Bullets 'n' Babes

Every year in January Japanese film journal Eiga geijutsu raises some eyebrows with their controversial top 10 and botton 10 lists. Every year some of the year's most acclaimed mainstream films, such as The Wind Rises (Hayao Miazaki) and Like Father, Like Son (Koreeda's Cannes winner) this year, end up on their bottom 10 list!

Sion Sono is a particular anti-favorite for the staff. In 2009 his Love Exposure was praised as the year's best film, but since 2011 all of Sono's films have been in Bottom 10. In 2012 his films Land of Hope and Himizu were the worst and second worst film of the year!

Some have said that Eiga geijutsu has tendency to vote for filmmakes they have connections with, and be intentionally anti-mainstream. Nevertheless, the lists are very interesting read, and especially the Top-10s have losts of gems on them.

2013 Top 10
1. Pekorosu no haha ni ai ni iku (Azuma Morisaki)
2. Backwater (Shinji Aoyama)
3. The Great Passage (Yuya Ishii)
4. The Vortex of Love (Hitoshi Ohne)
5. There's Nothing to Be Afraid of (Hisaishi Saito)
6. Tamako in Moratorium (Nobuhiro Yamashita)
7. Real (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
8. Flashback Memories 3D (Tetsuaki Matsue)
8. Story of Yonosuke (Shûichi Okita)
10. The Tale of Princess Kaguya (Isao Takahata)
10. A Woman and War (Junichi Inoue)

2013 Bottom 10
1. Tokyo Family (Yoji Yamada)
2. The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki)
3. Why Don’t You Play in Hell (Sion Sono)
4. The Human Trust (Junji Sakamoto)
5. R-100 (Hitoshi Matsumoto)
5. Like Father, Like Son (Hirokazu Koreeda)
7. A Boy Called H (Yasuo Furuhata)
8. The Kiyosu Conference (Koki Mitani)
9. Shield of Straw (Takashi Miike)
10. Gatchaman (Toya Sato)
10. The Devil's Path (Kazuya Shiraishi)
10. A Woman and War (Junichi Inoue)

- http://eigageijutsu.com/article/385405617.html

Earlier lists. I copied those that existed in English from other sites - mainly Wildgrounds - and translated the missing ones myself. All credit to the original authors.

2012 Top 10
1. Our Homeland (Yang Yong-hi)
1. The Drudgery Train (Nobuhiro Yamashita)
3. Playback (Miyake Sho)
4. The Carol of the Old Ones (Hiroshi Takahashi)
5. The Kirishima Thing (Daihachi Yoshida)
6. Let’s Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club (Eisuke Naito)
7. Fly With The Gold (Kazuyuki Izutsu)
8. Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami)
9. The Samurai That Night (Masaaki Akahori)
10. Roadside Fugitive (Yu Irie)

2012 Bottom 10
1. The Land of Hope (Sion Sono)
2. Himizu (Sion Sono)
3. Dreams for Sale (Miwa Nishikawa)
4. Outrage Beyond (Takeshi Kitano)
5. Dearest (Yasuo Furuhata)
5. Helter Skelter (Mika Ninagawa)
7. Lesson of the Evil (Takashi Miike)
8. Key of Life (Kenji Uchida)
8. The Kirishima Thing (Daihachi Yoshida)
8. A Terminal Trust (Masayuki Suo)

- http://www.wildgrounds.com/2013/01/24/t ... magazines/

2011 Top 10
1. Someday (Junji Sakamoto)
2. Saudade (Katsuya Tomita)
3. Life Back Then (Takahisa Zeze)
4. Tokyo Park (Shinji Aoyama)
5. Postcard (Kaneto Shindo)
6. Hospitalite (Koji Fukada)
7. Love Strikes! (Hitoshi Ohne)
8. Kantoku Shikkaku (Katsuyuki Hirano)
9. Mahou Shoujo Wo Wasurenai (Sadakazu Hori)
10. We Can’t Change the World But, We Wanna Build a School in Cambodia (Kenta Fukasaku)

