The Best of 2010 – Poll Results
- published
- 20 January 2011
You, the Midnight Eye readers, have spoken... These Japanese films are your favourites of 2010.
Below are the final results, plus your personal comments and reactions. Many thanks to everyone who voted!
Find out what Midnight Eye's own favourites of the year were in our Best (and Worst) of 2010 feature.
| Ranking | Title | Original title | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. (30.86%) | CONFESSIONS | Kokuhaku | Tetsuya Nakashima |
| 2. (7.57%) | 13 Assassins | Jusannin no Shikaku | Takashi Miike |
| Golden Slumber | Yoshihiro Nakamura | ||
| 3. (4.32%) | Symbol | Hitoshi Matsumoto | |
| 4. (3.24%) | Cold Fish | Sion Sono | |
| Confessions of a Dog | Pochi no Kokuhaku | Gen Takahashi | |
| 5. (2.70%) | The Blood of Rebirth | Yomigaeri no Chi | Toshiaki Toyoda |
| Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance | Hideaki Anno | ||
| Solanin | Takahiro Miki | ||
| 6. (2.16%) | Kakera: A Piece of Our Life | Kakera | Momoko Ando |
| Oh My Buddha! | Shikisoku Zenereishon | Tomorowo Taguchi | |
| Outrage | Takeshi Kitano | ||
| Tetsuo: The Bullet Man | Shinya Tsukamoto | ||
| Villon's Wife | Buiyon no Tsuma | Kichitaro Negishi | |
| Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City | Zebraman 2: Zebura Shiti no Gyakushu | Takashi Miike | |
| other | |||
| 7. (1.62%) | Caterpillar | Koji Wakamatsu | |
| Dear Doctor | Miwa Nishikawa | ||
| Live Tape | Tetsuaki Matsue | ||
| Night in Nude: Salvation | Nudo no Yoru: Ai wa Oshiminaku Ubau | Takashi Ishii | |
| Parade | Isao Yukisada | ||
| Pyuupiru 2001-2008 | Daishi Matsunaga | ||
| 8. (1.08%) | About Her Brother | Ototo | Yoji Yamada |
| Love & Loathing & Lulu & Ayano | Namae no Nae no Onnatachi | Hisayasu Sato | |
| Redline | Takeshi Koike | ||
| Sawako Decides | Kawa no Soko kara Konnichiwa | Yuya Ishii | |
| Toad's Oil | Gama no Abura | Koji Yakusho | |
| Yuriko's Aroma | Yuriko no Aroma | Kota Yoshida | |
| 9. (0.54%) | Autumn Adagio | Fuwaku no Adagi | Tsuki Inoue |
| Boys on the Run | Daisuke Miura | ||
| Crows Zero II | Takashi Miike | ||
| Heaven's Story | Takahisa Zeze | ||
| Mutant Girls Squad | Sento Shojo: Chi no Tekkamen Densetsu | N. Iguchi, Y. Nakamura, T. Sakaguchi | |
| Our Brief Eternity | Takuya Fukushima | ||
| Sweet Little Lies | Hitoshi Yazaki | ||
| 10. (0.00%) | Abacus and Sword | Bushi no Kakeibo | Yoshimitsu Morita |
| All to the Sea | Akane Yamada | ||
| Annyong Yumika | Tetsuaki Matsue | ||
| ANPO | Linda Hoaglund | ||
| Bandage | Takeshi Kobayashi | ||
| The Borrowers | Karigurashi no Arrietty | Hiromasa Yonebayashi | |
| Chef of South Polar | Nankyoku Ryorinin | Shuichi Okita | |
| Crime or Punishment?!? | Tsumi toka Batsu toka | Keralino Sandorovich | |
| Deep in the Valley | Atsushi Funahashi | ||
| Doman Seman | Horikawa Nakatachiuri | Go Shibata | |
| Dump Truck Woman | Dump Nechan to Horumon Daio | Show Fujiwara | |
| Hana no Ato | Kenji Nakanishi | ||
| Island of Dreams | Yume no Shima | Tetsuichiro Tsuta | |
| Locked Out | Yasunobu Takahashi | ||
| Lost Crime: Senkou | Shunya Ito | ||
| Lost Paradise in Tokyo | Kazuya Shiraishi | ||
| Man-Eater Mountain | Hitokuiyama | Naoyuki Niiya | |
| A Man on the Verge at a Black Company | Black Kaisha ni Tsuitomerundaga mo Ore wa Genkaika mo Shirenai | Yuichi Sato | |
| Midori-ko | Keita Kurosaka | ||
| Miyoko | Miyoko Asagaya Kibun | Yoshifumi Tsubota | |
| No More Cry | Nakumonka | Nobuo Mizuta | |
| Noriben: The Recipe of Fortune | Nonchan Noriben | Akira Ogata | |
| A Normal Life, Please! | Futsu no Shigoto ga Shitai | Tokachi Tsuchiya | |
| Permanent Nobara | Daihachi Yoshida | ||
| Pool | Mika Omori | ||
| The Primitchibu World | Purimichibu na Sekai | Kasumi Hiraoka | |
| Rail Truck | Torocco | Hirofumi Kawaguchi | |
| Raio | Ryuichi Hiroki | ||
| Rock Tanjo: The Movement 70s | Akihiro Murakane | ||
| S-94 | Shozin Fukui | ||
| So Dark Nights | Konnani Kurai Yoru | Yutaka Koide | |
| Sona, the Other Myself | Sona, Mo Hitori no Watashi | Yonghi Yang | |
| Tokyo Jima | Makoto Shinozaki | ||
| To Walk Beside You | Kimi to Aruko | Yuya Ishii | |
| Travels with Haru | Haru to no Tabi | Masahiro Kobayashi | |
| USB | Shutaro Oku | ||
| Vengeance Can Wait | Masanori Tominaga | ||
| Wig | Kazura | Renpei Tsukamoto | |
| Yellow Kid | Tetsuya Mariko | ||
| Your Home | Anta no Ie | Kohei Yamakawa | |
| Zero Focus | Zero no Shoten | Isshin Inudo | |
On 20-01-2011 'logboy' voted for 'Boys on the Run'
there are quite a few mentioned within the list that i will no doubt get to see eventually, by buying them of course - some already set for some kind of release with subs - but the few that most stood out this year i've more fear of never seeing are zeze's 'heaven's story' and kumakiri's 'sketches of kaitan city'. if even america can no longer muster the balls to pick a long (fun, clever) movie like 'love exposure', then there's obviously less hope now that there was a few year's back for distribution outside of japan - thank heaven's one or two companies still have their priorities in smart and careful choices.
