Did you really think we’d enter into a new year without hearing which 2019 movies former President of the United States Barack Obama loved? In the latest installment of what’s quickly becoming a yearly tradition, Obama revealed the list of his favorite 2019 movies and it is packed with audience and awards season favorites, including Parasite, Marriage Story, and The Irishman.
Obama’s tweet on his favorite 2019 movies came on the heels of a tweet earlier in the weekend revealing his favorite books of the year. Ever the Renaissance Man, Obama’s list of 2019 movies includes a diverse array of movies telling a diverse assortment of stories. As previously mentioned, the hottest picks are Bong Joon-Ho‘s Cannes-fêted Parasite, Noah Baumbach‘s achingly beautiful Marriage Story, and Martin Scorsese‘s elegiac and brusque The Irishman. But there are also plenty of fun and surprising picks on this list. Obama shows an equal amount of love for female directors on the list, including Greta Gerwig‘s deeply charming Little Women, Mati Diop‘s Atlantics, Joanna Hogg‘s The Souvenir, Lulu Wang‘s The Farewell, and Olivia Wilde‘s Booksmart on his roundup. There’s a great mix of international releases as well as domestic, spanning a good variety of genres. There are notably no big populist picks like Joker or Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker either, which isn’t necessarily a neg but is worth noting.
Next up are my favorite movies and TV shows of 2019. Of course, there’s also American Factory, a film from our own production company, Higher Ground, that was recently shortlisted for an Oscar. Here’s the full list: pic.twitter.com/PEcgwotcxm
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 29, 2019
Never one to remain predictable, Obama also included a very brief list of 2019 TV shows he classifies as “A Quick List of TV Shows That I Considered As Powerful as Movies.” Those shows? Season 2 of Fleabag, Damon Lindelof‘s incredible HBO series Watchmen, and the Golden Globe-nominated Netflix series Unbelievable.
Sadly, Obama did not provide lengthy and introspective commentary on each of this year’s picks. However, it’s good to see the former POTUS is staying on top of the biggest movies of the moment and keeping his pop culture diet as surprising as it is far-ranging. Even if he’s no longer in the Oval Office, it’s always good to hear from Obama and see what he’s loving these days.
If you’re curious to see what we pegged as the best TV shows of 2019 (there’s definitely overlap with Obama!), make sure you check out our round-up here before you go.
