- Document type
- Feature
- Published
- 7 March 2006
The Best of 2005 - Readers' Poll
You, the Midnight Eye readers, have spoken... These Japanese films are your favourites of 2005.
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 of 2005 feature.
| Ranking | Title | Original title | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. 11.74% | SURVIVE STYLE 5+ | Gen Sekiguchi | |
| 2. 9.86% | Tony Takitani | Jun Ichikawa | |
| 3. 6.57% | The Neighbor No. 13 | Rinjin 13-Go | Yasuo Inoue |
| 4. 6.10% | Canary | Kanaria | Akihiko Shiota |
| 5. 4.23% | Hana & Alice | Shunji Iwai | |
| 6. 3.29% | Be With You | Ima Ai ni Yukimasu | Nobuhiro Doi |
| 3.29% | Final Fantasy: Advent Children | Tetsuya Nomura | |
| 3.29% | The Stranger from Afar | Marebito | Takashi Shimizu |
| 7. 2.82% | Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani? | Shinji Aoyama | |
| 8. 2.35% | The Hidden Blade | Kakushi Ken: Oni no Tsume | Yoji Yamada |
| 2.35% | Otakus in Love | Koi no Mon | Suzuki Matsuo |
| 2.35% | Princess Raccoon | Operetta Tanuki Goten | Seijun Suzuki |
| 2.35% | Rampo Noir | Ranpo Jigoku | Takeuchi, Jissoji, Sato, Kaneko |
| 2.35% | Swing Girls | Shinobu Yaguchi | |
| 2.35% | University of Laughs | Warai no Daigaku | Mamoru Hoshi |
| 9. 1.88% | The Great Yokai War | Yokai Daisenso | Takashi Miike |
| 1.88% | Haze | Shinya Tsukamoto | |
| 1.88% | It's Only Talk | Yawarakai Seikatsu | Ryuichi Hiroki |
| 1.88% | 69 Sixty Nine | Lee Song-Il | |
| 1.88% | Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims | Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san | Kankuro Kudo |
| 10. 1.41% | Linda Linda Linda | Nobuhiro Yamashita | |
| 1.41% | Lorelei | Shinji Higuchi | |
| 1.41% | The Soup One Morning | Aru Asa, Soup wa | Izumi Takahashi |
| 1.41% | Takeshis' | Takeshi Kitano | |
| 1.41% | Who's Camus Anyway? | Kamyu Nante Shiranai | Mitsuo Yanagimachi |
| 11. 0.94% | L'Amant | Ryuichi Hiroki | |
| 0.94% | Azumi 2: Death or Love | Shusuke Kaneko | |
| 0.94% | Cromartie High School | Sakigake!! Kromarti Koko The Movie | Yudai Yamaguchi |
| 0.94% | Flower and Snake 2 | Hana to Hebi 2 | Takashi Ishii |
| 0.94% | A Gap in the Skin | Hada no Sukima | Takahisa Zeze |
| 0.94% | Infection | Kansen | Masayuki Ochiai |
| 0.94% | Loft | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | |
| 0.94% | Nana | Kentaro Otani | |
| 0.94% | Scenery of 17: What Did the Boy See? | 17-Sai No Fukei: Shonen wa Nani o Mita ka | Koji Wakamatsu |
| 0.94% | Shining Boy and Little Randy | Hoshi ni Natta Shonen | Shunsaku Kawage |
| 0.94% | Shinobi | Ten Shimoyama | |
| 12. 0.47% | About Love | Ten Shimoyama, Zhang Yibai, Yee Chi-Yen | |
| 0.47% | Aegis | Bokoku no Aegis | Junji Sakamoto |
| 0.47% | Ashura | Ashura-jo no Hitomi | Yojiro Takita |
| 0.47% | Bashing | Masahiro Kobayashi | |
| 0.47% | The Buried Forest | Umoregi | Kohei Oguri |
| 0.47% | DV/Domestic Violence | Shun Nakahara | |
| 0.47% | Executive Koala | Koara Kacho | Minoru Kawasaki |
| 0.47% | Ichigo Chips | Ichigo no Kakera | Shun Nakahara, Tsutomu Takahashi |
| 0.47% | Into the Picture Scroll: The Tale of Yamanaka Tokiwa | Yamanaka Tokiwa | Sumiko Haneda |
| 0.47% | Lakeside Murder Case | Shinji Aoyama | |
| 0.47% | Negotiator | Koshonin Mashita Masayoshi | Katsuyuki Motohiro |
