Barack Obama's Favorite Movies Of 2018 Include 'Annihilation,' 'Black Panther,' 'If Beale Street Could Talk' And More

Former President of the United States Barack Obama has put forward his candidacy for President of Film Twitter with his list of his favorite movies of 2018. Obama's list is a collection of some of the most critically praised films of the year, including genre-bending sci-fi flicks like Annihilation, beloved foreign flicks like Shoplifters, and deft black comedies like The Death of Stalin. In other words, Obama's got good taste.

On Friday, Obama posted a comprehensive list of his favorites books, movies, and music of 2018, continuing an annual tradition he started two years ago. "I'm continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists," Obama wrote in his Facebook post. "It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved."

Here is the full list of his favorite movies for reference:

This list can't help but be impressive, and a showcase for how tapped into the culture Obama is. His list isn't just a selection of prestigious awards contenders, but a diverse collection of sci-fi flicks, indies (Leave No Trace, Eighth Grade, The Rider), sprawling foreign films (Roma, Burning, Shoplifters), documentaries (Won't You Be My Neighbor, Minding the Gap), and out-of-the-box comedies (The Death of Stalin, Support the Girls). He's got his fair share of films with powerful social commentary too, like Black Panther, Blindspotting, and BlacKkKlansman. Basically, his list is Film Twitter in a nutshell.

I'm ecstatic that Obama gave a shout-out to Leave No Trace, a quiet and subdued character drama that I've felt has gotten forgotten in awards conversations. But mostly it's hilarious to imagine the former President of the U.S. watching Jason Isaacs's absurd, cape-twirling performance in Armando Iannucci's black comedy The Death of Stalin — even if the movie is the most political of all of these films.

Read Obama's full list of his favorite books, films, and songs of 2018 here.