Mental Floss

MOVIES

Brothers Russell and Ron Mael in Edgar Wright’s The Sparks Brothers (2021).

Over the past 50 years, brothers Ron and Russell Mael—a.k.a. musical duo Sparks—have been on the forefront of popular music trends, from glam rock to power pop to electronic music to new wave and beyond. Now they're the subject of Edgar Wright's first doc

Chelsea Spear


Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci

Acclaimed actor Tom Hiddleston is best known for his role as Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but some people say his best performance is as a horse.

Jake Rossen








Nora Ephron arrives at a screening of Julie & Julia in Westwood, California, in 2009.

If romantic comedies are synonymous with anyone, it’s writer/director Nora Ephron. Her landmark movies, including 'When Harry Met Sally...' and 'Sleepless in Seattle,' are widely credited with saving the rom-com genre.

Lana Schwartz


Gallery Books via Amazon

'Flowers in the Attic,' V.C. Andrews's debut novel, was a Gothic gateway for many a young romance reader. And the numerous reviews that deemed the incestuous plot scandalous and shocking only enticed readers more.

Stacy Conradt




Glamorous Carole Lombard on the cover of Photoplay.

Celebrities fade in and out of fashion, and so do the magazines that cover them. Here are 11 retro celebrity magazines that covered classic movie, music, radio, and television stars.

Claire Cock-Starkey








L to R: Wendi McLendon-Covey, Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, and Ellie Kemper star in Bridesmaids (2011).

In 2011, 'Bridesmaids' silenced chauvinists who believed that men had the monopoly on laughs and spearheaded a wave of female-fronted comedies. It also turned Melissa McCarthy into a bankable leading lady.

Jon O'Brien