Barack Obama Lists His Favorite Films of 2023, Including ‘Rustin’ and ‘Leave the World Behind’

“Past Lives,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Oppenheimer” also made the list

Former U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to supporters of Pennsylvania Democratic candidate for Senate John Fetterman at Schenley Plaza

Former president Barack Obama released his annual list of favorite films of the year. In the top slots are “Rustin,” “Leave the World Behind” and “American Symphony,” which were all produced by his and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Media.

“I’m biased since these movies were produced by Higher Ground, but these are in fact three of the best films I saw this year,” Obama wrote.

Lower on the list are “The Holdovers,” “Blackberry,” “Oppenheimer,” “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Monster,” “Past Lives,” “Air,” “Polite Society” and “A Thousand and One.”

Cinephiles have come to expect (and love) Obama’s regular lists of films, music and books, which are generally released come awards time. Last year his list included the likes of “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Emily the Criminal” and director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King.”

“Earlier this year, writers and actors went on strike to advocate for better working conditions and protections,” Obama captioned his Instagram post. “It led to important changes that will transform the industry for the better.”

The former president ended his post’s caption with the question “What films did I miss?”

Surprisingly, the former President did not include Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” on his list. Several of the films on the list are serious awards contenders, particularly “Oppenheimer,” “American Fiction” and “Anatomy of a Fall.”

One user commented “no eras tour?!!!” and another wrote “Ummm… Barbie!”

Still another commented, “With a whole genocide going on and we’re talking about movies. Ok sir 😒.”

Other films not on the list, but mentioned in the comments include “The Color Purple,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “John Wick Ch. 4” and more.

Obama also posted his favorite books of 2023, which include National Book Award Winner Matthew Desmond’s “Poverty, By America,” “The Wager” by “Killers of the Flower Moon” author and journalist David Grann and “The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese” to name a few.

His favorite songs of 2023 have yet to be announced.

Just a day after unveiling the list via social media, Obama added “The Color Purple” as a favorite.

“Update: I just saw The Color Purple and loved it. I’m adding it to this list as one of my favorite movies of the year,” he tweeted in response to his earlier post on X.

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