Best Japanese movie of 2011 as voted for on http://www.listal.com/list/japanese-movies-2011
1. Outrage (2010)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 10 Average listal rating (3 ratings) 4.7 IMDB Rating 6.4
2. Nekonade (2008)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 17 Average listal rating (9 ratings) 8.2 IMDB Rating 6.7
3. Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims (2005)
REVIEW
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 25 Average listal rating (12 ratings) 6.5 IMDB Rating 5.7
4. Zatoichi: The Last (2010)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 146 Average listal rating (59 ratings) 6.9 IMDB Rating 6.5
5. Norwegian Wood (2010)
REVIEW
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 14 Average listal rating (6 ratings) 6.7 IMDB Rating 6.3
6. Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess (2008)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 221 Average listal rating (115 ratings) 7.5 IMDB Rating 7.7
7. 13 Assassins (2010)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 23 Average listal rating (12 ratings) 5.1 IMDB Rating 6.2
8. Boku wa imôto ni koi wo suru (2007)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 57 Average listal rating (34 ratings) 6.5 IMDB Rating 6.5
9. Gantz (2010)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 4 Average listal rating (1 ratings) 5 IMDB Rating 5.6
10. Another Gantz (2011)
REVIEW
Aira's rating:
Here is a report from the Japan Times on the best Japanese
movies of 2009...
What did you think of them?
1. "Fish
Story":
Can a punk-rock song, recorded in 1975, save the world from
a comet on course to destroy the planet in 2012? In his 10th film, Yoshihiro
Nakamura answers this question with four radically different stories in four
different periods — and ties them up in a glorious final five-minute sequence
that is pure cinematic satori.
2. "Dear Doctor":
The most promising director of her thirtysomething
generation, Miwa Nishikawa hits a new peak with this finely layered character
study of a phony doctor in a rural village. Tsurube Shofukutei deserves every
acting award out there for his shape-shifting performance as the
kindly-seeming, but deeply devious doc.
3. "Summer Wars":
Mamoru Hosoda assumes the title of Japan's premier animator with this human-scaled
but stunningly imaginative film about an online "war" between a rogue
AI program and a boy math prodigy, aided by a large, rambunctious family in
rural Nagano.
4. "Villon no Tsuma":
Based on a story by Osamu Dazai, Kichitaro Negishi's
unsparing, finally cathartic portrait of a troubled marriage features
career-peak performances by Takako Matsu as the plucky, self-realizing wife and
Tadanobu Asano as the alcoholic, unfaithful, but somehow sympathetic, writer
husband.
5. "Zero no Shoten":
Isshin Inudo's mystery about a woman's search for her
missing newlywed husband in Kanazawa
in the dead of winter channels the stylistics of Alfred Hitchcock, while
echoing the social-mask-vs.-true-face themes of Douglas Sirk. 6.
"Nankyokyu Ryorinin":
Shuichi Okita's dramady, centering on the gung-ho cook
(Makoto Sakai) for a Japanese research team in Antarctica,
offers up big helpings of wry humor, likable characters and absolutely
scrumptious-looking chow.
7. "Live Tape":
Tetsuaki Matsue's docudrama of singer-songwriter Kenta Maeno's
New Year's Day stroll through Kichijoji unfolds in one 74-minute take that
amuses, surprises, entertains — and finally moves, as the too-cool Maeno
reveals his own insecurities and regrets, summed up in a stirring final number
dedicated to his dead father.
8. "Instant Numa":
Satoshi Miki's comedy about an endearingly flaky woman's
search for her eccentric antique (i.e., junk) dealer dad is packed with small
comic gems, delivered in Miki's trademark dry style of spot-on timing and
blithe disregard for logic.
9. "Symbol":
Hitoshi Matsumoto's man-in-a-room comedy takes inspiration
from the final sequence of "2001: A Space Odyssey," but the silly,
inspired slapstick gags are pure Matsumoto.
10. "Ultra Miracle Love Story (Bare Essence of
Life)":
Satoko Yokoyama's drama about a mentally challenged man's
crush on a new kindergarten teacher in his rural Aomori town is a bold, original blend of the
real and fantastic, comic and dramatic.
Yes alchemical is right. Difficult to find an overall BEST Japanese movie. Depends on the category. Horror- probably "Ring". Gore "Ichi the killer".
