THE POP FILTER TOP TEN

META MOVIES

10. AIRPLANE

Aside from being perhaps the best comedy of all time, Airplane! is a “meta” masterpiece.  A nun, reading an actual ‘Boys Life’ magazine is followed by a boy reading a fictional ‘Nuns Life’ magazine.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a basketball player in real life, plays the co-pilot, who is mistaken for a basketball player.  There are countless gags in this movie that are brilliant, even before we called this sort of thing “Meta”. I can watch this film again and again, and I will laugh every time.  In fact, I think I will pop it in my DVD player right now.  Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue. -LF

9. BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON

If you’re reading this list out of order, it’ll come as no surprise that I love Behind the Mask. It’s ‘Scream’ for a new generation, dissecting the slasher genre mockumentary style. In Leslie Vernon’s world, Jason Voorhes and Michael Meyers aren’t just horror icons but  legends to aspire too. The crew gets to know the man, ahem, behind the mask, and introduces a charming an driven fellow. THe movie shows us just how much methodical planning, and lengthy cardio it takes to be a successful serial killer. Throughout the film, Leslie discusses the rules and mythology required to become a great killer, and then by the end of the movie sucks us into that world.  -MG

8. TROPIC THUNDER

This was the movie that proved two things: Robert Downey Jr. can do the fuck out of comedy and meta movies are not required to be confusing. Unlike Mulholland Drives and films of the ilk, Tropic Thunder was a straight up comedy about making an action film that allowed us to see exactly how fucked up movies can get when you film them in a jungle. The particularly cool thing this about this film is that Ben Stiller was the actual director, directing Steve Coogan directing Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman. And there you go; I took a very easy to watch and understand film and muddied it up the best that I could. Tropic Thunder! – JRN

7. JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK

 Jay and Silent Bob Strike back is one of the most specific meta movies of all time. Not a minute goes by that the film doesn’t reference itself or the universe (other films) from Kevin Smith the writer/director. The movie is literally about Jay and Silent Bob going to Hollywood to have a movie about Jay and Silent Bob stopped from being made. Jason Lee plays both of his characters from Mall Rats and Chasing Amy. Ben Affleck plays his character from Chasing Amy and BEN AFFLECK. I’m pretty sure this film proves Kevin Smith is a big fan of Kevin Smith. -KM

6. SCREAM

This is the movie that introduced me to the very concept of meta. At a ripe age of ten years old, I was learning that a piece of art can be self-aware and talk about what it is even as it’s making you shit your pants in fear. It ripped the fourth wall open by laying out the rules of horror movie, mocking those rules, and then following those rules. At this point Scream has been weighed down by a slew of subpar sequels, but it can’t be ignored that the original was a witty slasher flick that got away with having its cake and eating it too.  It set me on the path of loving horror movies, and loving anything meta which affects the art I choose to consume and how I deal with the world. Holy shit, Scream helped create me…that just seems wrong. -MG

5. MULHOLLAND DRIVE

Mulholland Drive is one of those films where aihh a  ahdshjaso  aiaosdh alkja jas  askjlj adslksalj haksjlhf kjlhjdkflh dsjkfhkj dsfs dfhlksd afhlksd flhksdf ahlkjsdf ahkljsda fhljk dsfhkljfsdjh klfsdah kljsa dfkhjl dsafkh jldsafjh kl sadfoi ; aoryi ewary;rewhukbj.sdzkjl xczvk urfoweiiouf;jkhlgifduhgkjkgdfnm,fvsd dgs isadh f sadbfkjhsdvlks dfgyhsdibj  sadfgb,mn sadhfkwaejawhsdaufsadjkfsdhfasdkjas dhjkskj kj sd hjklfskj bsdgkjsd kj sdkj h dfgkhj l dfsghj kl dfgk jhlgdsfkjldf ghkj dfghkjldfgkjldfs gkhjdsfgkj dfshgdffkjh gdfg hsdf ghlui dlfugl iuhdrg d gsuhldsf gkldf jkhdfjk lglkusdfgkhljlkhjga dgh;ioa aerwoir0 rgioj ewipfewqeiuyfuihleg 7he g7rhiekrjg. I think that about sums that shit up. – JRN

4. FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) is meta purely based off of Bueller’s awareness of our viewing him. So much so, he even start to give us advice, for instance, how to fake being sick. Many times through out the film Bueller glances to the camera to reassure us, the viewing audience, that he is aware of the absurdity which is happening on screen. However, the most meta moment comes after the credits when Bueller comes back on screen to tell us to go away… that nothing is left. It’s strange to think about waiting through the all of the credits just to be told their is nothing left, even though that very being told their is nothing is in fact something. Whaaa. -KM

3. SPACEBALLS

To start Spaceballs (1987) is a film entirely based from another film. However, this film, like most of Mel Brook’s films, is also aware it’s a film. Also, it’s aware it’s a film based off of another film. “Everybody got that?” Although, above all else, most of Spaceballs’ meta comes from a single gag in which Dark Helmet and his men have a bootleg copy of Spaceballs and watch it to find out what happens next. And then now becomes now. Oh, I’m not even going to start on that. -KM

2. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

Was this film intended to be a gigantic joke on the world from Banksy or was this film a tender exploration of an artist that is constantly misunderstood? Was the idiot of this film actually played by Banksy, taking to heart the cliche of ‘hide in plain sight’? Who gives a shit about any of this? This movie was awesome. You got a little bit of drama, a lot of amazing art work and you never knew exactly how much of the fucking with you was being done by Banksy and how much of it was being done in your own mind. It’s a pretty impressive artist that can make you think too much to the point that you add to his ability to second guess everything that you’re watching. I think the list is up to Banksy, Beethoven and Kirk Cameron. – JRN

1. ADAPTATION

My favorite thing for people to say after seeing Adaptation is that they really liked the ending, but the first three quarters were boring garbage. It’s not my place to tell them why that’s stupid, plus I think it’s funnier for them to go on living their life thinking that, so I usually just keep my mouth shut. The meeting with Robert McKee, followed by the final act, of Adaptation is hardly the only meta-moment of Adapation, but it’s one of the easier ones to describe. The rest needs to be seen to be believed, as the movie folds in and on top of itself so often that it’s almost a meta-commentary on meta-commentaries. Don’t let that scare you, though; what you don’t pick up the first time you’ll get the next, and everyone involved, from the cast to the writer to the director, are firing on all cylinders, making it never seem like work. – RH