| 0.47% | Premonition | Yogen | Norio Tsuruta |
| 0.47% | Tetsujin 28 | Tetsujin 28-Go | Shin Togashi |
| 0.47% | Tori | Tadanobu Asano | |
| 0.47% | Train Man | Densha Otoko | Shosuke Murakami |
| 0.47% | Umineko - Inseparable | Umineko | Yoshimitsu Morita |
| 0.47% | Year One in the North | Kita no Zero-nen | Isao Yukisada |
| 13. 0.00% | Beat Kids | Toshi Shioya | |
| 0.00% | Death Trance | Yuji Shimomura | |
| 0.00% | Flic | Masahiro Kobayashi | |
| 0.00% | Girlfriend: Someone Please Stop the World | Girlfriend | Ryuichi Hiroki |
| 0.00% | Hanging Garden | Kuchu Teien | Toshiaki Toyoda |
| 0.00% | Hinokio: Intergalactic Love | Hinokio | Takahiko Akayama |
| 0.00% | Install | Kataoka K | |
| 0.00% | Jyukai: The Sea of Trees behind Mount Fuji | Ki no Umi | Tomoyuki Takimoto |
| 0.00% | Kirei: The Terror of Beauty | Kirei | Katsuya Matsumura |
| 0.00% | Moon and Cherry | Tsuki to Cherry | Yuki Taneda |
| 0.00% | Nitaboh | Akio Nishizawa | |
| 0.00% | One Missed Call 2 | Chakushin Ari 2 | Renpei Tsukamoto |
| 0.00% | Samurai Commando: Mission 1549 | Sengoku Jietai | Masaaki Tezuka |
| 0.00% | A Stranger of Mine | Unmei ja nai Hito | Kenji Uchida |
| 0.00% | Ubume | Ubume no Natsu | Akio Jissoji |
| 0.00% | World's End/Girlfriend | Sekai no Owari | Shiori Kazama |
| 0.00% | Yumeno | Yoshitaka Kamada |
Comments and reactions:
On 26-01-2006 'Maria' voted for 'Nana'
I love midnighteye.com, but I'm a little disappointed that there has been little to no mention of one of Japan's biggest and best films of 2005, Nana. Often referred to as "Hurricane Nana", I would hate to see this cultural phenomenon get overlooked by the rest of the world.
On 26-01-2006 'Steve Norwood' voted for 'Tony Takitani'
Well, Survive STyle 5+ was great, but Tony Takitani was pure poetry. A beautifully made film and a subtly haunting story.
On 26-01-2006 'Jason Gray' voted for 'It's Only Talk'
Didn't see quite enough films to make a proper 2005 list, but Hiroki's "It's Only Talk" shatters the notion that Japanese film acting is over-mannered. Watch Terashima Shinobu and bow down!
On 27-01-2006 'X' voted for 'Princess Raccoon'
Lots of enjoyable films this year, some gems and some discoveries. But I'll have to vote for Princess Raccoon. The master is still kicking, and he looks 20 years younger.
Keep up the good work, and a happy new (Lunar) year to you all.
X
-twitchfilm.net-
On 27-01-2006 'Krivochein (zetafilmes.com.br)' voted for 'Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani?'
Aoyama's latest is an off-the-wall beautiful meditation on cacophony as sign of life. There's enough Film Sound Theory discussions to munch on for hours, it's wonderfully shot, heart-breakingly poetic and to see Asano rocking that guitar out like crazy again is just joy. Aoyama makes a terrific invitation for the viewer to whistle a song, any song, amongst all the noise.
MidnightEye is GOD - Amem to you guys.
On 27-01-2006 'Magnus' voted for 'Canary'
Haven't seen "It's only Talk", "Eli Eli" or "Camus" yet, so I went with Shiota's "Canary" although it was not as good as "Gaichu" in my opinion. "World's End", "Princess Racoon" and "Buried Forest" as runner-ups. Biggest disappointment of the year for me was "Takeshi's". Kitano actually apologized at the premiere I went to in Yurakucho. Sigh...
