Popular Movies That Completely Messed With Our Heads

Best to start out this list of meta movies with the one that's probably the best of all time. Adaptation is about the writer, Charlie Kaufman, writing the movie he's currently in.

It's awesome.

Whether you know this movie because it's considered to be one of the best of all time, or because you've seen Clockwork Orange too many times, this movie about a silent pictures star trying to move into the talkies is as meta as '50s movies get.

Come on. I had to include this. The cartoon where the artist messes around with Daffy Duck?

This was the thing that taught us about meta!

Orson Welles is probably the best director of all time, and it's evident in this narrative/documentary about an art forager.

Orson tells us he's going to lie to us, just like his subject, and does so.

The biggest form of meta in this movie is the fact that it makes fun of the movie it's supposed to be.

It's a parody of knights, their travels, and even itself.

After recently rewatching Scream (partially thanks to this article) I've found that it's hilariously genius.

Wes Craven comments on the slasher flick while still somehow adhering to its rules, which is gold.

Similar to Scream, this movie instead decided to focus on why the victims of a horror movie would behave so irrationally.

Also, why the horrors themselves take place at all.

Deadpool is the master of meta. He's so meta, he went into the real world and killed the actor who plays him before Ryan could make Green Lantern.

If that's not meta, I don't know what is.

This movie that features a bunch of big-time actors going to Vietnam is about a bunch of big-time actors that go to Vietnam...

Ah!!! My brain is imploding!

Bowfinger is about a low-level producer (Steve Martin) trying to make a movie about an actor (Eddie Murphy) without the actor's knowledge.

It's one of those "movies within a movie" deals.

Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling is about Rocko trying to get his favorite TV show from the '90s back on the air.

The message is about letting go of the past.

Not only does Arnold Schwarzenegger do a parody of himself in this movie, but it's about a kid who gets a magic movie ticket so he can go into movies... in a movie.

Funny People is only meta because of Adam Sandler's character.

Sure, in the credits, he's billed as George Simmons, but the character's career perfectly reflects Sandler's, and the writers knew what they were doing.

A director who's a puppet to the big industry, a producer replaced by a mob boss; these are clearly comments on the movie industry itself.

So it's safe to say this movie is meta.

The narration in this is probably the most meta part of the movie.

Robert Downey Jr is constantly rambling on, then commenting about how much his narration sucks. Just gorgeous!