You can see the kind of movies I like. Could never get to the end of Seven Samurai whenever I see it on TV- usually on lata at night so I just fell asleep!
Anyway Robo-Geisha is out in September so looking forward to that!!
A lot of these movies are fantastic. Tampopo, Seven Samurai, Departures; all of these are masterpieces of Japanese film, and I would be too hard-pressed to say one is best of all. Tampopo is in my opinion the best Japanese comedy, Departures is the best Japanese drama and Seven Samurai is the best Japanese period film. I'lll say that much, but they're too different and distinct in their genres to call one the "all time best", in my opinion.
Ramen Girl is now available for all to see on You Tube
Here is the first part:
The first part is hilarious especially the boyfriend and the people she meets in the club. Complete jerks!
Hi all, thanks for some great ideas for films.
I've seen the american version of the ring. not seen the J-version but I heard that the japoanese version is better. True?
Yojimbo (Jap. Yōjinbō) is the Greatest Samurai Film of all Time. Toshiro Mifune is so cool as the Lone Ronin and the Battles are very Intense. Simply a Masterpiece of Japans Biggest Filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. By the Way this Film inspired the Westerns: A Fistful of Dollars and Last Man Standing.
My Top Ten of all Time:
1. Yojimbo
2. Swallowtail Butterfly (Yentown)
3. Hana-Bi
4. Blues Harp
5. Seven Samurai
6. Rashomon
7. Sonatine
8. Big Bang Love, Juvenile A
9. Branded to Kill
10. Gohatto
Ramen Girl has been compared to Lost in Translation. It's funny actually as In Japan Times, They had an interview with Brittany Murphy (the ramen Girl) and she denied there was any similarity by saying
[quote]""Not all that much," she says. "It's made in Japan. So that's a big similarity for a basically American movie. But it's a different set of circumstances, and the main character is me, not an American man. And in that movie (Bill Murray's character is) a star, and in our movie I'm not, so it's different in terms of the plot, plus — and I really like this — it has more local actors in it. If you think about it, 'Lost in Translation' didn't have very many Japanese in roles that were very significant. It's like Tokyo was more of just a background to that movie.
"In 'The Ramen Girl,' Japan is more than a background, it's . . . well, it's part of everything in the movie, and I'm in the middle of it! It's great!"
[/quote]
Read the full story here Ok Brittany so, one films got a famous male lead and the other's got a female lead. That has cleared up all suspicions that one may have had that the movies are similar...
Have you seen it? What did you think? Is it similar to Tampopo? or Lost in Translation?
Actually, the ramen shop owner in Tampopo has just lost her husband who used to look after the cooking side of the business which means she has been thrown in at tbe deep end and has no experience in the cooking side of the business. so in that respect the movies are similar,
[quote]Another American ripoff of a Japanese film... [/quote]
TokyoJoe, you are quite wrong about "Tampopo" and "the Ramen Girl"...
This is actually totally different from the original which has a Japanese women in the lead role, not an American. Also the japanese women actually owns the restaurant as opposed to just working there. Another difference is that in the Japanese version, 2 truck drivers show the lady how to make good ramen rather than a ramen chef. Also the Japanese women in Tampopo has not just split up with a boyfriend. She is just very bad at making ramen.
The only similar thing about "tampopo" and "the ramen girl" is that they both have female stars and have noodles-making as the subject matter.
It would seem that the wonderful Tampopo is being subjected to another Hollywood makeover. The flick is called "The Rarmen Girl" and stars Britney Murphy (of Sin City and 8 Mile) as a recently dumped female living in the Tokyo area. She gets her act back together with the help of a ramen shop master and finds her true vocation in life as a noodle shop chef. Another American ripoff of a Japanese film...
Haven't seen that many japanese movies as it's difficult to find DVDs with English subtitles in Japan. I saw Brother- a beat Takeshi film. It was OK but suffered from a fairly weak cast and bad acting.
