'BlackBerry' and 'Past Lives' make Barack Obama's annual list of best films

First, it was Barack Obama's favourite phone. Now, "BlackBerry" is one of the former U.S. president's top films of the year. The Canadian satire from director Matt Johnson is one of 13 movies to make Obama's list of the best films of 2023.

Canadian Press Dec 27, 2023 1:55 PM Dec 27, 2023 2:05 PM

20231227161248-658c9c6662edca595a08f16ejpeg — First, it was Barack Obama's favourite phone. Now, "BlackBerry" is one of the former president's top films of the year. Obama holds up his BlackBerry after he forgot it and returned back to the White House to retrieve it before his departure on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Pablo Martinez Monsivais

First, it was Barack Obama's favourite phone. Now, "BlackBerry" is one of the former U.S. president's top films of the year.聽

The Canadian satire from director Matt Johnson is one of 13 movies to make Obama's list of the best films of 2023.聽

Glenn Howerton and Jay Baruchel star as Research in Motion heads Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis in the fictionalized tale of the Canadian company's rise and fall.聽

Obama was famously a longtime lover of the BlackBerry, and only upgraded to an iPhone in 2016.聽

"Past Lives," the nostalgic romance from Korean-Canadian filmmaker Celine Song, also nabbed a spot on his annual list.聽

His other favourites include "The Holdovers," "Oppenheimer" and "Anatomy of a Fall."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2023.

The Canadian Press