We asked several Geekend contributors to write about the game, book, comic, and movie an aspiring geek must play/read/watch. In the first installment in the series, Edmond Woychowsky shares his pick for the ultimate geek game.

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The question was put to me: What is the ultimate geek movie? It’s a rather open question, depending on how you look at it. So, what is the one movie that every self-respecting geek must see? The quest was set before me; I had to find the answer.

Evil Dead II was seriously considered. Every card-carrying geek I know has seen it dozens of times, and who can really argue about Bruce Campbell’s nearness to Godliness? Sam Raimi and Scott Spiegel pull off a combination of horror and comedy that quickly turned into a cult classic. But this movie lacks a certain I-don’t-know-what, and I just couldn’t bring myself to give it that most prestigious title.

So the quest continued. I asked every respected geek I know for their opinions. Entire IT departments spent days sidetracked by my quest. Summer turned to fall….

Then I had the answer I sought. My pick for the ultimate geek movie is Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail. As a certain geek I know exclaimed, “Every true geek can have an entire conversation just by quoting it!” Too true. I had pinpointed the ultimate geek movie, and there was much rejoicing.

Monty Python & The Quest for the Holy Grail follows King Arthur and the knights of the round table as they travel on a quest from God to find the Holy Grail. The movie is hilarious, down to small details like knocking coconuts together to make it seem like the characters are riding horses. If you get the DVD, there is even an extra on the second disc with tips on how to mimic horse riding at home, and other uses for any coconuts that you may find lying around.

Added to the general humor is a hearty dose of Monty Python sarcasm and social commentary. In watching, we learn important things, like the idea that “Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords is no basis for a government.” We learn the correct answer to the question, “What is the air speed velocity of an un-laden swallow?” (Correct answer: African or European?) We learn to be wary of seemingly harmless bunny rabbits. Perhaps most importantly, we learn the horrors of being told, “Ni.”

One of the attributes that makes Monty Python & The Quest for the Holy Grail the ultimate geek movie are all the quotable one-liners. My geeky friends frequently recite these lines, “No you can’t, it is too perilous” or “Five is right out!” And what geeky Tim has never introduced himself by saying, “There are some who call me…Tim?”

So, is the quest complete? Is Monty Python & The Quest for the Holy Grail the true ultimate geek movie? Can you possibly argue that this movie’s humorous wit, biting sarcasm, and social commentary, combined with a high quotability rate are overshadowed by another film? If so, I suppose I’ll have to get my coconuts back out and continue the search for the Holy Grail of geek movies.

(Note: After we publish all installments of the series, we’ll feature some members’ geek profiles with their “ultimate” selections.)