Lost in the Movies: Finding The Holy Grail

Finding The Holy Grail


(Also see "The Holy Grail" for the full, updated list of participating blogs.)

Wow, that took a long time! Last night, too tired to write an entire fresh post, I put up this picture as a placeholder and promised that I'd be back soon with a master list of all the "Holy Grail" films. Well, here I am but there was a lot of hunting and gathering to do. For those of you just joining in, here's the chronology.

Two months ago, just over a week after I joined the blogosphere, Piper at Lazy Eye Theatre introduced a new "meme" into circulation: The 12 Movies Meme. Diablo Cody, then still undergoing a Juno backlash (a counter-backlash has just started to emerge), had been invited to program a dozen movies at a revered retro theater and Piper essentially said, "hey, if she's got the right, why not us?" What followed were countless responses, as each blogger took on the adventure, choosing 12 films that they would program at a retro theater if given the chance.

I was just a fresh-faced blogger then, with maybe a couple readers (who had yet to comment), a lonely voice in the wilderness. This list appealed to me and so on the first of August I unveiled my own "dirty dozen." The list proved popular and introduced me to a lot of my current readers and readees, including James Hansen at Out 1. One of his picks for the 12 Movies Meme was a film he hadn't yet seen and the light bulb - usually dim - which I carry over my head at all times was illuminated. Why not a new list, another "dirty dozen" which would be made up entirely of films the blogger had not seen, and which were not available on Netflix? And so "The Holy Grail" was born. I unveiled "Another dirty dozen" a little over a month ago.

Progress was slow at first - a few people responded with their own lists, other promised to put up a list when they had the chance. Ten days later, I started recording the blogs who had participated, and continued to update it as new entries emerged. I've been pretty busy the past few weeks and didn't have a chance to update my information. This morning I finally pursued all the threads and discovered that the meme had really taken off. After the jump you will find a complete list of all the movies constituting "the Holy Grail." Some bloggers cheated, including movies available on Netflix, but I've included each and every film blogged about. Next to the title appears the blog(s) which suggested it: click on the link to read more.

Enjoy the fulfillment of your quest for the Holy Grail, but don't drink too greedily. By my count, 30 blogs have participated, resulting in 352 movies on the list. [updated 10/12] [updated again 1/3; click on the asterisk next to the film's name for a link to the Dancing Image review.]