2011 Bottom 10
1. A Ghost of a Chance (Koki Mitani)
2. Scabbard Samurai (Hitoshi Matsumoto)
3. Guilty of Romance (Shion Sono)
4. Princess Toyotomi (Masayuki Suzuki)
5. Kantoku Shikkaku (Katsuyuki Hirano)
6. Cold Fish (Shion Sono)
7. Winter Day/Fuyu No Hi (Hiroshi Kurosaki)
8. My Back Pages (Nobuhiro Yamashita)
9. Pure Asia/Ajia no junshin (Ikki Katashima)
9. Mitsuko Delivers (Yuya Ishii)
9. Rebirth (Izuru Narushima)

- http://www.wildgrounds.com/2012/01/20/t ... magazines/

2010 Top 10
1. Heaven’s story (Takahisa Zeze)
2. Doman Seman (Go Shibata)
3. Okoru saigyou (Isao Okishima)
3. Partners (Masaru Shimomura)
5. Yellow Kid (Tetsuya Mariko)
6. Sawako Decides (Yuya Ishii)
6. Triangle (Keisuke Yoshida)
8. Thirteen Assassins (Takashi Miike)
9. Sketches of Kaitan City (Kazuyoshi Kumakiri)
9. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Masaaki Taniguchi)
9. Boys on the Run (Daisuke Miura)

2010 Bottom 10
1. Confessions (Tetsuya Nakashima)
2. Caterpillar (Koji Wakamatsu)
3. About Her Brother (Yoji Yamada)
4. Incite Mill (Hideo Nakata)
5. Tokyo Island (Makoto Shinozaki)
6. Zatoichi, The Last (Junji Sakamoto)
6. Surely Someday (Shun Oguri)
8. Space Battleship Yamato (Takashi Yamazaki)
9. Bayside Shakedown 3 (Katsuyuki Motohiro)
9. Solanin (Takahiro Miki)

- http://www.wildgrounds.com/2011/01/22/e ... t-of-2010/

2009 Top 10
1. Love Exposure (Sion Sono)
2. Bare Essence of Life (Satoko Yokohama)
3. Villon’s Wife (Kichitaro Negishi)
4. Annyeong Yumika (Tetsuaki Matsue)
5. Watashi wa neko stalket (Takuji Suzuki)
6. Saitama Rapper (Yu Irie)
7. Documentary Zunô keisatsu (Takahisa Zeze)
8. Osaka Hamlet (Fujirô Mitsuishi)
9. Arpril Bride (Ryichi Hiroki)
10. Nonchan noriben (Akira Ogata)

2009 Bottom 10
1. Air Doll (Hirokazu Koreeda)
2. The Crab Cannery Ship (Sabu)
3. Rookies the Movie: Graduation (Yuichiro Hirakawa)
4. Symbol (Hitoshi Matsumoto)
5. MW (Hitoshi Iwamoto)
6. Laughing Policeman (Haruki Kadokawa)
7. Halfway (Eriko Kitagawa)
8. The Hovering Blade (Shoichi Mashiko)
9. Kamui gaiden (Yôichi Sai)
10. Toad's Oil (Koji Yakusho)
10. Zero Focus (Isshin Inudô)
10. Dear Doctor (Miwa Nishikawa)

2008 Top 10
1. Non-Ko (Kazuyoshi Kumakiri)
2. United Red Army (Koji Wakamatsu)
3. Kiss (Kunitoshi Manda)
4. Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
5. Don’t Laugh at My Romance (Nami Iguchi)
6. Passion (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
7. Children of the Dark (Junji Sakamoto)
8. Chameleon (Junji Sakamoto)
9. Teacher and Three Children (Kaneto Shindô)
10. Your Friend (Ryûichi Hiroki)

2008 Bottom 10
1. Departures (Yôjiro Takita)
2. Shaolin Girl (Katsuyuki Motohiro)
3. I Want to Be a Shellfish (Katsuo Fukuzawa)
4. The Magic Hour (Kôki Mitani)
5. Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
6. Achilles and the Tortoise (Takeshi Kitano)
7. Nanayo (Naomi Kawase)
8. Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda)
9. The Climbers High (Masao Harada)
10. United Red Army (Koji Wakamatsu)

- http://www.pageofmadness.com/?p=422

2007 Top 10
1. Sad Vacation (Shinji Aoyama)
2. Even So, I Didn't Do It (Masayuki Suo)
3. Tennen kokekko (Nobuhiro Yamashita)
4. Tamamoe (Junji Sakamoto)
5. The Matsugane Potshot Affair (Nobuhiro Yamashita)
6. Retribution (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
7. Talk, Talk, Talk (Hideyuki Hirayama)
8. Dog in a Sidecar (Kichutaro Negishi)
9. Route 20 (Katsuya Tomita)
10. German + Ame (Satoko Yokohama)

