Good morning, everyone. Class is recorded. Welcome to today's session on the book of Esther. So before we could start our class, we will start a class with a word of prayer. Dear God, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, we honor you, we glorify your name, Lord. Thank you for this new day, the beautiful day that you have blessed each one of us, our Father. Lord, I pray that you will bless each one of us with your grace, with your strength to lead this day. And more than anything, Lord, we ask for your favor to cover us to overshadow us in all the area of our life. Thank you, Lord, for doing it so. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. And before we can begin with our class, I'll just share the presentation with us. Okay, I hope everyone can see this. Yes. Yes, thank you. Thank you for the confirmation. So the book of Esther. So what do we know about the book of Esther? I'm sure each of us would have heard the story of Esther or some of us would have had a chance to watch the movie of Esther. But what do we know about the book of Esther or the person and individual? Anyone from the class? Sid, what do you know about Esther, Divya, Georgia, Hamilton? What do you all hear about Esther? Ma'am, may I? Yes, please. Ma'am, in the book of Esther, it is written that the small biography which I know about Esther, that she was an orphan. She was a Jew and she was the nephew of Mordechai, niece of the Mordechai. And Mordechai made her grew up as her own daughter. And later, she was married to the king of King Exodus in the place of her King Queen Vesti. And she did a great job and she had a very great history in protecting the people of the Jewish community from the bad guy Naaman. Sorry, Naaman. Okay, okay. Anyone else from a class? Yes, ma'am. I love the verse, Esther 414, in which Mordechai says to Esther, if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place. But you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Yes, this is the verse which I really love in this book. Yes, yes. Thank you. Thank you, Divya. That's one of the key verse and it is very important, speaks a lot. And we can also apply it in many of our situations like God has called us for a reason and God has called us for such a time as this. Just like the way God called Esther. Anyone else, any other women in the class who have read this book of Esther and they're inspired by the life of Esther, Anita, Georgia. Okay, let's start with our class. So the book of Esther is one and more interesting book in the Bible. As it is also the last book in the historical books of the Bible. So it's main character is named and this book is named after the main character Esther. Esther means in Persian language, it means a star which denotes the star Venus, the morning star, which shines brighter after all the other stars have depth. Thus, the deeds of Queen Esther, which was cast a ray or the light of hope into the Israel's history during this dark season. The author, when we talk look into the author, the author is unknown, but some biblical scholars say that it may be Motikai himself who would have written this book. Well, the date and time, they even in this book took place approximately between 483 BC to 473 during the first off of the reign of King Xerxes or Ahasuerus. The background, let's look into the background of the story. The story is set over 100 years after the Babylonian exile of the Israelites from their land. While some Jews did return to Jerusalem, like I remember Ezra and Nehemiah, which we discussed in the last class, many returned along with them, but they were still some of the Jews who stayed back in the exile. So the book of Esther is about the Jewish community living in the land of Suza, which was a capital city of the ancient Persian Empire. Well, at this time, the Persian Empire was one of the largest empire the world had ever seen. It covered about 127 provinces. For example, in today's, in today's name, we call it Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, or Jordan, Lebanon and Israel and also parts of the modern day Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Arabia, and also we see the name of India been mentioned. So this king, you know, was in control of these large provinces of 127. Also at this time, Ezra had returned to Jerusalem after it had been conquered by the Babylonian and the temple has been rebuilt maybe 30 years before. So the important character in this book we get to study is, let's look into the characters of this book so that keeping them in our mind, we can understand the story much easily. So we get to see the one main character as the king, King Azasurus. While some historians compare King Azasurus to Cambys, son of Cyrus, or as a son of Darius the Mead, the tradition identifies him as a pretender to the throne. Now why? He gained the power through deceit and bribery, no matter, we're not very sure about this information. This is what some of the scholars and the traditions say that. But no matter how this king achieved his kingship, but he ruled over a vast kingdom. Yet the Migila, that is one of the Hebrew scripture itself shows us what sort of ruler he was. He was a ruler out of control. It is apparent that he was easily swayed by the opinion of others around him. In the first chapter when we read, we see that when the ministers around him demands for Vasthi to appear with a beauty, he granted their opinion.  He just listened to the people around him. Later part we see Haman who was a prime minister, the second in command in his kingdom, plotted against Mordekai. And so with his own story he goes and approaches the king. And without even reasoning the facts, he gives him the signatory to demolish the Jews. Without even king's knowledge, he gets a signatory to approve this kind of plot against Jews. So even when we see the same kind of nature being continued when Esther came into his life, again he started listening to Esther. But thank God that Esther was a wise woman who could give him the right kind of advice. And later we see another character in this book as Vasthi. By marrying Vasthi, Azasiris misused his right to the throne. Vasthi was the daughter of Bal Shadza, the last Babylonian king, was defeated by Dharais and Cyrus and the great-granddaughter of King Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed the First Holy Temple and Jerusalem which we looked into the book of Chronicles and the kings. So as a descendant of this evil line, Vasthi was also not much less, but then she was also wicked in her thoughts and in her morality. The Midrash, the Hebrew scripture also teaches us that while she was only 12, a father was murdered by the king Dharais, the Medes. And she was about 18 years when King Azasiris invited her to come and show her beauty to the people around her. So she was very bold enough to say no to the king and refused and we know the story after that what happens, we will get to know it later. So according to some tradition source says that Queen Vasthi used to force the Jewish maid servants who were under the bonded slavery there during her time who was serving under her. She used to make them to scrub the palace floor on the Shabbat where for the Jews that day was holy, they are not supposed to do any kind of work on that day. But then she didn't allow them to keep up that Shabbat but then she intended to give much more work on that day. And we will look into the next character Mordecai, a descendant of King Saul from the tribe of Benjamin. Mordecai was a prophet and a member of the Sanhedrin, the supreme court in Jerusalem before the exile. He was also considered as one of the greatest Torah leaders of his generation and the Jews in exile look to him for his guidance along with Queen Esther. And we will move on to the next, the main character after which the book has been named after that is Esther. Esther who lost her parents at a very young age and she was adopted by her cousin Mordecai who took care of her just like his own daughter. She possessed exceptional beauty. Yes, I'll come to that point. She possessed exceptional beauty. She was very beautiful and the actual name of Esther in Hebrew was Hadassah which means mortal branch. And before when the king called out for the young virgins for the beauty contest for him to select one person has this queen. When Esther was about to go, Mordecai gave her some instruction. He changed her name from Hadassah to Esther.  He gave us this instruction and center and the next character we will look into is Haman. Haman, sorry, Haman or Amen, we can call his name as Haman as well. So Haman has been introduced in Megillah. Megillah is again the Hebrew scripture that I said. Haman was a Hagueite or is from the Amalekite tribe referring to his line age as a descendant of King Haga. Haga was the last king of Amalekites, the national arch enemy of the Jewish people. While the Amalekite nation was destroyed by King Samuel which we saw in the book of 1 Samuel. So disobeyed God's command and had mercy on King Haga, allowing him to live. And then when Prophet Samuel heard about it, he was furious and he killed Haga himself. But the damage was already been done by King Haga. He had enough of time to sow the seeds about Jews to his future generation. So Haman was from the same tribe. He carried hatred towards Jews. He wants to destroy them and elate them completely. And he was married to a woman named Zerish and she was equally wicked as Haman. She hated Jews to the core and both had the same kind of vision in their life to destroy Jews completely. Abolished them from the face of the south and they had 10 sons and one daughter. And yes, we also covered Zerish, Haman's wife. So with this, we will move on to chapter one from our Bible. Can we turn to chapter one from our Bible? So the book of Esther opens with the description of an enormous of 180 day party thrown by King Ahasuerus in his third year as king of Persian empire. He ruled over. How many provinces did he rule? 127. Yes, 127 provinces he ruled. And as the day of feasting draw to close, he summons his wife. He called out for his wife Vasti as there was a great demand from his ministers to show off a beauty among them. But Vasti refuses to come. And we see how King was very furious at Vasti's act and listening to all the ministers he banishes her from the kingdom. So as the time passed, Ahasuerus realized the consequence of his action and he misses his queen. Now the deed however is done seeing that the rulers also regretted for the action that was suggested by them. So now they come up with a new idea or a new proposal to the king saying that let's find a new queen for the king. So they come up with a suggestion, let's have a beauty contest of all the beautiful virgins from this kingdom from all over 127 provinces. So all the beautiful women are being brought to the palace and the king gets to select his new queen. So even before he could select there is a process that each and everyone had to go through and then they will meet the king. And when the king meets each and everyone then he finalizes the queen. And we see how God can use an ordinary people to do extraordinary things in the story as it unveils. Yes, we also saw in the book of Genesis how God brought Joseph into the kingdom out of, you know, from the desert God raised him to become the prime minister, the second and command to Pharaoh.  