The African Queen [Cinema Viewfinder]
Aguirre, the Wrath of God [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
Airborne [He Shot Cyrus]
Alex in Wonderland [Some Came Running] [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
Alice in Wonderland (1933) [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
Alice’s Restaurant [Some Came Running]
All I Desire [Ferdy on Films]
…All the Marbles [He Shot Cyrus]
Les Amants de Montparnasse [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
Amazing Grace and Chuck [He Shot Cyrus]
L'amour fou [Out 1] [me]
Angels and Cherubs [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
The Apu Trilogy [Coosa Creek Mambo] [Ferdy on Films]
Arnold [filmicability]
Arsène Lupin [The House of Mirth and Movies]
Ashes of Time [Coosa Creek Mambo]
As You Desire Me [The House of Mirth and Movies]
Atlantic [Cinema Styles]
At Long Last Love [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
Autumn Almanac [Coosa Creek Mambo]
The Avengers (director’s cut) [Club Parnassus]
Babe: Pig in the City [The Kind of Face You Hate]
Bachelor Flat [Some Came Running]
Bad Ronald [DVD Panache]
Balocchi e Profumi [Cinema Fist]
Battle Squadron [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Beau Geste [Cinema Styles]
Beauty #2 [Out 1]
A Bee in the Rain [The Wind in the Trees]
Beggars of Life [The House of Mirth and Movies]
* Ben-Hur [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
Benjamin [Cinebeats]
The Big Fisherman [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
*Bigger Than Life [The Listening Ear] [me]
The Big House [Cinema Styles]
The Big Parade [Screen Savour] [me]
The Big Sky [Screen Savour]
Birds in Peru [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
Blonde Cobra [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Blonde Venus [Cinema Styles]
Blondie of the Follies [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
Blood of the Condor [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Blood Relations [Cinebeats]
The Blue Veil [Self-Styled Siren]
Brand X [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
Brewster McCloud [Cinema Viewfinder] [Doodad Kind of Town]
A Brighter Summer Day [itsamadmadblog2]
Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow [Screen Savour]
Cabaret [Digital Sextant]
Cannery Row [He Shot Cyrus]
Cannibal Holocaust [Digital Sextant]
Un Carnet du Bal [Self-Styled Siren]
Cattle Annie and the Little Britches [The Moviezzz Blog]
La Chambre Vert [Some Came Running]
Chaplin [Cinexcellence]
Chelsea Girls [Cinema Fist] [Cinebeats]
Chikannatsu Monogatori [The Listening Ear]
Children of Paradise [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
Chimes at Midnight [Screen Savour]
China 9, Liberty 37 [The Bleeding Tree]
Chopping Mall [He Shot Cyrus]
Chronicle of a Summer [me]
La Cicatrice Interieure [The Listening Ear]
Cold Water [itsamadmadblog2]
A Colt is My Passport [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
Condorman [He Shot Cyrus]
The Confrontation [The Wind in the Trees]
The Constant Nymph [The House of Mirth and Movies]
Cool as Ice [He Shot Cyrus]
Corpus Callosum [Out 1]
The Count of Monte Cristo [Cinema Styles]
The Crash [Self-Styled Siren]
The Crime of Monsieur Lange [Coosa Creek Mambo]
Crimes of the Future [Club Parnassus]
Cromwell [filmicability]
Crows Zero [He Shot Cyrus]
Cul-de-sac [Cinema Viewfinder] [Acidemic-Film]
Darling [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
Days of Glory [Cinexcellence]
Dans le ville de sylvia [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
The Day the Clown Cried [The Event Horizon of Awful Things] [The Moviezzz Blog] [Club Parnassus] [The Wind in the Trees]
Deadline – U.S.A. [Screen Savour]
A Deadly Affair [itsamadmadblog2]
The Death of Empedocles [The Wind in the Trees]
Death Takes a Holiday [Cinema Styles]
Detective Bureau 23: Go to Hell Bastards [Cinebeats]
Devil in the Flesh [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
The Devils [Cinema Viewfinder] [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Diary of a Shinjuku Thief [Cinebeats]
Diary of the Dead [Club Parnassus]
Distant Thunder [The Wind in the Trees]
Doberman [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
The Docks of New York [Screen Savour]
* La dolce vita [The Kind of Face You Hate]
Don’t Look Up [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
Doomed Love [Out 1] [The Wind in the Trees]
Dragnet Girl [Coosa Creek Mambo]
Dune [DVD Panache]
Dusty and Sweets McGee [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
Dyn Amo [Out 1]
The Earrings of Madame de… [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
Earthbound [The Moviezzz Blog]
The Enchanted Desna [The Wind in the Trees]
*The Exterminating Angel [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Fantomas [The Listening Ear]
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! [The Event Horizon of Awful Things] [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
Faust [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Fear and Desire [The Event Horizon of Awful Things] [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
Fedora [Doodad Kind of Town]
Film [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
The films of the Dardenne Brothers, pre-1996 [Out 1]
The films of Edward Yang [The Listening Ear]
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh [He Shot Cyrus]
Fitzcarraldo [DVD Panache]
The Fixer [itsamadmadblog2]
Flaming Youth [Ferdy on Films]
The Flim-Flam Man [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
Floating Clouds [Self-Styled Siren]
Foolin’ Around [filmicability]
Forbidden [The House of Mirth and Movies]
48 Hours of Hallucinatory Sex [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
The 47 Ronin [The Kind of Face You Hate]
The French Connection [Digital Sextant]