[url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0222851/]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0222851/
I have also seen Tampopo- an early Ken Watanabe effort- It's a story about a couple of truck drivers that help a ramen shop owner improve her noodles. Fairly slow-paced but good if you like Watanabe.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092048/
Best of Tokyo
1. Outrage (2010)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 10 Average listal rating (3 ratings) 4.7 IMDB Rating 6.4
2. Nekonade (2008)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 17 Average listal rating (9 ratings) 8.2 IMDB Rating 6.7
3. Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims (2005)
REVIEW
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 25 Average listal rating (12 ratings) 6.5 IMDB Rating 5.7
4. Zatoichi: The Last (2010)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 146 Average listal rating (59 ratings) 6.9 IMDB Rating 6.5
5. Norwegian Wood (2010)
REVIEW
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 14 Average listal rating (6 ratings) 6.7 IMDB Rating 6.3
6. Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess (2008)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 221 Average listal rating (115 ratings) 7.5 IMDB Rating 7.7
7. 13 Assassins (2010)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 23 Average listal rating (12 ratings) 5.1 IMDB Rating 6.2
8. Boku wa imôto ni koi wo suru (2007)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 57 Average listal rating (34 ratings) 6.5 IMDB Rating 6.5
9. Gantz (2010)
Aira's rating:
People who added this item 4 Average listal rating (1 ratings) 5 IMDB Rating 5.6
10. Another Gantz (2011)
REVIEW
Aira's rating:
Here is a report from the Japan Times on the best Japanese
movies of 2009...
What did you think of them?
1. "Fish
Story":
Can a punk-rock song, recorded in 1975, save the world from
a comet on course to destroy the planet in 2012? In his 10th film, Yoshihiro
Nakamura answers this question with four radically different stories in four
different periods — and ties them up in a glorious final five-minute sequence
that is pure cinematic satori.
2. "Dear Doctor":
The most promising director of her thirtysomething
generation, Miwa Nishikawa hits a new peak with this finely layered character
study of a phony doctor in a rural village. Tsurube Shofukutei deserves every
acting award out there for his shape-shifting performance as the
kindly-seeming, but deeply devious doc.
3. "Summer Wars":
Mamoru Hosoda assumes the title of Japan's premier animator with this human-scaled
but stunningly imaginative film about an online "war" between a rogue
AI program and a boy math prodigy, aided by a large, rambunctious family in
rural Nagano.
4. "Villon no Tsuma":
Based on a story by Osamu Dazai, Kichitaro Negishi's
unsparing, finally cathartic portrait of a troubled marriage features
career-peak performances by Takako Matsu as the plucky, self-realizing wife and
Tadanobu Asano as the alcoholic, unfaithful, but somehow sympathetic, writer
husband.
5. "Zero no Shoten":
Isshin Inudo's mystery about a woman's search for her
missing newlywed husband in Kanazawa
in the dead of winter channels the stylistics of Alfred Hitchcock, while
echoing the social-mask-vs.-true-face themes of Douglas Sirk. 6.
"Nankyokyu Ryorinin":
Shuichi Okita's dramady, centering on the gung-ho cook
(Makoto Sakai) for a Japanese research team in Antarctica,
offers up big helpings of wry humor, likable characters and absolutely
scrumptious-looking chow.
7. "Live Tape":
Tetsuaki Matsue's docudrama of singer-songwriter Kenta Maeno's
New Year's Day stroll through Kichijoji unfolds in one 74-minute take that
amuses, surprises, entertains — and finally moves, as the too-cool Maeno
reveals his own insecurities and regrets, summed up in a stirring final number
dedicated to his dead father.
8. "Instant Numa":
Satoshi Miki's comedy about an endearingly flaky woman's
search for her eccentric antique (i.e., junk) dealer dad is packed with small
comic gems, delivered in Miki's trademark dry style of spot-on timing and
blithe disregard for logic.
9. "Symbol":
Hitoshi Matsumoto's man-in-a-room comedy takes inspiration
from the final sequence of "2001: A Space Odyssey," but the silly,
inspired slapstick gags are pure Matsumoto.
10. "Ultra Miracle Love Story (Bare Essence of
Life)":
Satoko Yokoyama's drama about a mentally challenged man's
crush on a new kindergarten teacher in his rural Aomori town is a bold, original blend of the
real and fantastic, comic and dramatic.
Here is a list of 2009 Japanese movies. It is not complete...