So in Shusan, a capital city, lived a beautiful Jewish girl named, what was her name? What was the Hebrew name? Adasha. Adasha. Okay, she is an orphan. She lost her parents at a very young age and she was raised by her uncle Mordecai. Okay, one was on the leader of the Jewish people in the exile. When they came to take her to the palace, Mordecai instructs Esther not to reveal her identity. That she was a Jew and this is a family detail. To reveal anything, even to the fellow girls with her or to the eunuchs who would be training out to anyone in the palace, just keep it to herself. So we see God had placed a right kind of mentor in our life to speak wisdom, to teach her in our life. Because Mordecai was a leader and he knew how people around him hated Jews. They were waiting to destroy. So Esther takes her uncle's advice and she goes to this contest. The long story short, she finds favor. We see that Esther, in chapter 2, she finds favor in kings' highs. Can one of us please turn to chapter 2 verse 17 and read? The king loved Esther more than all the women. And she found favor and kindness with him, more than all the virgins. So he said the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vasthi. Yes, thank you. There were about 1400 people who competed with Esther and they had to go 147 days of process to prepare themselves even before they could appear before the king. And here God put a favor over Esther. So whoever looked at Esther, she found favor in their sight. She found favor with the eunuch, she found favor with the fellow girls who came there. She found favor finally with the king himself. And he appointed her as the queen. And he placed the royal crown on her head and made her the queen instead of Vasthi. So what we learn from this act, a simple young girl was so insignificant in that place. She was a stranger in that land and now she's been raised to become a queen of the same land. In the same way, our past should not dictate our future. An orphaned girl, one who lost her parents, was raised to be the queen in this strange land. God changed her destiny and blessed her. Same God is faithful enough to change our destiny and blesses us in the place where we are. So while Mordecai does not reveal his relationship to the new queen, he always frequently is near the palace, the palace gates to hear the news of Esther's well-being, how she's doing. He does not leave her, but then he keeps inquiring of her, how is she doing, how is her well-being. He has a check over her. So one day he happens to, over your two men, plotting to murder the king and he quickly sends out a word to Esther to reveal the plot of the king in the name of Mordecai. The plotters were caught and executed and Mordecai's name and deed were written in the king's book of Chronicles. But yeah, we will cover that part later. So we go towards chapter 3. In chapter 3, we see king appoints Amen and Amalekite as a prime minister and issues a degree that all should bow to him. But Mordecai refuses to bow down before Amen. The Midrash, that is the Hebrew scripture, informs us that Amen or a necklace, which had a large idol on it. And for which one of the reasons, the tradition says, may be for one of the reasons for which Mordecai refused to bow before him. But Mordecai's refusal started irritating Amen.   So now Amen goes to king Azasiris and asks for permission to destroy the Jews and he presents him 10,000 silver pieces. And also he issues the king as a matter of a loyalty and he says, if one of us can turn to chapter 3 verse 8. Chapter 3 verses 8. Then Amen said to king Azasiris, there is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey king's law. It is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them. Yeah, thank you. So king, without even reasoning or inquiring, he just agrees and issues an edict to all 127 provinces saying that on the 13th of Adar, the Jews in all the provinces are to be exterminated and their property has kept as a plunder. In chapter 4, we see that upon hearing this veil edict, Mordecai wears a sackcloth and ashes and he moans and he quickly sends a word to Esther that she must go to the king and stop this horrible degree from becoming a reality. And Esther is afraid. She cannot approach the king just like that whenever she wanted. Unless and until she's been called by the king, and if anyone approaches the king, even before that he could summon or call them, they will be put to death. There's a lot of chances for them to be put to death. But Mordecai sees the bigger picture and tells Esther, you have to do. You have to take a stand. Can I request one of us to please take up chapter 4 verse 13 and 14. Chapter 4 was 13 and 14. And Mordecai told them to answer Esther, do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace anymore than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place. But you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai. Yeah, you can continue 16 notes.  My maids and I will fast likewise and so I will go to the king which is against the law and if I perish, I perish. Amen. Thank you so much. Mordecai is a man of faith if you see here. He was a man of faith. He clearly instructed Esther, see you're in power for such a time as this. If you do not do it, God will definitely raise somebody else because it is a matter of Jews. It is a matter of God's people. It's just not me, your uncle, but it is our whole community.  So if you don't respond, God will definitely raise somebody else because God is a promise keeper. Mordecai had faith on God and he honored him and he knew that God has an eternal covenant with Abraham and David towards his people. And so Esther been encouraged by her uncle. So with God's help, with God's help, she also steps out in faith to fight the fears. We see that, you know, the verse 16, where she says, where she is asking to fast for three days. She is instructing Mordecai to inform all the Jews to fast and pray for three days where she and her maid also will do it so that she can go and stand before King. And she will find favor, friend of King, that God will give her that favor in King's sight. She knew her God. She trusted that God will strengthen her though, you know, throughout the book, we do not see the name of God in it. But we see how God orchestrated things. We see that Esther, you know, fasted for three days and then she goes, she goes with great fear in chapter five. We see that with great fear, she dresses beautifully with all her strength. She dresses, she dresses and she wears one of the beautiful robe. She adorns herself and goes to meet the King. Esther approaches King Zasurus and here she walks towards the throne and she prays within God. Take into account for the three days of fasting, which is not recorded, but yes, the whole meaning of this three days fastest to seek God's favor. So as she goes and stands front of King, the King holds out the golden scepter as a sign that he is welcoming her into the court into his presence. She touches and goes and the King asks, what is your request? I may grant it. So Esther requests that King and his Prime Minister, Haman, joins her to a private feast and this pleased the King and he said, I will be there. So King agrees and he goes with Haman to Queen's Place to dine together. At the end of the feast, again the King asks Esther, ask whatever you wanted. I will give it to you, even half of the kingdom, but Queen Esther, a woman of wisdom, she was calm even during this time she was very calm. She just told King that please join me for the second feast with Haman again and again it was approved. So after the private feast of the day one, Haman sets out, you know, as he was passing his home, he sees Motika. When the other people bow down before, okay, there are some images I've got here. We see other people, you know, when they bow down before Haman, but Motika is not this against, stirred him up.  So what he does, he builds a huge gallon with the help of his 10 sons and he says, next day morning, even before I could go to the Queen's feast, I'll make sure that I will put Motika to death and then I will go. As this was there in Haman's mind, that night we see King lost his sleep. King is struggling to sleep and when he could not sleep, we are in chapter 6. When the King was unable to sleep, he was tossing and turning and he finally called his ministers to bring him the book of Chronicles and read it to him. And here we see that God's timing is so perfect, so perfect. One side Haman has decided to put Motika to death and one side God is orchestrating the King to reward Motika of the good deed that he has forgotten to reward. And as the ministers were reading and recalling the great service rendered, they also reminded that Motika who saved King's life and then he also realizes that he was never rewarded for this good deed. So King decided to call Haman in the next day morning and instruct Haman to reward a person who has done a good deed and to give him the best reward. So the King calls Haman and he discusses with Haman how the King can reward a man with the best honor and was most loyal to him. So Haman thinks that King is talking about him because most of the time he was so self-centered. So even this time that he thought maybe for the service that he is rendering to the King. So he thought King is talking about him to reward him. So he suggests that the King would rest the person in King's finest robe and have him led around the city, around the town in King's horse. And King was pleased with his suggestion. So he orders Haman to dress Motika in the finest royal robes and lead him around Shusan, the city. And Haman was regretting for this but then because it's the King's command he did it. King lost his sleep and he was reading