“Over the next few days, I’ll share my annual list of favorite books, music, and movies. Art always sustains and nourishes the soul. But for me, music and storytelling felt especially urgent during this pandemic year,” Obama wrote on Twitter before beginning the rollout of the best art he consumed in the past year. His list of top films includes critics’ favorite “Drive My Car” (which is Japan’s entry for the International Feature Oscar), Questlove’s Oscar-hopeful documentary “Summer of Soul,” “West Side Story,” and “The Power of the Dog.” Obama also made room for films including “Pig,” “Passing,” “The Card Counter,” Oscar winner “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Worst Person in the World” (Norway’s entry), “Old Henry” “The Last Duel,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” “C’mon C’mon,” and Oscar nominee “Quo Vadis, Aida?” How’s that for eclectic?
“Each of these films tells a powerful story, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did,” he wrote. See below. Last year, Obama singled out films such as “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Beanpole,” “Bacurau,” “Nomadland,” “Soul,” “Lovers Rock,” “Collective,” “Mank,” “Martin Eden,” “Let Him Go,” “Time,” “Boys State,” “Selah and the Spades,” and “Crip Camp.” Many of these films went on to win Oscars or receive nominations. Whither Obama’s list of the best TV series of 2021? Expect that list to roll out soon, as he already also shared his favorite books of the year in an earlier tweet (below). Obama’s list arrives as critics’ 10-best lists start pouring in. Both IndieWire’s staff list and its annual critics survey crowned “The Power of the Dog” as the year’s best film by a wide margin.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 16, 2021
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 15, 2021 Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
