Mental Floss

MENTAL FLOSS MOVIES

Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy star in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).

Nearly 40 years after introducing audiences to Max Rockatansky, director George Miller resurrected his dystopian series and created one of the most emotional action movies ever made with 'Mad Max: Fury Road.'

Scott Beggs








Jessica Rothe and Rob Mello star in Happy Death Day (2017).

The most effective horror comedy movies serve up our greatest fears while also playing with them, making us question our own emotional responses to everything from witches to alien plants. Here are 25 of our very favorites.

Scott Beggs
Tom Holland and Benedict Cumberbatch in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).

It took just a single weekend for 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' to become America's highest-grossing movie of 2021. But what about worldwide?

Michele Debczak
George Clooney and Brad Pitt star in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven (2001).

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.

Jon O'Brien








Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney star in Night of the Comet (1984).

Over the past near-90 years, zombies have given form to our fears of other cultures, loss of agency, communism, atomic warfare, race relations, capitalism, mass contagions, the space race, and, most importantly, our bone-deep fear of one another.

April Snellings
Daniel Craig stars in No Time to Die (2021).

Six decades, 25 films, six actors, and billions of dollars in box office later, and we're still talking about James Bond, his literary legacy, and his big screen adventures.

Matthew Jackson


Will Forte plays the title role in MacGruber (2010).

'MacGruber,' the 'MacGyver'-inspired send-up of 1980s action movies, transformed a one-joke Saturday Night Live sketch into one of the best smart-dumb comedies of the last two decades.

Todd Gilchrist


Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Since making his acting debut in 1977, Denzel Washington has appeared in more than 50 movies, where he has awed audiences and garnered critical acclaim by delivering one powerful performance after the next. But there’s much more to the man than his movies

Kristy Puchko