and this is the gallon which was prepared for Motika. And here we see Motika being seated on the horse and Haman was taking him in the city of Suzer. And after that King summoned to call Haman. But before he could go, Zeris is wife. Zeris is wife who said to Haman saying that if, I am just reading the scripture one second please. I'll read it to you. So Zeris is telling Haman from chapter 6 verse 13. When Haman told his wife Zeris and all his friends everything that had happened to him is wise men and his wife Zeris said to him, If Motika before whom you have begun to fall is of Jewish descendant you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him. It is like his own wife prophesying against him saying that your fall has been started. Your fall is started exactly like how she said. Yes, God started changing, the tables were turned, started exalting Motika and Haman was humiliated. So after returning home, when the king sent the minister to call Haman for the queen's feast, Haman rushes to be with the king at the feast. Now as the banquet, they are part of the banquet and as this feast comes to a close, Esther tells the king that someone seeks her death and the death of a people. This was a shocking news to the king. In fact he was the one who actually gave his ring to sign but he was not aware and this news was shocking and king demanded to know who was this man. And Esther reveals her identity to the king that she is a Jew and identifies Haman as an opponent enemy who actually is trying to kill me and my people. And the king was angered with this very act and he steps out from the feast to the garden and when he came back he saw that Haman was on the couch with the queen pleading for his life. But the very sight that he was next to the queen made a king very upset. So we see that in chapter seven verse seven that the king rose in his wrath and the banquet and wine went into the place of garden. But Haman stood before queen Esther pleading for his life for he saw the evil was determined against him by the king. When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said will he also assault the queen while I am in the house and as the word left king's mouth they covered Haman's face. And in verse nine we see that a harbona one of the eunuchs said to the king look the gallows which is fifty cubits high which Haman made for Mordecai. So immediately to kill Mordecai this is what the eunuch told the king and they immediately king told him hang him on that hang him on it. And as per his command Haman was hanged on that gallows. And then again in verse eight we see how Esther and Mordecai tries to save the Jews and Mordecai has come to the power. King makes Mordecai. Esther reveals that Mordecai is an uncle and he found finds favor in king's side and he's been raised as the prime minister and then both Esther and her uncle sees to it how they can save the Jews from all the place and the king gives the control to them and gives the ring and he says y'all issue I cannot reverse the decree that has been sent. But then Mordecai and Esther finds a way so that the Jews can save them.   And in this way and also Esther and Mordecai said all the 10 sons who planned to kill Mordecai will hang on the same. They were killed and then they were hanged on the gallon itself and we see the hand of God here. We see the hand of God here. Mordecai a simple man, helpless man who only trusted on God. We see that in Zechariah. Can I request one of us to please turn to Zechariah chapter 2 verse 8 and 9. Can one of us read? Zechariah chapter 2 verse 8 and 9. For thus says the Lord of hosts, he sent me after glory to the nations which plunder you. For he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.  Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. Thank you. Thank you. You see God says you are the apple of my eye and whoever comes against me I will raise my hand against them. See Jews are always God's delight. Jews are always God's delight even though they did not obey them but there was a faithful man, one person Mordecai who prayed and asked God to help.  Especially the Haman and his two sons were hanged and others were killed and destroyed in that battle which they had fixed. So the one who plotted evil that evil came upon them itself because the very intention of them was not right. And they were not trying only to fight against the Jews but they were trying to fight against the God of Israel, the God whom who desires, who delights in Israel. So God will never forsake his people even though they would have forgotten.  He has many plans to restore Israel until he is in control and he is with them. He is fighting for them. So this is the place, these are the people, the Jews, the Israelites are the people who have God himself with them. So the same God is with us. We are never alone. We are never alone. And despite our situation, despite the battle or circumstances that we face in our life, God is with us. He fights our battle. Also be sure that we are the apple of his eye. If anyone plans anything against us, just like the word says, no weapon fashioned against us shall prosper. And also God himself will fight our battle when we trust on him. His hand will be against it, against the situation, against the evil, against the enemy that trying to destroy or trying to destroy his children. So we see that Mordecai also organizes a particular practice to commemorate this whole event. They called us holiday of Purim. What is Purim? Pur means lot where in the story when we read in detail, we get to see that Heyman had put lot to find out a day when he can completely destroy the Jews and Mordecai. So on the same day, so Mordecai names that day as Purim, a feast of lots which fell on good for them. So they celebrated this festival with great meals, gifts of food and they did lot of charity to the poor. One day before Purim, they fasted to commemorate Esther's 3 days of fasting. Through one brave act of Esther, we see that how she impacted the generation. So in the same way, even we can impact for generation when we step in with God. So here we see the shadow of Christ in this book just like how Esther, like Christ puts herself in the place of death for her people. As she said, if I perish, I perish, but receives the approval of the king. She also portrays Christ's work as an advocate on our behalf. This book reveals another satanic threat to destroy the Jewish people and thus the messianic line may be gone. But God continues to preserve his people in spite of the opposition and the danger what was ahead of them. And nothing can prevent the coming of Messiah. So in conclusion, the message was clear that God is sovereign even though his name was not mentioned in the whole book. But we see the sovereign power of God in the life of each one. We see the sovereignty and this faithfulness of God permeates throughout the book. So we covered most of these events and then the reflection. Do we trust in God even when God protects? Protective hand is not possible. Do we have the courage to speak up for what we believe and are we willing to suffer the consequence of doing so? More than anything, I would ask the question like do we trust God even when things are not very favorable to us? And can we trust on God's protective hand upon us? We may not see the supernatural things happening around us but then God's hand is always upon us. He orchestrates things. Nothing is out of control but God is in control and we have his favor and we need to trust that. This is one of my learning from this book. And if anyone would like to share your learning from this book, please feel free and go ahead. What was your learning from this book? Brother Isaac, Zellie? Yes brother. I learned out of the world that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. It is sacrificed for our people and she was elevated and active in the Lord. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you brother. Leah, Zellie. Okay, there's a very interesting question of Sid here. When King accepted Queen Esther's proposal, then why she skipped it second day? Why she didn't told King about the evil desire of Amen and she did not second day? King might have killed him and before. See, this is what we may think King might have killed him and before but there's always God's timing. There's always, you know, she prayed and she had this wisdom and always it creates a curiosity when you put things delay, when you delay things. You don't tell it what if I or you would have been first time itself. We would have said even before inviting King to a feast, we would have just said the minute she found favor in King's side and you know, he put down the golden scepter for her to enter in. She would have just told what is happening towards her and her people but she invited the King to the feast. She created a curiosity in the King so that her request will be fulfilled. Her request will not have any other counter effect against it and it worked out for her in the way she thought she planned. She decided how she'll put it across. She was a woman of wisdom and of patience at the same time. Yes, the Vya. The Vya says Esther's wisdom, humility and self-sacrifice stands out in the story. Yes. And Zellis is inspired by the Mordecai's faith. Very true. Very true. Yes, we need to have faith. A God kind of faith could bring in miracle into our life. It could move giants, which could move mountains and allow God to do work. So we need to have faith. We need to trust God only then God can work in and through us and intervene into the situation and change our situation in favor of us. So with this, can I request one of us to please lead us in prayer? Yes, Esther used a power position for the protection of God's people and plan. Yes, you're right. Thank you. Thank you. Can I request Zellis to lead us in prayer and dismiss us, please. Okay. Father God, we thank you so much for this session. Lord, we thank you for teaching us with the life story of Esther and with the faith of Mordecai, Lord. Help us to be faithful, Lord. No matter what, help us to trust in you, Lord, to depend on you, no matter the situation, no matter what situation goes in our life, Lord. And Lord, whatever we have learned, Holy Spirit, continue to teach us so that we can put that practically in our life, Lord. You bless our maim and all our plasmids, Lord, as we disperse from this place, Lord. In Jesus mighty name. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. God bless you. Thank you so much for joining in today's session. See you all tomorrow. God bless. God bless.