everything else - well, there's a gradual increasing sense of resignation that not enough people are desperate / excited enough to campaign through enlightening us what they see in the films as they pop to the surface. festivals have always seemed to me to make things appear temporarily, only for the (already) most likely candidates to transfer from there (if they haven't already) and there's far from enough variety, individuality, substance, care and passion from the scattered (and hard to navigate or absorb, evaluate) online coverage. save one or two seemingly largely-ignore sources.
On 20-01-2011 'KK' voted for ''
I loved Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo the best! (The live action, not the 2006 anime)
On 20-01-2011 'Tom Vincent' voted for 'Symbol'
nan da?
On 20-01-2011 'mauro' voted for 'Golden Slumber'
just like a Sabu's movie, as much as funny but more emotional
On 21-01-2011 'Paul' voted for 'Sawako Decides'
Are Japanese films getting harder to see at festivals in the U.S. In past years, I've seen half the films on the list. This year, I don't think I've seen more than a dozen.
On 22-01-2011 'Nicholas Vroman' voted for 'Night in Nude: Salvation'
Haru to no tabi was definitely my best film of the year - unfortunately not on this list. Kaitanshi Jokei was my #2 - also not on the list. So, I voted for my #3 here - Nudo no yoru.
Here's my 10 best list - http://pageofmadness.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/10-best-japanese-films-2010/
On 23-01-2011 'V.A. Musetto' voted for 'Cold Fish'
Bloody good fun.
On 24-01-2011 'Christopher Bourne' voted for 'Symbol'
Hard to choose one, but I'll go with SYMBOL, the most inventive, astonishing, and mystical/philosophical of the year. Lots of other great ones this year: CONFESSIONS, DEAR DOCTOR, 13 ASSASSINS, SAWAKO DECIDES, BOYS ON THE RUN, SWEET LITTLE LIES, VILLON'S WIFE, ANNYONG YUMIKA, LIVE TAPE, ABOUT HER BROTHER, CONFESSIONS OF A DOG. Great year for indies especially.
On 24-01-2011 'Ian Williams' voted for 'Mutant Girls Squad'
Not subtle but a massive croud pleaser, insane and gory fun.
On 30-01-2011 'alex higuera' voted for 'Confessions'
confessions is a masterpiece of modern cinema! breave indeed.
On 30-01-2011 'Tom Smith' voted for 'Confessions'
Amazingly dark film
On 31-01-2011 'James' voted for 'Confessions'
great film
On 31-01-2011 'Niels Matthijs' voted for 'Confessions'
Awesome twist from Tetsuya Nakashima, impressive on every account.
On 06-02-2011 'Muzz' voted for 'Confessions'
AMAZING!!!
On 07-02-2011 'James Porter' voted for 'Oh My Buddha!'
Hige-Godzilla!!!
On 12-02-2011 'Gee Marshall' voted for ''
Hirokazu Koreeda's 'Still Walking', lovely family drama, subtle and funny.
On 18-02-2011 'Stasy' voted for 'Caterpillar'
It was a hard choice: 2010 was a superb in terms of quality. I must say that second place is really crowded. Ototo and Permanent Nobara, Golden Slumber and Kawa no Soko kara Konnichiwa, all this wonderful movies that otherwise would have every right to lead the hit parade.
But what a lot of 2009 films doing in there as if without them list isn't already overcrowded?
On 19-02-2011 'Wookeshi' voted for 'Golden Slumber'
So far only seen 5.
1. Golden Slumber
2. Confessions
3. Symbol
4. Kakera: A Piece of Our Life
5. Outrage
On 19-02-2011 'slimey' voted for 'Redline'
unashamedly old-school anime that combines the dazzling visuals of speed racer with the galactic world building of star wars. sequels please.
On 23-02-2011 'Rich' voted for 'Oh My Buddha!'
Of what i saw "Oh! My Buddha!" was the most fun. "Confessions" was thrilling but extreme. Looking forward to "13 Assasins".