Obama Reveals His 15 Favorite Movies of 2018

MovieWeb

By Ryan Scott

Published Dec 28, 2018

Former President Barack Obama's favorite movies of 2018 include big hits like Black Panther and indies such as Blindspotting.

Former President Obama has shared a list of his favorite movies of 2018. The list includes 15 entries in total and they aren't ranked in any way, as the popular politician simply shared the list in alphabetical order. Still, the list gives us a window into what the former POTUS is up to these days and, just like the rest of us, he's watching lots of great movies. Obama shared his 2018 lists along with the following message.

It turns out, Barack Obama likes a lot of the same movies general moviegoers enjoyed this year. Black Panther, director Ryan Coogler's groundbreaking comic book movie that may well be the first ever to score a Best Picture nomination, was, unsurprisingly, on the list. Other high-profile movies include director Alex Garland's Annihilation, the recently released Roma, which comes from Alfonso Cuaron and is seen as a Best Picture hopeful for Netflix, and Spike Lee's real-life drama BlacKkKlansman.

The former President also had some under-the-radar movies of 2018 on his list as well, such as Leave No Trace, which stars Ben Foster and, tragically, wasn't a big hit at the box office, bringing in less than $8 million. But it's worth noting that the drama has an unblemished 100 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Other critical darlings that slipped through the cracks on his list include Blindspotting and The Rider.

Barack Obama also included quite a few documentaries on his list this year. These include the hit Won't You Be My Neighbor? which examines the life of the late Fred Rogers, host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Some of his other documentary selections were Minding the Gap, another 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes selection that centers on three young friends trying to escape their lives in America's Rust Belt, and Shoplifters, which is right behind it at 99 percent and was a huge hit coming out of Japan, making $40 million, the fourth highest-grossing Japanese movie overall this year.

The rest of the entries on the list are largely dominated by indie titles that were critically beloved. Bo Burnham's directorial debut Eighth Grade, which recently earned several Golden Globe nominations, including one for its breakout star Elsie Fisher, is highlighted. Other picks include the foreign drama Burning, which features former The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun, and director Barry Jenkins' Moonlight follow-up, If Beale Street Could Talk. Be sure to check out the full list from Barack Obama's Facebook page below.