Streaming: N/A (available to buy/rent on most digital platforms) This film has the distinction of being the first live-action remake of a Disney animated film, as well as writer and director Stephen Sommers' warm-up for The Mummy movies a few years later. Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book doesn't try to ape the plot of the 1967 film, if you'll pardon the expression. Instead, it primarily tells the story of Mowgli (Jason Scott Lee) after he's reunited with his childhood friend Katherine "Kitty" Brydon (Game of Thrones' Lena Headey), while also dealing with treacherous treasure hunters who disrupt the jungle. It's a solid adventure flick with a great cast, including Cary Elwes, Sam Neill, John Cleese, and Jason Flemyng, as well as real animals instead of CGI creations. The only knock against this Jungle Book is that it isn't very faithful to either the Disney film or Rudyard Kipling's stories. Rotten Tomatoes: 84 percent Metacritic: 67 percent Worldwide box office: $542.4 million Streaming: Disney+ Unlike some of the other live-action remakes, Cinderella doesn't try to reinvent the original story of the 1950 toon. Director Kenneth Branagh may not have gone with Disney's talking mice, but Ella (Lily James) still gets her chance to dance with the prince (Richard Madden), thanks to her Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter). Cate Blanchett hammed it up as Lady Tremaine, Ella's evil stepmother, but that was exactly what the role needed. This isn't the most spectacular Disney remake, but there's nothing wrong with it either. Rotten Tomatoes: 51 percent Metacritic: 53 percent Worldwide box office: $1.03 billion Streaming: Disney+ There's one thing that anyone can say after watching Alice in Wonderland: 'That was definitely a Tim Burton movie.' Lewis Carroll's famous story, originally adapted by Disney in 1951, was completely reimagined for this film, and Mia Wasikowska had a star-making turn as Alice Kingsleigh, a young woman who finds herself transported to Wonderland. As part of the story's remix, the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) became more of a heroic figure, and Alice was called upon to free Wonderland from the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), restore the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to power, and defeat the Jabberwocky (Christopher Lee). As she says in the movie, Alice does six impossible things before breakfast. About the only thing she couldn't do is make the sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass, as fun or as successful as this one. Rotten Tomatoes: 72 percent Metacritic:66 percent Worldwide box office: $69 million Streaming: Disney+ Mulan was beset by numerous factors beyond the control of the filmmakers, including the COVID-19 pandemic, fan reaction to some of the creative changes, and even remarks by the movie's leading lady, Yifei Liu, when she came out against pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. And you wouldn't believe the kerfuffle that happened when Mulan's commanding officer and love interest, Li Shang, was cut from the film. Taken on its own terms, the Mulan remake has some incredible visuals, good action, and a scale that few Disney live-action movies have achieved. Die-hard fans of the 1998 original might have been discontented with Mulan, but this still ranks among the best of the remakes. Rotten Tomatoes: 67 percent Metacritic:59 percent Worldwide box office: $569.6 million Streaming: Disney+ The Little Mermaid sinks or swims with its Ariel, and Halle Bailey holds up her end of the bargain by singing her way through the remake. There are parts of this film that are visually dazzling, but it still can't compare to one of the greatest animated features ever made. There aren't many major changes between the two versions of The Little Mermaid, but this one does reveal that Ariel is related to the sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), which ultimately doesn't make a difference in the outcome of the story. But if you've ever loved the songs and music of 1989's The Little Mermaid, they're all back again for the current generation along with new songs by Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Rotten Tomatoes: 54 percent Metacritic: 56 percent Worldwide box office: $758.5 million Streaming: Disney+ In a departure from the previous Disney remakes, Maleficent casts the villain of the original as the (anti)hero. Unlike Maleficent's delightful and unrepentantly evil turn in 1959's Sleeping Beauty, Angelina Jolie's take on the character is presented as a woman who was violated by her former suitor, Stegan (Sharlto Copley). He ripped the wings from her body so he could become a king and marry another woman. To get her revenge, Maleficent crashes the christening of his daughter, Aurora, and places the familiar curse on the infant that will strike on her 16th birthday. When Aurora (Elle Fanning) becomes a teenager, things diverge even further from the original tale when Maleficent develops maternal feelings for her. But not even Maleficent can break her own curse. Unfortunately, the success of this film emboldened Disney to make a sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which couldn't live up to its predecessor. Rotten Tomatoes: 57 percent Metacritic: 53 percent Worldwide box office: $1.05 billion Streaming: Disney+ The animated Aladdin is one of the best movies from Disney Animation. Guy Ritchie's remake can't match the 1992 version, but it's still pretty good. And audiences responded to it by making it one of the top-performing Disney remakes. No one could compare to the late Robin Willims, but Will Smith was an intriguing choice to bring something new to the part of Genie. This was only the second film of Mena Massoud's career, but he did an admirable job as Aladdin. Yet the real breakout here is Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine, who's so assertive that she basically banishes two guards who were holding her into oblivion for the duration of her power ballad. Rotten Tomatoes: 71 percent Metacritic: 65 percent Worldwide box office: $1.27 billion Streaming: Disney+ Disney's 1991 Beauty and the Beast was Oscar-nominated for Best Picture and pretty much perfect the first time. Director Bill Condon wisely didn't rock the boat with his 2017 remake, which largely recreates the big moments from the first film and all of those amazing songs by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. Emma Watson lights up the screen as Belle, and Dan Stevens was a worthy Beast to her beauty. Luke Evans chowed on scenery as the wonderfully over-the-top Gaston, Belle's would-be suitor and the film's true villain. The only real shock in this movie was that someone in the prince's court was transformed into a toilet for decades. What did they do to deserve that fate?! And thankfully, the toilet doesn't have any musical numbers. Rotten Tomatoes: 94 percent Metacritic: 77 percent Worldwide box office: $967 million Streaming: Disney+ Jon Favreau's remake of The Jungle Book didn't make the same choices that Stephen Sommers did with his 1994 film, and the result was a movie that was a lot closer in spirit to the Disney original. Favreau cast a real kid, Neel Sethi, to play Mowgli, while letting an A-list ensemble of celebrities voice the CGI animals. Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, and Idris Elba are particularly compelling as Ballo, Bagheera, and Shere Khan, but the rest of the voice cast — including Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong'o, Giancarlo Esposito, and Christopher Walken — are all terrific. This is easily Disney's best live-action remake, and it has yet to be topped. Based on the decidedly mixed reviews for Snow White, Favreau's The Jungle Book will remain on top for the foreseeable future. Launch Gallery: Walt Disney movies: All 19 animated features ranked worst to best Best of GoldDerby 'Magazine Dreams' saw its Oscar dreams torpedoed by star Jonathan Majors' scandal. Why the film is now getting another chance. Gary Oldman movies: 20 greatest films, ranked worst to best Spike Lee movies: 16 greatest films ranked worst to best Click here to read the full article.