Here we go. What's going on everyone? Welcome to a brand new sweet film podcast. I'm one of your hosts, my name is Zach. And I'm your other host and my name is Cody. And we are the sweet film life of Zach and Cody. We are the sweet film podcast, the sweet podcast of Zach and Cody, whatever you want to call it. We are here talking about the Oscar nominations. And if you guys are new here, consider hitting that like and subscribe button and also checking down sandwich on films also down below where this podcast is presented by. Cody, where else they can find this? They can find us on iTunes and SoundCloud as well. Yeah. If you guys, if you guys want to check it out, it's pretty much everywhere podcasts are available. But right now, the main three that I know of is SoundCloud, iTunes and also a little app that you can get on Android and iOS called podcast or public. So, so guys, go check it out over there. If you don't have time to watch it on YouTube, that's totally fine with us. Throw us on the background while you're doing driving or something. I don't know. I mean, if they got a long, if they got an hour long drive, they can pop in one of the.  Today, we're going to be discussing the Oscar nominations. They are here. They're present. They are snubs. But how many are you going to go over this is that we are going to go through each category. We're not going to discuss every single one because some of these that we can't like best documentary short, we can't talk. Like I haven't watched any of them. So how we're going to do is we're going to discuss some of the films we're going to go through each category that we know. We're going to give you what got snubbed, what we think should win, what will probably win. And really just the front runner, the second runner, and then the dark horse to win. So we kind of have five things to go through each category. So it's going to be a long ride. Let's get straight to it, Cody. You ready? All right. Yeah, let's do it. All right, so we're starting with visual effects and the nominations for visual effects were Avengers Infinity War, Christopher Robin, First Man, Ready Player One, and Solo A Star Wars Story. Did you like all these nominations? Like, did you have any day you're like, wow, that got in. Yeah, well, actually, the one that I would say I was a little surprised by was Christopher Robin. Like, I thought the visual effects were amazing, but as far as that one was a surprise, like overall, out of everything else, yeah. It was nice to see it get in there. I mean, if I'm the pick one out of here, there's a clear snub out of here, two clear snubs for me personally, that wasn't even on the visual effects shortlist to get in. And that was Aquaman. Yeah. And I'm trying to think of the other one. I'm trying to, oh, Annihilation. I think those two hands down should have been in here. And I would have moved out First Man and Solo. Even though I think Solo, or not First Man and Solo, I'm sorry, Christopher Robin and Solo, I would have moved out. Yeah. Even though I think Solo was great, I think at least Aquaman deserved to get in here at least. I agree with that. And also, if it wasn't, I would have moved out Christopher Robin and Solo once again for Aquaman, but the other one would have been Bumblebee. Yeah, that's another good one, because that Bumblebee was really lifelike. And the Cybertron segment was excellent. It really is weird to see that some of these glaring film, at least at Aquaman, like what? But if we were to choose from these visual effects, I have to say, I think the clear, actual winner for this, I have to go with Ready Player One. I think Ready Player One's gonna win it. Yeah, okay, yes. Ready Player One, I think is... And that's personally what I would want to win too, even though I get Avengers made Thanos. Thanos looks real. Ready Player One though is a movie where almost every single part of that film is CGI. Even the characters. Yeah, very true. Visual effects are impressive. And I mean, if it's not Ready Player One, the only other one I would say that I would hope would win would be First Man, because Damien Chazelle successfully, and from a first person perspective, recreated the moon landing. Yeah, I'm with you on that. So if I were to put it, I would put Ready Player One number one. I think of Avengers number two, because that's kind of like, everyone's talking about Thanos' performance. And then the dark horse to win is First Man. Yeah, I'm with you there. Although I would probably put First Man at number two, and it's still having it be the dark horse to win. All right, so moving on to the next one is costume design. We have the Balladabuster Scruggs, Black Panther, the favorite, Mary Poppins Returns, and Mary Queen of Scots. My personal pick, the favorite, who I think will win, probably the favorite or Black Panther. Even actually, no, I'm tied. I would actually want the favorite or Black Panther to win. I think it would be awesome if either one of those won. I think it'll go down between one of those two with a dark horse going to Mary Queen of Scots. And what about you? Any misses for you? No, I can't really say I disagree with you, because you basically said my thoughts. I would say that I'd put Black Panther, the favorite, and Mary Queen of Scots on the same level, only because both Mary Queen of Scots and the favorite are both period pieces, and the Academy loves their period piece outfits. So I think for me, it's either going to be between those two, and then Black Panther is going to be the dark horse. Yeah, and I have something to say. I'm actually like, as much as I didn't love the Balladabuster Scruggs, I'm glad to see that it did get some love. Had you watched the film? I did. It's funny, because the Balladabuster Scruggs is the second film in the Oscar nominations that was released by Netflix. Yeah, I liked it. I didn't get the love for it. There were certain segments in there that I loved, and I do say I need to watch it again because I watched it in theaters, and it felt long. Absolutely, the Balladabuster Scruggs, look, do I think it was the greatest movie in the world? No, do I think it's an enjoyable movie? Yes, I absolutely do. I think it's very creative, but more or less, yeah, I'm just happy that the Academy is actually starting to look at stuff produced in other services, such as Netflix and giving them some attention because there's been some great things released. Yep, I'm with you. So next one, moving up to is Makeup and Hair. Oh, geez. The three nominations is Border, Mary, Queenie, Scots, and Vice. And I want to say this, I wish they did five for this nom. I don't know why they don't, because I think Suspiria is missing. Yep. Hands down, I think Suspiria still has the best makeup and hair effects of the year. I haven't seen Border, so I can't talk about Border. Mary, Queenie, Scots I saw, it's fine, like it's cool, I guess. And Vice, I understand more of Vice got in there.  Yeah, no, this is, I mean, this is one of those categories I generally don't really care about, but we all know who it's gonna be, it's gonna be between Mary, Queenie, Scots, and Vice, and I think that Vice is probably going to win. Yeah, I just kinda have the darkest, I think darkest hour won the same year, right? One Gary Oldman won, so I can kinda see that happen. Yeah, I'm kinda with you, like I'm glad that they got nominated, but I don't have much say in it, so. But now we're talking about Original Song. All the Stars from Black Panther, I agree. I'll fight from RBG, I heard it, it's fine. The place where the Lost Things go, I like. Shallow, A Star Is Born, and when a cowboy trades his spurs for wings. So can I say this, I'm surprised not more A Star Is Born actually got in here, and I'm actually surprised none of the Spider-Verse soundtrack got in here. Yeah, I agree with you there. The other one is Revelation from Boy Erased, I'm surprised it's not in here as well. Nice surprise to see when a cowboy trains his spurs for wings. I love that song, it's the best segment in the whole film. Yeah, I'm just a little disappointed. I know it's a film that literally nobody has seen because it was so limited, but I was a little disappointed that none of the songs from Anna and the Apocalypse got in to the nominations, because the soundtrack- Again, it's all market. I still haven't even seen the film. I know, I know. The marketing is it was so limited and nobody saw the film, except for a couple of people we know who live around the areas who got to see it, but the soundtrack for it is all marketing, but the soundtrack for Anna and the Apocalypse is one of the, it's up there with Shallow for me as far as the best soundtrack of the entire year. I mean, yeah, and for me, I don't have any Dark Horse or anything for that. I will make it, let's be honest. Let's say it on three, one, two, three. Shallow. Shallow's taking me home. That's the Dark Horse, that's what I wanna win. That's first, that's second.  