Barack Obama has chosen sides. He's leaning more towards Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer in the Barbenheimer debate. As is the custom every year, the former US president unveiled his list of favourite movies as 2023 comes to a close. The list included Hollywood tentpoles, world cinema, and films from his own production house. (Also Read: Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer should have shown 'what happened to the Japanese people', says director Spike Lee)
Oppenheimer, no Barbie
The list curiously included the period drama that revolves around J. Robert Oppenheimer, the inventor of the atomic bomb that destroyed two cities of Japan at the end of World War II. However, there was no sign of Greta Gerwig's satirical comedy Barbie, which released on the same day as Oppenheimer and led to the coinage of their clash, Barbenheimer.
After Barack shared the list on X (formerly Twitter), a user commented, “'Barbie' missed the cut :(" Another wrote, “Barbie tho.” And a third one posted, “Not a Barbie girl in a Barbie world I see.”
Other films in the list
Barack took to X on Thursday and acknowledged the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes that crippled Hollywood this year. “Earlier this year, writers and actors went on strike to advocate for better working conditions and protections. It led to important changes that will transform the industry for the better," he wrote.
{{/usCountry}}Barack took to X on Thursday and acknowledged the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes that crippled Hollywood this year. “Earlier this year, writers and actors went on strike to advocate for better working conditions and protections. It led to important changes that will transform the industry for the better," he wrote.
{{/usCountry}}Barack then led the list with three of his own productions, that he backed under Higher Ground Productions, that he co-owns with wife Michelle Obama. “Here are some films that reflect their hard work over the last year — including some like Rustin, American Symphony, and Leave the World Behind that we were proud to release through @HGMedia," He said, adding that he's “biased” but they were “three of the best films” he watched in 2023.
The other films in the list included Alexander Payne's Christmas dramedy The Holdovers, Matt Johnson's Canadian biographical dramedy BlackBerry, Cord Jefferson's dramedy American Fiction, Justine Triet's courtroom thriller Anatomy of a Fall, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Japanese film Monster, Celine Song's romantic drama Past Lives, Ben Affleck's biographical sports drama Air, Nida Manzoor's martial arts action comedy Polite Society, and AV Rockwell's A Thousand and One.