On 27-01-2006 'owel' voted for 'Survive Style 5+'
loved this movie to death...when is a R1 dvd droppin?
On 27-01-2006 'anonymous' voted for 'Survive Style 5+'
come on... just watch it.
On 28-01-2006 'JF' voted for 'University of Laughs'
"University of Laughs" is thanks to its stunning camera work the best prove that a two-characters-in-one-room film does not have to be only about talk, but can also be as cinematic as a nouvele vague film or an action blockbuster. Is not just a formalistic film but also a contemplating one that makes you think about the artist's role in a non-democratic system. A humble work of beauty with breathtaking actor performances that touches you deep inside.
On 28-01-2006 'Paul' voted for 'Final Fantasy: Advent Children'
Don't dismiss it out of hand just for its origins - at the very least it displays a stunning visual flair.
On 29-01-2006 'Jake Brahm' voted for 'University of Laughs'
I voted for University of Laughs. For a while I had dropped out of watching Japanese movies, but after seeing this film I decided to get back in since it was so good.
My secondary vote would go to Yaji and Kita. Lots of good movies on this list, actually.
On 29-01-2006 'jim harper' voted for 'The Stranger from Afar'
Of all the horror films released this year, Marebito/The Stranger from Afar is undoubtedly one of the most original. Proof that Shimizu is not a one trick pony.
On 31-01-2006 'Hibino' voted for 'Rampo Noir'
What more can u get from Asano.
He's the man.
On 31-01-2006 'michael' voted for 'The Great Yokai War'
The best film internationally was Munich. It went farther than other films in distilling the raw nihilism that occurs when all choices are corrupt especially those made in the name of national pride. I am amazed this site pointedly neglected to notice.
On 31-01-2006 'anon' voted for 'Hana & Alice'
a masterpiece from a master, the perfect (and only way to) follow up to all about lily chou-chou
On 03-02-2006 'Peter Nellhaus' voted for 'Tony Takitani'
My reviews of "Tony Takitani" and other Japanese films appear on my site coffeecoffeeandmorecoffee.com.
On 04-02-2006 'Mankit' voted for 'Hana & Alice'
Shunji Iwai does it again with this wonderful movie. Nice performances by the leads and beautiful cinematography by the late Shinoda. Truely magical.
The only problem is that we have to wait another couple of years for a new Iwai.
On 04-02-2006 'Kin' voted for 'Survive Style 5+'
Juz enjoy tis wild ride
On 07-02-2006 'Ian Williams' voted for 'Canary'
I saw so many good Japanese films this year thanks to the UK's Frightfest and Jasper Sharp's curation of some of the Raindance festival that it was really hard to choose although if Late Bloomer was on the list I would have gone for that, simply astounding.
On 12-02-2006 'saori' voted for 'Lorelei'
this film is great! it moved me .
On 18-02-2006 'Doug' voted for 'Otakus in Love'
Had use ebay to buy it.
On 19-02-2006 'anonymous' voted for 'Shining Boy and Little Randy'
Wonderful film!! Saw it as I winged across the Pacific. Wish I could buy the V.1 version in Canada...can't find it!
On 20-02-2006 'Kyle Stidham' voted for 'The Neighbor No. 13'
An amazingly well-done debut, with much to offer to fans of Miike, Tsukamoto, etc. Watch for an animation sequence that easily trumps the one from Kill Bill.
On 26-02-2006 'Satyr' voted for 'The Neighbor No. 13'
neighbor no.13 is yet another great film outta japan...and yet another reason y u shouldnt terrorize young children.
On 28-02-2006 'choto21' voted for 'The Stranger from Afar'
Why this film is better than all the ju-ons? Because it will never have a Hollywood remake. More like this, Shimizu.
On 03-03-2006 'chuck yee' voted for 'Train Man'
twothumbs up!!
On 05-03-2006 'Ben Kohanski' voted for 'The Stranger from Afar'
Shiny Tsukamoto. I need say no more.