2007 Bottom 10
1. Big Man Japan (Hitoshi Matsumoto)
2. For Those We Love (Taku Shinjo)
3. Glory to the Filmmaker (Takeshi Kitano)
4. Sky of Love (Natsuki Imai)
5. Sakuran (Mika Ninagawa)
6. The Invitation from Cinema Orion (Kenki Saegusa)
7. Sukiyaki Western Django (Takashi Miike)
8. Into the Faraway Sky (Isao Yukisada)
8. Dororo (Akihiko Shiota)
10. Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea (Shinichiro Sawai)

+

Eiga Geijutsu’s Annual Top 10 (1972-1982)
- http://www.wildgroun...p-10-1972-1982/

See the link above. Lots of Roman Porno, Fukasaku yakuza films and pinky violence.

How come United Red Army is at Number 2 in the 2008 Top 10 but also Number 10 in the Bottom 10?

grim_tales wrote:How come United Red Army is at Number 2 in the 2008 Top 10 but also Number 10 in the Bottom 10?

Because more than 1 person voted, and they had different opinions

Since Wildgrounds is dead and buried, I will now post the full 1972-1982 Eiga geijutsu Top 10's here

• 1972
1. Theater of Life (Tai Kato)
2. Ichijo’s Wet Lust (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
3. Sasori (Shunya Ito)
4. The Music (Yasuzo Masumura) / Delicate Skillful Fingers (Toru Murakawa)
5. Scent of Eros (Toshiya Fujita) (trailer)
6. Wet Lips (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
7. Eros Schedule Book: Female Artist (Chusei Sone) / Narita: The Building of the Iwayama Tower (Shinzuke Ogawa)
8. Outlaw Killers: Three Mad Dog Brothers (Kinji Fukasaku)
9. Night-Train Woman (Noboru Tanaka)
10. Night of the Felines (Noboru Tanaka)

• 1973
1. Battle Without Honor and Humanity (Kinji Fukasaku)
2. Lovers are Wet (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
3. Prostitute Torture Hell (Noboru Tanaka)
4. World of Geisha (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
5. Battle Without Honor 2: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (Kinji Fukasaku)
6. Afternoon Affair: Kyoto Holy Tapestry (Masaru Konuma)
7. The Blossom and the Sword (Tai Kato) / Coup d’Etat (Kiju Yoshida) (trailer)
8. Female Teacher: Private Life (Noboru Tanaka)
9. Heta Village (Shinsuke Ogawa)
10. Love Makes Me Wet (Akira Kato)

• 1974
1. Behind the Sliding Door: Chaste Skin (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
2. The Assassination of Ryoma (Kazuo Kuroki) (trailer)
3. Confidential: Sexual Market (Noboru Tanaka)
4. Failed Youth (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
5. Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 (Kazuo Hara)
6. Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (Yukio Noda)
7. Aka chôchin (Toshiya Fujita)
8. Moist Desires: 21 Strippers (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
9. Imouto (Toshiya Fujita)
10. バイバイラブ（藤沢勇夫)

• 1975
1. The Bullet Train (Junya Sato)
2. A Woman Called Sada Abe (Noboru Tanaka)
3. Cops vs Thugs (Kinji Fukasaku)
4. Graveyard Of Honor (Kinji Fukasaku)
5. Preparation for the Festival (Kazuo Kuroki)
6. Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director (Kaneto Shindo) / Black Rose Ascension (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
7. Yoimachigusa (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
8. Dokkoi! Ningen Busho (Shinsuke Ogawa)
9. New Battles Without Honor 2: Boss’s Head (Kinji Fukasaku)
10. Gambling Den Heist (Kinji Fukasaku)

• 1976
1. Farewell, O Summer’s Light (Shigeyuki Yamane)
2. Lullaby of the Earth (Yasuzo Masumura)
3. Jack The Ripper (Yasuharu Hasebe)
4. The Youth Killer (Kazuhiko Hasegawa)
5. Yakuza Graveyard (Kinji Fukasaku)
6. Boso Panikku: Dai-Gekitotsu (Kinji Fukasaku) (clip)
7. Walker In The Attic (Noboru Tanaka)
8. Okasu! (Yasuharu Hasebe)
9. 仁俠外伝玄界灘 (Juro Kara)
10. In The Realm Of Senses (Nagisa Oshima)