All right. Just saying. Moving on to original score, and this is the one I'm actually pissed at some stuff in this category. Yeah. We'll get to it. Original score, Black Klansman, Black Panther, if Bill Street could talk, Isle of Dogs and Mary Poppins Returns. The biggest, what the fuck? Where the hell is first man? Where the hell is first man, Justin Hurwitz? Exactly. That is the best score of this year. And if I was gonna say that was the best, I'm glad Bill Street got in, and then I'm also glad Black Panther got in, but come on, that score was excellent. The only other score that I would have personally put in here is the Suspiria one. Yes, absolutely. It's disappointing. I mean, Justin Hurwitz, he worked so hard. I mean, all of these composers worked really hard, but the score and soundtrack to First Man is, it shook you as a viewer of First Man, watching that moon landing. Everything came together perfectly. I'm not saying I'm disappointed. I think that I would honestly, I would call the Mary Poppins Returns. I would call that a soundtrack. I wouldn't necessarily call it a score because if Mary Poppins Returns gotten here, then my biggest, what the heck is, where is the score for A Star is Born? Yeah, no, I'm with you. A Star is Born as well, what it should have been in here. Like I said, it is missing. Isle of Dogs was a nice surprise. If I don't know what would be the clear front runner for this one, because necessarily First Man was the front runner all season, but looking at these nominations, I think the front runner for me would be if Bill Street could talk with a second place being Isle of Dogs and a dark horse being Black Panther. What do you think? For me, kind of similar, except I think that Black Panther might be at the very top of this, followed by if Bill Street could talk, followed by Isle of Dogs, but- I was also glad I had a really good score. I was actually, I'm glad you got in. I think the dark horse for me on this is going to be if Bill Street could talk, because- Do you know what I wish would have gotten in though? Incredibles 2. Oh, yeah. Michael G Aquino's score is great. It's great. Yeah, it absolutely was. Let's move on to production design. Do you want to read it? Do you have them up in front of you? Yeah, I certainly do. The nominations for production design are Black Panther, First Man, The Favorite, Mary Poppins Returns, and Roma. Honestly, for me, this is what I wanted to get in. This is what I wanted to get nominated, but my personal, what I think is going to win, what my personal choice would be is the favorite. I think that everything around that film was brilliant, but if I had a place for this, it would be Favorite First, Roma Second, and then a dark horse for First Man. Because First Man not only looked great as a film, the production design was not only great, the film overall made you feel like you were back during the time period when they were trying to get the First Man into space. Yeah, so I'm with you on that. My number one is actually First Man. I think First Man is going to win it. Okay. And then Second Being Roma and the dark horse being the favorite. I think the favorite will not win that many awards this year for how it has 10 nominations, and I don't think it'll win that many. You think we're going to be looking at a La La Land situation again? Yeah, in a sense. I think Roma is pretty much going to take a lot of these. Yeah, so we'll leave it there. But yeah, those are kind of my thoughts on it. Sound mixing. Okay, here we go. You want to read this one? Yeah. All right, sound mixing. We have Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, First Man, Roma, and a Star is Born. Now, we're going to talk about our disappointments when it comes to a certain film on this particular category later on. But I will say if there is something, well I guess I'm revealing it here now, if there is one or at least a couple of categories, I think Bohemian Rhapsody should have been nominated for. Sound mixing is definitely one of them, because the sound in Bohemian Rhapsody was phenomenal. But I don't necessarily think it's going to win this one. For me, I think that First Man is going to take this. Can I be honest? This category, what? I love you, but you're completely wrong. I think Roma has it. Do you think Roma's got it? Roma has some of the best sound I've ever heard in my whole life. I think Roma has it. But I think the Dark Horse is First Man and second place being a Star is Born. Gotcha. And if we're going up to sound editing, which is next, it's Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, First Man, a quiet place in Roma. I think that one's Roma's one to win again with the Dark Horse being a quiet place though. Yeah, okay. Same thing or? Yeah, same exact thing. I will say, although I think this is really the only award that it was mentioned for, but a quiet place, I'm at least happy that it was nominated for something. Yeah, I mean, sound is probably the best one that it deserved, but I think it's script, but we'll get to that in a second. Yeah. I have a bone to pick with this next one. That's for film editing. So when people look at statistics, whatever gets nominated for film editing has probably the best chance of winning. I apparently, maybe I'm wrong, but I saw someone post that on Twitter, but Twitter isn't the factual thing. Yeah. The film editing is Black Clansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Book, The Favorite and Vice. I'm gonna tell you right now, three of these films should not be in here. Yeah, which ones? Bohemian. Yep. Green Book. Definitely. And no, just those two. I would have moved First Man and Roma in. Okay, completely agree. Completely agree. I think I had a blast with Bohemian Rhapsody. It is not the best editing. Not the best editing. Okay, I would also dark horse in here. I would have also made an argument for a quiet place should have gotten in here. That's another good one. And again, like Green Book. I loved Green Book. I get the hate. I'm not arguing about it within the comments. I get the hate for Green Book. I apparently, whatever. I liked it a lot. And I don't think it deserves a film editing nominee. No, definitely not. That like, it's not anything special when it comes to film editing. Vice, great film editing. The favorite, excellent film editing. Black Clansman, great film editing. Exactly. So personally, my pick for winning this is probably gonna be the favorites with an odd shot out for the dark horse. I don't wanna say it, but I think is Green Book. And my second runner is Vice, but my personal pick would probably be the favorite for this one. Yeah. I'm with you almost all the way, except for second underneath the favorite, I would actually put Black Clansman. Okay. That's kind of like one of those two. I think really any of these films could win. And Bohemian Rhapsody wins though, whatever. You know, whatever. Yeah. All right, next. Best foreign film? Well, I would, except the only thing is, I've only seen one of the films that is on this list. Okay. So I've seen three of them. So I'll let you do this. Best foreign language film. I've seen Roma Cold War and shoplifters. Very disappointed to see Burning was not in there. Burning is excellent. I never look away. You can't watch yet. Unless you've got a screener for it. I didn't. In Cap or NOM, I've never even heard of. So here's my thing. I loved Cold War. I'm so happy I got a lot of nominations through this award. And we'll talk more about Cold War coming up. Shoplifters is very good. And Roma is, I mean, what other praise can we say about it? I'm going to say this though. If Roma wins best picture, I would actually like to see Cold War shoplifters take the best foreign language film. I know everyone's saying, oh, well, Roma has it. Roma has it. But here's the thing. Cold War actually got in for a lot more nominations than I think a lot of other people thought it would. Again, we'll talk about that later. But I have a feeling Cold War actually might win best foreign language film. Yeah. With Roma coming in second. No worries what I'm saying this is because I think Roma is one of the front runners for best picture. Yeah. And the other, and the dark course for this race is either shoplifters or never look away. From the buzz that you've heard, what do you agree or do you think Roma has in the bag? I mean, I've been, the one film on this list that I've been waiting to see is Cold War, but I mean, I'm in Maine. It came in the one theater out in Arizona, and then it'll go on Amazon soon. But so, but here's. Out of all of these, from what I've heard about Cold War, I completely agree with you. I think Cold War will probably win best foreign language film. And that's what I'm going to say this. If Roma wins best foreign language film, it will not win best picture. Maybe I'm wrong by that, but I'm willing to, it's like a 98% chance that if that happens, Roma will not win best picture. I think if it doesn't win best foreign language film, it wins best picture, hands down. Okay, sounds great. Best live action short film we can't talk about. I haven't seen any of these. Best documentary short subject haven't seen the best documentary feature. Okay, we need to talk about this. What do you can talk, because I know this is probably the one that you're more mad about. This is the one I am mad about. One thing is I did see Free Solo. It's- I did too. Okay, that I am happy that Free Solo got in here. That's what I can say, because Free Solo absolutely is a phenomenal documentary about somebody, an incredible individual who's doing something that, or did something that really no one has ever done before. So that should be in there. The one bone I think you and I both have to pick with this is that, I think we can both agree that won't you be my neighbor was the best documentary to come out this year. Or at least should be nominated. It's one of them. It should have been nominated. I have no idea why it was not. I was watching an interview with someone who said he knows Academy members and he said they go down by a list and won't you be my neighbor was the last one on that list because it's alphabetical. So they probably just forgot. They straight up just forgot. Of course they did. But yeah, I'm just, that's all I'm gonna say about it. Out of all of these, I can't speak about any of these because I haven't seen them. I'm guessing that RBG will probably have a good chance to win. But for me, since won't you be my neighbor's not on here, I just hope Free Solo gets a good chance of winning. That's what I'm gonna say. I tell everyone, I've seen three films on here. Watch mine in the gap. It's on Hulu. It's great. It's Hulu's first Oscar nomination. It is excellent. That movie is. Watch it. It's on Hulu. It's