Air Doll
April Bride
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not)
Advance
Saikin-rettou
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann the Movie: Spiral
Stone Chapter
Naruto: Shippūden the Movie 3
Yatterman
Yona Yona Penguin
Arceus Chōkoku no Jikū e
Crows Zero 2
Cho
Kamen Rider Den-O & Decade NEO Generations: The Onigashima Warship
Goemon
Gokusen: The Movie
Kamen Rider Decade The
Movie: All Riders vs. Great Shocker
Samurai Princess
Samurai Sentai Shinkenger The Movie: The
Fateful War
Which was your favourite?
Monday (2000).
----------------------------------------
Directed by: SABU Starring: Shinichi Tsutsumi (main dancer), Yasuko Matsuyuki (yakuza girl),
Akira Yamamoto (yakuza boss), Susumu Terajima (yakuza thug)
but i remember in some year 2000 in UK on channel4 of smth i saw some
other briliant dark love story film, with i would like to know the name of...
but i dont know...
Yes alchemical is right. Difficult to find an overall BEST Japanese movie. Depends on the category. Horror- probably "Ring". Gore "Ichi the killer".
You can see the kind of movies I like. Could never get to the end of Seven Samurai whenever I see it on TV- usually on lata at night so I just fell asleep!
Anyway Robo-Geisha is out in September so looking forward to that!!
Hi Aya
The actor is Haruma Miura
If I remember, he was also good in Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge
Here is the first part:
The first part is hilarious especially the boyfriend and the people she meets in the club. Complete jerks!
very funny series;
Tiger & dragon
http://www.mysoju.com/tiger-dragon/special/part-1
part 2
http://www.mysoju.com/tiger-dragon/
I love Kisarzu kats eyes. I saw it on TV repeat recently. Drama is also very good. pls watch is you have time
fantasy
http://www.mysoju.com/battle-royale-1-r/
fantasy
http://www.mysoju.com/death-note/
http://www.mysoju.com/azumi/
sad movie
http://www.mysoju.com/koizora/
best comedy
kamikaze girls
http://www.mysoju.com/kisarazu-cats-eye/
http://www.mysoju.com/tiger-dragon/
It's talking about Geisya girl .
Ana Tuchiya is the mail acter in this movie.
and BTW the Japanese version of the ring is ten tims better than the American version- it's not on the poll???
Japanese Ring is better that American ring but I like both.
Japanese is more scarey
Hanako ( In Okayama)
I've seen the american version of the ring. not seen the J-version but I heard that the japoanese version is better. True?
Yojimbo
Akira Kurosawas Masterpiece is the best Movie i've ever seen!
1. Yojimbo
2. Swallowtail Butterfly (Yentown)
3. Hana-Bi
4. Blues Harp
5. Seven Samurai
6. Rashomon
7. Sonatine
8. Big Bang Love, Juvenile A
9. Branded to Kill
10. Gohatto
Here a trailer with English Subs
[quote]""Not all that much," she says. "It's made in Japan. So that's a big similarity for a basically American movie. But it's a different set of circumstances, and the main character is me, not an American man. And in that movie (Bill Murray's character is) a star, and in our movie I'm not, so it's different in terms of the plot, plus — and I really like this — it has more local actors in it. If you think about it, 'Lost in Translation' didn't have very many Japanese in roles that were very significant. It's like Tokyo was more of just a background to that movie.
"In 'The Ramen Girl,' Japan is more than a background, it's . . . well, it's part of everything in the movie, and I'm in the middle of it! It's great!"
[/quote]
Read the full story here
Ok Brittany so, one films got a famous male lead and the other's got a female lead. That has cleared up all suspicions that one may have had that the movies are similar...
Have you seen it? What did you think? Is it similar to Tampopo? or Lost in Translation?
TokyoJoe, you are quite wrong about "Tampopo" and "the Ramen Girl"...
This is actually totally different from the original which has a Japanese women in the lead role, not an American. Also the japanese women actually owns the restaurant as opposed to just working there. Another difference is that in the Japanese version, 2 truck drivers show the lady how to make good ramen rather than a ramen chef. Also the Japanese women in Tampopo has not just split up with a boyfriend. She is just very bad at making ramen.
The only similar thing about "tampopo" and "the ramen girl" is that they both have female stars and have noodles-making as the subject matter.
[url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0222851/]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0222851/
I have also seen Tampopo- an early Ken Watanabe effort- It's a story about a couple of truck drivers that help a ramen shop owner improve her noodles. Fairly slow-paced but good if you like Watanabe.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092048/