• 1977
1. A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness (Seijun Suzuki)
2. Beast in the shadows (Tai Kato)
3. Painful Bliss! Final Twist (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
4. The Boxer (Shuji Terayama) (trailer)
5. Totsuzen arashi no yōni (Shigeyuki Yamane)
6. The Life of Chikuzan (Kaneto Shindo) / Hokuriku Proxy War (Kinji Fukasaku)
7. Rape! 13th Hour (Yasuharu Hasebe)
8. House (Nobohiko Obayashi) (trailer)
9. Yakuza War: The Japanese Don (Sadao Nakajima)
10. Ballad of Orin (Masahiro Shinoda)

• 1978
1. Double Suicide at Sonezaki (Yasuzo Masumura)
2. Kaerazaru hibi (Toshiya Fujita) / Rape and Death of a Housewife (Noboru Tanaka)
3. The Most Dangerous Game (Toru Murakawa)
4. Third Base (Yoichi Higashi)
5. Hakatakko junjô (Chusei Sone)
6. Dynamite Bang Bang (Kihachi Okamoto)
7. Pink Tush Girl (Koyu Ohara)
8. Puppets Under Starry Skies (Hojin Hasiura)
9. Pink Salon: Five Lewd Women (Noboru Tanaka)
10. 俺は田舎のプレスリー（満友敬司）

• 1979
1. The Nineteen Year-Old’s Map (Mitsuo Yanagimachi)
2. The Woman with Red Hair (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
3. The Man Who Stole the Sun (Kazuhiko Hasegawa) (trailer)
4. Angel Guts: Red Classroom (Chusei Sone)
5. Aftermath of Battles without honor and humanity (Eiichi Kudo)
6. Keiko (Claude Gagnon)
7. Vengeance Is Mine (Shohei Imamura)
8. So Soft, So Cunning (Toshiya Fujita)
9. Shokei Yuugi (Toru Murakawa)
10. Tenshi No Yokubo (Ikuo Sekimoto)

• 1980
1. Zigeunerweisen (Seijun Suzuki)
2. Crazy Thunder Road (Sogo Ishii)
3. Disciples of Hippocrates (Kazuo Omori) (trailer)
4. The Terrible Couple (Shinji Somai)
5. Wife’s Sexual Fantasy: Before Husband’s Eyes (Masaru Konuma)
6. Woman’s Trail: Wet Path (Kazunari Takeda)
7. Red Violation (Chusei Sone)
8. Jun (Hiroto Yokoyama)
9. Heaven Sent (Yoichi Maeda)
10. The Beast to Die (Toru Murakawa)

• 1981
1. Heat-Haze Theatre (Seijun Suzuki)
2. The Dirty Songs (Tatsumi Kumashiro)
3. Distant Thunder (Negishi Kichitaro)
4. Muddy River (Kohei Oguri)
5. Play it, Boogie-Woogie (Toshiya Fujita)
6. Crazed Fruit (Negishi Kichitaro)
7. Empire of Kids (Kazuyuki Izutsu)
8. Flames of Blood (Tai Kato)
9. Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (Shinji Somai) / Something Like It (Yoshimitsu Morita)
10. Onna kyôshi 8 (Negishi Kichitaro)

• 1982
1. A Japanese Village – Furuyashikimura (Shinsuke Ogawa)
2. Farewell to the Land (Mitsuo Yanagimachi)
3. A Pool Without Water (Koji Wakamatsu)
4. I Are You, You Am Me (Nobuhiko Obayashi)
5. Fall Guy (Kinji Fukasaku)
6. The Living Koheiji (Nobuo Nakagawa)
7. Tatto Ari (Banmei Takahashi) (trailer)
8. To Trap a Kidnapper (Shunya Ito)
9. Yajuu Keji (Eiichi Kudo) / Weekend Shuffle (Genji Nakamura)
10. Kyabarê nikki (Kichitaro Negichi)

https://web.archive.org/web/20150217025 ... 1972-1982/