The French They Are a Funny Race [The Moviezzz Blog]
Freud [The Moviezzz Blog]
Frog Dreaming [DVD Panache]
Futz! [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
Gangs of New York (director’s cut) [Club Parnassus]
The Gay Bride [Cinema Styles]
Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices [The Kind of Face You Hate]
Get to Know Your Rabbit [Tractor Facts] [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
Girlfriends [Doodad Kind of Town]
A Girl in Every Port [The House of Mirth and Movies]
God of Cookery [Tractor Facts]
God’s Angry Men [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
Godspeed You! Black Emperor [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
The Gold of Naples [Cinexcellence] [Cinema Fist]
The Gospel According to St. Matthew [Cinema Viewfinder]
Great White [The Event Horizon of Awful Things] [DVD Panache]
Greed [Cinema Fist] [Screen Savour] [Tractor Facts]
Hail Mafia! [Cinema Fist]
Hana Yori mo Naho [The Listening Ear]
Have I the Right to Kill? [Cinebeats]
Heaven and Earth Magic [me]
Heavy Metal Parking Lot [Digital Sextant]
Hellraiser [Digital Sextant]
He Who Must Die [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
Hickey & Boggs [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
High Crime [The Bleeding Tree]
High School [The Event Horizon of Awful Things] [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule] [me]
His Girl Friday [Digital Sextant]
Histoires du cinema [itsamadmadblog2] [The Listening Ear]
History is Made at Night [Some Came Running]
Howard the Duck [He Shot Cyrus]
Human Desire [Tractor Facts]
Humanity and Paper Balloons [The Listening Ear]
Illusion Travels By Streetcar [Some Came Running]
Inchon [The Moviezzz Blog]
An Independent Life [The Wind in the Trees]
India: Matri Bhumi [Ferdy on Films]
The Indian Scarf [Cinebeats]
India Song [The House of Mirth and Movies]
Insignificance [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Inquietude [Out 1]
Institute Benjamina [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Invitation to the Dance [Ferdy on Films]
Ishtar [The Listening Ear]
Italianamerican [Cinema Fist]
It Pays to Advertise [The Moviezzz Blog]
It’s Trad, Dad [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
I vitelloni [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
J'accuse [Cinexcellence]
Japanese War Bride [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1800 Bruxelles [me]
The Jericho Mile [Cinema Viewfinder]
Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads [He Shot Cyrus]
Johnny Guitar [Coosa Creek Mambo]
Jour de fete [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
Judex [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Kagi [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
Krustalyov, My Car! [Out 1]
King Lear [Doodad Kind of Town]
Kings of the Road [Tractor Facts]
Kozure satsujin ken [The Bleeding Tree]
L.A. Takedown [Cinema Viewfinder]
Last Embrace [Tractor Facts]
Last Night at the Alamo [itsamadmadblog2]
Last Year at Marienbad [Bubblegum Aesthetics] [The Kind of Face You Hate]
Let it Be [Screen Savour] [Club Parnassus]
Let’s Kill Uncle [filmicability]
The Little Drummer Girl [Doodad Kind of Town]
London After Midnight [The Bleeding Tree] [Club Parnassus]
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne [Doodad Kind of Town]
Looking for Mr. Goodbar [DVD Panache]
Los Angeles Plays Itself [itsamadmadblog2]
Lost Hitchcock [The Moviezzz Blog]
Love Streams [Tractor Facts]
Lubitsch musicals [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
Madchen in Uniform [Cinema Styles]
Made in U.S.A. [Tractor Facts] [Cinebeats]
Mad Love [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
*The Magnificent Ambersons [Screen Savour] [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
The Man from London [Coosa Creek Mambo]
Marketa Lazarova [me]
Marlowe [The Bleeding Tree]
Mary [itsamadmadblog2]
Mary, Queen of Scots [filmicability]
Masculin feminin [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
The Mattei Affair [itsamadmadblog2]
The Merry Widow [Coosa Creek Mambo]
The Monk [Cinebeats]
*The Mortal Storm [The House of Mirth and Movies]
Move [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
The Movie Orgy [DVD Panache]
*The Musketeers of Pig Alley [Doodad Kind of Town]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie [Club Parnassus]
The Nanny [filmicability]
Napoleon [Cinexcellence] [Cinema Fist] [Ferdy on Films]
Necromania [Club Parnassus]
Network [Digital Sextant]
Night of the Creeps [DVD Panache]
Nobody’s Perfect [filmicability]
NOEMA [Out 1]
No Greater Glory [Self-Styled Siren]
Noon Wine [DVD Panache]
Nostalghia [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Notes on Film 02 [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
Notorious [Cinexcellence]
Odd Man Out [Screen Savour]
Of Mice and Men [Cinema Styles]
Old Enough [filmicability]
Los Olvidados [Coosa Creek Mambo]
The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse [The Kind of Face You Hate]
Only Yesterday [Self-Styled Siren]
Ossessione [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
The Outfit [itsamadmadblog2] [The Bleeding Tree]
Out 1: Noli me tangere [The Listening Ear] [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind] [The Wind in the Trees]
Paisa [Cinema Fist]
The Passionate Friends [The Wind in the Trees]
Patton [Digital Sextant]
Pirates [Cinema Viewfinder]
The Pit and the Pendulum (1991) [Cinema Viewfinder]
Phantasm II [DVD Panache]
Plan 9 From Outer Space [Digital Sextant]
The Private Affairs of Bel-Ami [Self-Styled Siren]
Private Hell 36 [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
The Psychopath [Cinebeats]
Pulgasari [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Putney Swope [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