really good. Now we're going into cinematography. Cold War, the favorite, never look away. Roma and a star is born. We're the fuck's first man. Good point. Where's first man? Where's Bilstreet? Where's Bilstreet? Okay, so here's the thing. The only one I can't talk about never look away but I know people who have seen it and they were even surprised to see that it got nominated too. Yeah, I wouldn't. I'd move out. We've talked in first man. Yeah, geez. I'd move out and never look away because I've heard the exact same thing as you that they thought the movie was good. They don't think the cinematography is all that special. So I would move out and never look away and a star is born. Because I've heard the cinematography in a Cold War is just kind of like Roma to where it's really phenomenal. And I would put in Bilstreet and there was first man. Bilstreet and first man should absolutely be in there but they're not. So if we're gonna talk about what's in here, I absolutely, this is my pick and I absolutely think Roma is going to be the one to sweep this award away with Roma in first and then I would have the favorite in second and then Dark Horse would be Cold War. Okay, so Roma is number one. Second is Cold War, the Dark Horse, the favorite. Cold War in my opinion has the second best cinematography of the year. Okay. There is one scene that is so smart in this movie that before the lovers are even interacting, you can, there's a part where the guy is leaning against a mirror and he's just talking to someone right next to him. And if you look in the mirror, you can actually see the main lead actress staring at him. It's so subtle but you can tell that they're staring at each other and it's the best shot. That is the shot that probably got them the nomination. It is a excellent shot. I'm not even joking when I said it, it is one of the best shots I've ever seen. Okay. So smart. And they do multiple things throughout the whole movie like that and to be honest, I'm surprised that lead actress from that movie or didn't get best supporting actress. She was really good. She was really good in it. But now we're moving on the best original screenplay. Do you wanna read these ones? Sure. So the nominations for best original screenplay are the favorite, first reformed, Green Book, Roma and Vice. Now I can't speak about first reform cause I haven't seen it. Zack has, but it didn't come out to my area. But my choice for winning this, this is a really hard one. But for me, I think the favorite is my personal choice for winning this. What I think is going to win though is Roma. Either Roma or Vice is in my first spot for what I think the Academy will pick. My personal choice though, would be the favorite to win if I was running the Oscars. But if I'm gonna have an order, I would go Roma, Vice, and then the favorite is my Dark Horse. My Dark Horse is Green Book. I think, dude, Green Book will get to our front runners, but I think that's a front runner for to win best picture. Even if people don't want it to, I still think it will. So I think Green Book is a Dark Horse. I think Roma or Vice are the front runners right now. Yeah. And I'll put it there. And I think even first reformed is a very Dark Horse. That could easily come and win. Films that are missing from best original screenplay. Leave no trace. Eighth grade. Nothing else there. A quiet place. Yes. I would have moved out. Personally, I would have moved out Green Book. I would have moved out first reformed to get at least eighth grade or a quiet place in there. Yeah. Adapted screenplay. The ballot of us describes Joel Kohn and Ethan Kohn. That's actually a big surprise and not think they were gonna get into that. Black Clansman, can you ever forgive me if Bill Street could talk and a star is born? I think the winner here is Black Clansman or Bill Street could talk. What about you? Yeah, I agree with you. With a Dark Horse going to can you ever forgive me? That is seriously one of the best films. It's on digital now, so go check it out. It's excellent. It is amazing. That film should have so many more awards. I mean, the ballot of Buster Scruggs, I'm still not 100% sure about whether it should have been nominated or not. Would you do something else in there? Ah, I guess for the sake of argument, no, I guess I couldn't. But I mean, I just thought that the, let's face it, up until fall this year when it came to movies was just fine. Besides the Hindi films, take out all the Hindi films that we had in the summer. Yeah, that's true. Going back to original screenplay, a film that is not in there real fast is American Animals. I don't think you've seen it yet, have you? No. You need to watch it. Cody, you would love that movie. Love that movie. Okay. Animated short, can't talk about it. I've only seen Bao.  That woman here deserves it. There's no boss baby this year.  The nominees are The Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Mira, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and Spider-Man to the Spider-Verse. So I'm gonna say this, the clear one I want to win is Spider-Man. Boy, I think you're the same way, right? Yeah. But I think Spider-Man, as much as I wanted to win, and I still think as a front runner, the dark horse for this race is Isle of Dogs. Yeah. Isle of Dogs do not count that film out of winning. With Incredibles 2, I think both those are dark horses. Everyone's thinking Spider-Man's gonna win. Yeah. I like Hydra. I mean the year that Brave won, or I think Ralph should have won. Come on. Yeah, exactly. So I think we're in the exact same boat when it comes to this. All right, let's move on to it. You wanna talk about director now? Director, oh gosh, dang it. The director nominations are Spike Lee for Black Clansmen, Powell, Powell. Powell, Powellowski. Palakowski for Cold War, Yargos Lanthimos for the favorite, Alfonso Coran for Roma, and Adam McKay for Vice. Okay, now, there are two, there is one person that we both agree is probably the biggest snub of this entire awards season, and that is Bradley Cooper. I would have completely removed Vice and put Bradley Cooper in for a star. I forgot, did you like Vice? I thought it was a good movie. The direction I thought was fine though. I didn't think the direction was the best part of it. Bradley Cooper, I would get rid of Vice and put Bradley Cooper in for a star as born. Another person that I'm disappointed didn't get in though. I mean, if Bradley Cooper was in there, I would understand why Bo Burnham isn't in there for eighth grade, but Bradley Cooper, man. So Spike Lee, I'm really happy got him. First director nomination ever. Awesome, awesome job. Powell, Powell, Skalowsky again. Again, Cold War has some love for there. I didn't expect him to get in there. That was a nice surprise and he did a really good job. Yorgos Lanthimos, finally. I think he deserved it. Alfonso Caron Roma, and Adam McKay, Vice. Again, I liked Vice, but I didn't think it deserved nomination. I am with Bradley Cooper was the big snub. Another snub though, is the director of Can You Ever Forgive Me? She's a, it's a female. There's no female directors in here. And unlike, that's an issue. The director, Mariah Heller, deserved to be nominated. I'm sorry, but she really did. I would have even taken out Powell for that. I think there's people missing, Barry Jenkins. For Beale Street. Yeah, Deborah Brannick for Leave No Trace. I mean, I get some of these films were smaller, but. I, once again, can I argue something? I don't think. Like I would argue that those films, if they had better marketing, because Cold War had a lot of good for your consideration marketing, but still it's just, come on now, really. I'm mostly shocked that Bradley Cooper did not get in. Yeah, I mean, you look at all of the marketing and pushing that they were doing for a Star is Born for the Academy. It's kind of a shock that he didn't get in. With how much they were pushing for it. I, it's kind of like the Ben Affleck thing with Argo. I mean, once again, I'm just, I'm also, I know that they did, they barely did any kind of marketing for, for eighth grade, but.  For like. Yeah, it does. I, because they're, I mean, there are two, there are two directors that I also would have loved to have good enough marketing to get in here. And that's Ari Aster for Hereditary and Bo Burnham for eighth grade, but you're right. 8.24 when it comes to their marketing, it's not good. Yeah. It's just not. Well, let's now talk about supporting actress. Nominees are Amy Adams, Vice Marina, D2, Tavira, Roma, Regina King, Emma Stone, Rachel Weiss. I have no complaints in this category. I'm actually really on Marina D. Tavira got it. That was a very big surprise. The clear winner of this will be Regina King. She's won every other award. But. I think Marina has a chance of winning in the dark horse being Rachel Weiss. Okay. I'm, I'm with you there. I would say the dark horse for me would be Emma Stone. Really? You see, I'm, I see. I actually would clearly actually would rather have Emma Stone win, but I don't think she will. But maybe I'm wrong. Who knows? Supporting actor. You want to talk about them? Yeah. Our supporting actors are Mahershala Ali for Green Book, Adam Driver for Black Clansmen, Sam Elliott for A Star Is Born, Richard E. Grant for Can You Ever Forgive Me and then Sam Rockwell for Vice. Hey, Oscars.  Just saying. Just saying. That's a good point. That's a really good point. And if you ask me, honestly, you take Sam Rockwell, if we were going to nominate people that were in Vice for Best Supporting Actor, I would have preferred Steve. Yeah, exactly. Absolutely. I would have preferred Steve. Ten times better. Ten times better. Yeah, no, I, that's really the only complaint I have with this. Everyone else was great. Adam Driver, really happy to see you finally get some love from the Academy. I mean, Sam Elliott. Yeah, it's Oscar nomination ever. Did you see what he said in his interview? What did he say?  