Former President Barack Obama Watched Everything from ‘La La Land’ to ‘Monster Trucks’ in the White House
It’s no secret that Barack Obama is a total cinephile — last year he and Michelle named their favorite films of 2015 (The Martian and Inside Out, respectively), and a few months ago he even listed his favorite sci-fi movies (mostly the agreed-upon classics). Being the President comes with its fair share of perks, including first access to any new releases he wants to watch. Now we know what was on the list he requested for his swanky White House screening room.
Hollywood has a long tradition of sending movies to the White House, with one studio executive telling The Hollywood Reporter, “There was never a film [the Obamas] didn’t request to watch.” Obama’s office also often asked for awards screeners, including for this year’s crop of contenders, and during their vacations in Hawaii they frequented the local Regal theater.
THR ran a scandalous exposé on what kind of filmic requests the first family had, from (gasp) La La Land to (cringe) Monster Trucks. Actually, Monster Trucks is kind of surprising, since the former President’s tastes normally stayed within the “it’s pretty good!” range. That was requested just days before he left office to make way for our current administration, so I can totally picture him watching it and thinking, “Well, at least it won’t be as bad as this, right?”
Speaking of the new Commander-in-Chief, Donald Trump’s office has made two movie requests so far: Finding Dory and James Franco-Bryan Cranston comedy Why Him?