The Quiet Man [Tractor Facts]
Rebecca [Cinexcellence]
The Red Desert [Doodad Kind of Town] [The House of Mirth and Movies]
Red Peony Gambler [The Bleeding Tree]
Red Psalm [me]
Red Sun [The Bleeding Tree]
The Reluctant Debutante [Some Came Running]
The Report [The Wind in the Trees]
Retribution [Ferdy on Films]
Rich Kids [filmicability]
The Rise of Louis XIV [Some Came Running]
Romulus and Remus [The Bleeding Tree]
The Ruined Map [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Sadie Thompson [Cinema Styles]
Safe in Hell [Self-Styled Siren]
Saint Joan [Doodad Kind of Town]
Salesman [The Kind of Face You Hate]
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Sands of Iwo Jima [Some Came Running]
Sandra [Cinema Fist]
Santa Sangre [The Event Horizon of Awful Things] [DVD Panache]
Satantango [Cinema Fist] [The Kind of Face You Hate]
Saturday Morning [Ferdy on Films]
The Search [Screen Savour]
A Season in Hell [Cinebeats]
Secret Agent [Cinema Styles]
Senso [Cinexcellence] [me]
Seven Footprints to Satan [Some Came Running]
The Seven Minutes [The Bleeding Tree]
The Seven Samurai [Digital Sextant]
17th Parallel: Vietnam and War [Ferdy on Films]
Shanghai Blues [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
Shit Film [Out 1]
Shoe Shine [Cinexcellence] [Cinema Fist]
Show Boat [The Bleeding Tree]
The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
La Signora senza Camelie [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
Simon of the Desert [Coosa Creek Mambo]
Slapstick of Another Kind [filmicability]
Sleuth [Cinexcellence]
Slow Moves [itsamadmadblog2]
Smokey is the Bandit [The Moviezzz Blog]
So Big! [The House of Mirth and Movies]
The Song of the South [Cinema Viewfinder] [Club Parnassus]
Sorcerer [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
The Sorcerers [The Kind of Face You Hate]
So Red the Rose [Self-Styled Siren]
So Sad About Gloria [Doodad Kind of Town]
Souls on the Road [The Listening Ear]
*A Star is Born (original cut) [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
The Stranger [The Moviezzz Blog]
Strip Search [The Moviezzz Blog]
*Stromboli [Cinexcellence] [Ferdy on Films]
The Stepfather [The Kind of Face You Hate]
Stereo [Club Parnassus]
The Story of a Clumsy Clerk [Ferdy on Films]
Such a Gorgeous Kid Likes Me [Bubblegum Aesthetics]
Summer of Fear [DVD Panache]
Summer Storm [Self-Styled Siren]
Sunday Lovers [The Moviezzz Blog]
Sunrise [Coosa Creek Mambo]
Surviving Picasso [Screen Savour]
Sweet Smell of Sex [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
Symptoms [Cinebeats]
Take it Out in Trade [Club Parnassus]
Taxi [Tractor Facts]
Taxi 2 [Tractor Facts]
10 Minutes Older: The Trumpet [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
10 Rillington Place [The Kind of Face You Hate]
These Are the Damned [Some Came Running]
Thieves After Dark [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee]
This Land is Mine [Coosa Creek Mambo]
Those Lips, Those Eyes [Doodad Kind of Town]
Timeless Bottomless Bad Movie [The Listening Ear]
Titanic (1915) [Digital Sextant]
Titicut Follies [The Kind of Face You Hate]
Touch of Evil [Digital Sextant]
Track 29 [The Event Horizon of Awful Things]
Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man [Tractor Facts]
La Traversee de Paris [Self-Styled Siren]
12 + 1 [He Shot Cyrus]
24 Hour Psycho [Out 1]
The Twonky [filmicability]
*Two Weeks in Another Town [The House of Mirth and Movies]
Ulzana’s Raid [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
Uncle Tom’s Fairy Tales [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
Under Satan's Son [Out 1]
Until the End of the World [itsamadmadblog2]
Untitled: Part One [The Wind in the Trees]
Urgh! A Music War [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
Vampire Circus [Cinema Viewfinder]
The Velvet Underground & Nico [The House of Mirth and Movies]
Le vent d'est [me]
Visions of Eight [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]
Les Visiteurs du soir [Self-Styled Siren]
A Visit to a Small Planet [filmicability]
La voca della Luna [Coffee, Coffee, and More Coffee] [The Moviezzz Blog]
Voyage in Italy [Cinexcellence] [Cinema Fist]
War of the Buttons [Cinexcellence]
Wavelength [me]
The Way We Were [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
Weekend Pass [filmicability]
What? [Cinema Viewfinder]
White Fang [The Bleeding Tree]
Wild River [Some Came Running]
Werewolf in London [Cinema Styles]
White Heat [Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule]
Wicked, Wicked [filmicability]
Wild Boys of the Road [Doodad Kind of Town]
The World’s Greatest Sinner [filmicability]
The Wrong Box [Ferdy on Films]
You’ve Got to Work It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat [Like Anna Karina's Sweater]
Zazie dans le metro [Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind]

4 comments:

  1. Incredible. I'm glad you did this, because I can never get enough of adding movies to the unending list of "Must-See" titles ... these will prove a challenge, of course, but it will be done. Thanks agian.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I ordered a foreign copy of Shoeshine recently. Thankfully it has English subtitles.

    And I recently watched a VHS copy of Chopping Mall. What a treat. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, this is amazing. Thanks for putting into a whole big list. I thought it was cool that nobody else picked any of my movies.

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  4. Whoa...I got really far behind and totally forgot to do this. I just added my list (finally) to Out 1. T'would be awesome if it got added on here. Thanks so much for putting all of this together and taking that inspiration and running with it. This is indispensable for every cinephile. Great work.

    ReplyDelete