![Robert Redford in ‘Downhill Racer.’ Robert Redford in ‘Downhill Racer.’](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1800,h_1012,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/mentalfloss/01j2a20vvpryt0thvaj9.jpg)
![Jon O'Brien Jon O'Brien](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_180,ar_1:1,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/mentalfloss/01fw71t9673a6b79cxj8.jpg)
Jon O'Brien
Joined: Jul 28, 2020
Jon O'Brien is a freelance entertainment journalist with bylines in Esquire, Billboard, Vulture, New Scientist, Vinyl Me, Please, i-D, The Guardian and Paste. He spends most of his spare time going to gigs, but he's also a soccer enthusiast, garage drummer, Icelandophile, and carrot cake connoisseur. He lives in North West England with his partner and King Charles Spaniel.
![Robert Redford in ‘Downhill Racer.’ Robert Redford in ‘Downhill Racer.’](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1800,h_1012,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/mentalfloss/01j2a20vvpryt0thvaj9.jpg)
![Lucinda Dickey and Adolfo Quinones in 'Breakin' 2' (1984). Lucinda Dickey and Adolfo Quinones in 'Breakin' 2' (1984).](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1785,h_1004,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/mentalfloss/01hyw19n85nvm6etnnw1.jpg)
40 Years Ago: When Breakdancing Crashed the Box Office of 1984
![Clockwise from right: Peter Capaldi, Rebecca Front, Joanna Scanlan, Chris Addison, and James Smith star in 'The Thick of It.' Clockwise from right: Peter Capaldi, Rebecca Front, Joanna Scanlan, Chris Addison, and James Smith star in 'The Thick of It.'](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1462,h_822,x_0,y_20/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/mentalfloss/01hras4pkq0w8r9vte8c.jpg)
15 Surprising Facts About ‘The Thick of It’
![Cher Cher](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4655,h_2618,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/mentalfloss/01hfqc206trcqnnaczz3.jpg)
Make “Believe“: How Cher Staged One of Pop Music’s All-Time Greatest Comebacks
15 Celebrities Who Played (Versions of) Themselves in Movies
From Nicolas Cage to Jean-Claude Van Damme, plenty of Hollywood stars have performed on screen as fictionalized versions of themselves.
10 Wonderfully Weird Muppet Duets
The Muppets have squared off against everyone from Johnny Cash to Celine Dion.
‘In the Line of Duty’: The Waco Movie Made Before The Siege Ended
In 1993, just 34 days after the Waco siege ended, NBC premiered 'In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco'—a TV movie greenlit, scripted, and largely shot while the tragedy was still unfolding.
11 Fictional Bands Who Scored Very Real Hit Songs
The Monkees may not have been a "real" band, but their chart-topping legacy speaks for itself.
10 Fun Facts About ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’
10 Actors Who Have Played Marilyn Monroe
With Netflix's 'Blonde,' Ana de Armas is the latest in a long line of actors who have attempted to portray Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood’s ultimate It Girl.
Slow Burn: How Elton John's "Candle in the Wind '97"—the Best-Selling Single in Music History—Became a Royal Relic
In the weeks following the death of Princess Diana, "Candle in the Wind '97" provided a form of musical catharsis. Then it simply burned out.
How The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert Became the Biggest All-Star Gig of the '90s
On April 20, 1992, the world's biggest musicians took the stage at London's Wembley Stadium to honor the late, great Freddie Mercury. Some tributes fared better than others.
10 Totally Unconventional TV Christmas Specials
Not every seasonal offering brings maximum yuletide cheer. Here’s a look at 10 that suggest those responsible had indulged in a little too much eggnog.
20 Fun Facts About Ocean’s Eleven
In 2001, newly minted Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh gathered up some of the biggest names in Hollywood and pulled off a heist movie for the ages.
Crawlspace: When the Makers of a Sleazy '80s Slasher Movie Nearly Killed Klaus Kinski for Real
“You can’t hope to direct [Klaus] Kinski,” John Vulich, a makeup effects artist on 'Crawlspace' once said about the 1986 low-budget horror movie’s leading man. “You can only document him.”
When Macarena Ruled the World in 1996
Los del Río's “Macarena” became the second longest-running number one in Billboard history, shifted 14 million copies, and sparked a dance craze that spread everywhere from the Olympics to the Democratic National Convention.