Personally, the winner will be Ali. Yeah, absolutely. Maybe Dark Horse will be Sam Elliott. Actually, you know, the Dark Horse, I think, is Richard E. Grant and the second place is Sam Elliott. But I don't think Ali should win. I think he's good. But I personally would give it to Sam Elliott or Richard E. Grant. I can't say anything about Richard E. Grant because I haven't seen Can You Ever Forgive Me because it didn't, it wasn't released on like any kind of service around me and it just never came out. But I would prefer to have Sam Elliott win over Mahershala Ali. Yeah. Like again, Ali was good in Green Book but I thought he was better in Moon. Like he got more material in Green Book, but yeah, lead actress. Lead it off, Cody. Oh, wait a second. Did we discuss who we think is gonna win for Best Director? I think it's gonna be like it. Yeah, go back, Karan. Yeah, Alphonse, it's gonna be like the Golden Globes. He's gonna win Best Director.  Lead actress, Cody. All right, lead actress. We have, our nominations are Yelitz, Apparicio for Roma, Glenn Close for the wife, and for anybody who's going to complain about that, you didn't see the movie. Yeah, and then here's my thing.  I'll get it.  Yeah. Olivia Coleman for the favorite, Lady Gaga for A Star is Born in Melissa McCarthy for Can You Ever Forgive Me. Now, when it comes to this category, I think when it comes to the Academy, I think that it's going to be Glenn Close. And when it comes to my personal choice, it's torn up between two because do I want Lady Gaga to win? Yes, but do I also want Glenn Close to win? Absolutely. If either one of those actresses win, I'm perfectly happy with it. But if we're gonna have a list, for me it goes Glenn Close, Lady Gaga, and then from everything that I've heard, Melissa McCarthy would be the dark horse for that. So Glenn Close wins it, hands down, with Lady Gaga being second and the dark horse being Olivia Coleman. She's won every other award. But if I were to personally pick this award, I would give it to Melissa McCarthy. Okay. Or Lady Gaga. I love Glenn Close's performance in The Wife. The reason I don't think Lady Gaga will win this is because she's gonna get the nominee, she's gonna get the one for Shallows. She'll have an Oscar. Yeleets, I think, honestly, here's the thing, I'd be happy with any of these lead actresses winning. I really would. I would not complain at all. Maybe I would have a little temp. I think Olivia Coleman's good in the favor. I do not think she's great. I think Emma Stone and Rachel Weiss are the big standouts of the favorite personally. But again, she's really good in it. I would not complain if any of these actresses won. I think they're all worthy of the nomination and this is the one where I'm curious to see what wins, but I think Glenn Close has it.  Yes! Here's the thing, I know- Where is Toni Collette? We all knew she wasn't gonna get a nominee, but tell me, when they were listing off the gnomes, we were all sitting there being, come on, surprised-less, surprised-less Toni Collette. It's kind of like supporting actress, no Claire Ford either. So I would've moved Amy Adams out and put Claire Ford in, but seriously- Hey, when it comes to all these actresses- And do you know what, though? There was news saying that a lot of the Academy members did not watch Rarity Terry because of how scary it was. Oh, it's- I'm sorry, but like, you're in the industry.  You know what? And out of all of these, if I was gonna remove anybody from this list, as much as I love the movie, I would probably remove Yeliz Apparicio.  Really? Just because the elites, I loved what Roma represented, and I think she played it in a very subtle way, and never being an actress. Here's the thing though, I see all four of these ladies, I don't ever see Yeliz ever getting a nomination again. That's just me being personally honest. It's like, it kind of reminds me when Captain Phillips, I don't remember his name, but the supporting actor got nominated for that. And he never got nominated again? Yeah, what's he in now? I think he's been in a Blade Runner short film. He was in Blade Runner 2049. Oh yeah, yeah, so that's it. Like, he hasn't been in much, and I wish he was. He was really good in Captain Phillips, but that's kind of where I get nervous saying these, and I'm glad Yeliz got the one nomination. But let's move on to lead actor, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Womb the Foe, Remy Malick, Vigo Mortensen, no complaints. None, except I did, at Eternity's Gate, who has actually seen the movie? I have. You have? I have the scanner. You're lucky, okay? It's really good, it's really good. One thing I will say though, I would rather had John David Washington in here. I would have taken Will and the Foe or Vigo out for him. Yep, and you know what? This is such a darn shame because he wasn't nominated for Best Director, but hands down for me, I still don't think that Bradley Cooper is going to win this. I did, I think he's the Dark Horse to win. I really think he's the Dark Horse to win. I think Christian Bale's the front runner with Remy Malick coming in second, but I think Bradley Cooper's the Dark Horse.  He has to. I would be utterly shocked if he didn't. Another one, do not, honestly, don't count on anyone in any of these categories can win. And I think lead actor is one of those that any of those actors can win. Even Will and the Foe, even Vigo Mortensen. Don't count it out, do not count it out. Really, is there anyone else missing though that you would have put in? I can't really think of anybody. But yeah, John David Washington is one I certainly would have put in. But other than that, no, for me though, I still have Remy Malick on being on top. It's between him and Christian Bale. I mean, I'm pretty sure that when it comes to them, they're both kind of tied at this point. And now let's get into the category that I think we are the most going to be controversial. Yeah, you can name the first four. I'll talk about the next four. Or name the first four, I'll name the next four. Black Panther, Black Klansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, and the favorite. And from me, it is Green Book, Roma, A Star is Born in Vice. Yeah, Bohemian Rhapsody should not be in this list. It just shouldn't. I posted this on Twitter a couple of days ago. I loved Bohemian Rhapsody for the energy and the celebration of Queen. As a film, it is not a very well-made film. It's very, like cast and crew, production, technical stuff, awesome. Performance is great. The directing, and I'm not just saying this because of the allegations again, Brian Singer. It's pretty lacking. Like it's very much lacking. This film was led by Remy Malick. And if it wasn't for Remy Malick, this film would be getting elderly no nominations. I would, that he's the only reason this film has any nominations. I'm being 100% honest. I completely agree, because you know what? It feels like the people who created this movie, it feels like they walked into the studio and they're like, hey, I got a movie idea for you guys.  My movie idea is literally every other musical biopic out there, except about Queen. What would you have switched in? What best pictures? Like actual, not hereditary, but I mean like actual things. No, actual things, if I would have switched out Bohemian Rhapsody, I would have easily taking out the fact that A24's marketing sucks. I would have put eighth grade in. So I'm gonna, so I get it. Here's my thing, my best picture. I think this is an issue with the nominations in general. When you have a chance of getting 10 gnomes, why not just do the 10 gnomes? It makes no sense to not do the 10. You know what I mean? Like if you can do 10, just do the 10.  It's not hard. You know what I mean? Like, cause I think, what else? First man, I think first man deserved a nomination.  Hands down deserved a nomination. You could have taken Bohemian Rhapsody out and put first man or Bill Street and I would have been happy. Here's the thing. And this is also, I think we've all talked about this. The fact that Mad Max Shafiri Road got nominated a few years ago. Mission Impossible Fallout could have easily been nominated this year. I'm with you. Here's the thing, Vice, I don't really have an issue with it being nominated. Do I think it deserves one? Yeah, I loved it, but I don't know if I would have put it in here. Star's Born, yeah. Roma, yeah. Absolutely. Green Book, I want it in there.  And I think that's what academy members are going off of. I mean, even if you look at Bohemian Rhapsody, that is kind of the reasons why that film got nominated is because of the energy that it carried. And again, I get it, I get it, I get it, I get the controversies of Green Book, but it just worked for me. And I'm glad to see it in there. The favorite, really happy I got in there. Black Clansman, absolutely happy I got in there. Very happy for Spike Lee. And Black Panther, whatever people will say about the social justice warriors and that it only got in for that and that's why the Oscars nominated it. Here's the thing. I get it. I don't think it's the best Marvel film, but as a cultural, significant superhero film and what it's done for the genre, it deserved the nomination for that. I mean, it's the, what? And honestly, here's the thing. I think Black Panther's, people talk about it being overrated, it's underrated, people crap on that film and watch the film again because I think people watched it after all the hype or once all the hype, because they built that film, I saw like three weeks early. The hype was building up for it. It is, I get it, the CGI is not the best, but the culture, the story, it is beautiful in there. It is, and here's the thing. You're right, there's significance of it. When's the last time that we've actually heard of a comic book movie, a comic book superhero movie being nominated for best picture? We all agree, never. Here's the, we all agreed in the Oscars last year, Logan should have been nominated for best picture. Hands down. Yep, and I agree. And that's my thing. I'm glad Logan got the adaptive screenplay nomination.  