Let’s Hope Disney’s “Hercules” Remake isn’t Another “Aladdin”
Here's what Disney got wrong with "Aladdin" and how it can avoid those pitfalls with "Hercules."

A Russian, a Jew and an Armenian came to Margarita to help her with some household repairs. But then came another surprise - a Black American who was determined on proposing to her. A Russian member of the State Duma, a Jewish teacher and an Armenian restaurateur decided they cannot possibly let her leave for the United States. It might be hard to persuade her to stay, but it’s not in the nature of people in Russia to give up easily. That day turned into night, which turned into morning and divided Margarita’s life into ‘before’ and ‘after’. After her guests almost crashed the apartment that they were supposed to help fix, Margarita understood that men are interested in many things - sex, politics, nationalism, internationalism, anarchy, family values, philosophical questions about the meaning of the world - but not in home repairs. And it is only in the end that she sees: men who are special do exist - but you have to look carefully…
Here's what Disney got wrong with "Aladdin" and how it can avoid those pitfalls with "Hercules."
Crazy Rich Asians. The title is tacky, but the actual movie is both heartwarming and cosmopolitan. After all, it takes place in Singapore!
The Roses is a wickedly sharp marital warfare comedy that transforms domestic dysfunction into high art. Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch deliver powerhouse performances as a couple whose fairy-tale romance implodes when his architectural career collapses just as her culinary empire takes off. What makes Jay Roach's remake so devastatingly effective is its refusal to pick sides—both spouses are equally sympathetic and monstrous, wielding Tony McNamara's razor-sharp dialogue like weapons forged from shared intimacies. It's a film that dares you to laugh at relationship wreckage while forcing you to confront the uncomfortable truth that the line between passionate love and mutual destruction is terrifyingly thin.