And I get it, people will always go about, well, the Dark Knight should have been the first one to win and they got nominated.  I'm gonna tell you something right now. The year the Dark Knight came out, I'm gonna read you guys the best picture nominations. We're gonna decide what should have been taken out. I should have been. Yeah, we're gonna talk about it. A little bit here. So 2008, right? 2009 best Oscar picture.  Okay. Okay, actually you never went, nevermind. It was Slumdog Millionaire, I wouldn't have taken that out. The reader, Frost Nixon, Milk in the Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons. But remember, that's only when I had five nominations. What would have you put in?  Okay, maybe I'm wrong. But again, this year wasn't the best for film either. No, it wasn't. I keep Black Panther in there. I like Avengers more, but I think Black Panther significantly did something more for the genre. Absolutely. And you might disagree. That's fine. You might think it's for the social justice warriors. That's fine. I don't care. I'm glad it got in. I'm glad comic book films are represented. Let's just be proud. Cause maybe the next time, say Avengers Endgame could get nominated. And here's another thing everyone needs to remember. It's called marketing.  They didn't push Avengers. I guarantee if Disney wanted Avengers to be nominated for best picture, it probably could have been. Okay, and here's a little lesson for everybody who's listening to this podcast. The fact of the matter is, look, you're gonna have all the movies that you love in the world. And yes, eighth grade should have probably been in there. A quiet place should have probably been in there. Paddington too should have probably been in there. Paddington too was snubbed. Paddington keep hosting the Oscars. But what you guys need to realize is that when it comes to these award seasons, particularly the Oscars, they run them like political campaigns. That's how these are put together. The people with the best marketing, the people who are the best speakers, the people with the best campaign runners are the people who have their films nominated at these award shows, particularly the Oscars. And these films are the ones that had the best marketing. Look, we can say, yes, films are snubbed. We're unhappy about it, but that's not really on us. That's on the marketing team. They just didn't do enough. Except for Bradley Cooper when it comes to his directing in a Star is Born because that's ridiculous. Now, as far as what we think is going to win for me personally, I think the run for who is going to win Best Picture is between a Star is Born and Roma. And I think the Dark Horse, as much as much as- I don't think a Star is Born. I don't think a Star is Born. As much as I hate to say it, I think the Dark Horse of this whole award, this season, is going to be Bohemian Rhapsody. I don't disagree with you, but I have to say this. I don't think a Star is Born wins Best Picture, man. I think Green Book is the front runner right now. I think Green Book has found the front runner. Even if people don't want to hear that, it's won a ton of awards for Best Picture. It's won the PGA. That's a big one. I can understand that. But I think Roma has the big chances too. With the Dark Horse being Bohemian Rhapsody or the favorite. So if we're going to say- And don't count out Black Panther, Jesse. No, absolutely not. I mean, if we were to say what three films are tied, it's Green Book, Roma, and a Star is Born. I think it's Green Book, Roma, and either the favorite Black Panther. It really comes down to Green Book or Roma. If one of those two don't win, I'll probably boot my pants from sitting there watching, but one of them too, it's going to be interesting. This is one of the first years that there isn't a front runner, but just like last year when Shape of Water won, I swear to God, three billboards was going to win. I never thought in a million years Shape of Water. Personally, that was my personal pick. I'm glad Shape of Water won. Didn't think it would have won though. Did Shape of Water win? Cause I had to. No, it won. It was big. It was big. It won. Cause it's the third year in a row that a Mexican director has won Best Picture and Best Director or something like that. Give me one second. What are you going to look at? It is Shape of Water. You want to bet money? I'll bet you $10 that it is Shape of Water. Look, I've got the Oscar and all that. Okay, never mind. You're right. Yeah. So, but overall Best Picture, it is missing quite a lot of films. Can you forgive me if I didn't know that would have gone in there? And again, it just comes down to marketing. This is going to be interesting. Again, there's only a couple of locks. A cinematography, I think is a lock. Director is a lock. Best Supporting Actress is a lock. Supporting Actress is a lock. I think Cinematography. Wait, did you say Cinematography? Yeah, I said so. Okay, yeah. It's all phones all around. I think, yeah. And pretty much that's where it comes down to. Those are really the only locks. I don't love the Oscars. I love seeing what gets nominated and I love seeing what's winning. I don't actually watch the awards, though, to be honest. I never do. I don't care to. I just play Kingdom Hearts and then I'll be in a couple of minutes. Hey! Guess what? You know what?  You're right. No, here's the thing. Is the fact is the Oscars, they make a lot of mistakes, but there is something coming out in about a month that we might be putting together right now. Yes. So if you guys do not know, we have our own award show that is better than the Oscars and Golden Globes. And until the 31st, you can actually vote on it, right, Cody? Yeah, you can vote on it up until the 31st at 6 a.m. in the morning. Yeah, that's Eastern Standard Time. Cody's taking it down and we're starting everything else. Yeah, we are. But guys, if you don't know what this is, this is the second annual Sweet Film Awards. Yes, and we're really excited to be doing this again last year was a great success. So we want you guys to go vote. Go vote. If you're watching this, if you're new, hit that subscribe button and hit that like button so you guys are stay tuned on this channel. And if you're listening to us, then yeah, come to the YouTube channel. Come vote when you get time. We'd love to have you be a participant. I think we've had, what, 95 people vote so far and we want more. Yeah. We want more and we'd love to have it. But guys, that's really where the end of this podcast goes. This is gonna be an interesting season. Again, me and Cody will do another one last segment of the Oscars talking about what the winners are after that date. And yeah, and then we'll kind of just get back to our normal sweet podcast, discussing different things, going back to a different show and probably finally introducing the sweet film trivia. Absolutely. So probably look out for that in March, I would say. Probably want to get back from South by Southwest. Yeah. Sounds great. So look out for that guys. We're gonna end this podcast here though guys. Thank you guys again so much for watching this. We really do appreciate any, all of you have viewers and I saw the last one we just did actually got 600 views. So thank you guys again for tuning into this show. It means a ton. You guys are the best. I love you all. And Cody, where can they find you at? All right guys, if you want to find me, other than doing all the stuff here with Zach and as a reminder, if you don't have time to listen to this podcast, head over to Podcast Republic SoundCloud and iTunes to find some free time and listen to it over there. But go to YouTube, search Cody Curtis.  My icon should be, I'm holding a lightsaber. It's really, yeah. Okay. And then if you want to find me on social media, just search underscore Cody underscore Curtis. I'm pretty much any social media you can imagine and you should be able to find me. Absolutely. You guys hit that like to subscribe and that's where you'll find me over here. You can also find me over at sandwich on films. Thank you guys again so much for watching this. You guys are seriously all the best. Can't wait to talk to you guys after I'm done with you and Mark too. Thanks again. Have a great day.


I mentioned earlier about the tiredness, exceeding tiredness. Well, there's something else that's going on.  Do you guys feel it? I don't remember feeling this intense love energy maybe ever. I wonder if it has anything to do with the solar eclipse. It's just you want to hug everyone. You feel that connection to earth and everything that's associated with it. Many of us have felt that for years, but like the tiredness being exceedingly tired, tons and tons of love energies being sent. Maybe we're picking up on some major event. Maybe we're picking up on the collective consciousness. I feel it and I hope you guys are too.


Yeah, that was nice It was wonderful Hey, welcome back to our studio, we're actually Subscorbin' I'm Gwen Stefani You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter for more juicy content Thanks for Patreon, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe if you haven't done it, like, button It's Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S It's Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S I bet I'm the only one who's watching right now Who's ever been called a motto choke by Noa's a denseriki That, that's not true Who?  You think- Did he ever say it to, to our Dost? Which Dost, we have a lot- Pankaj The Dost, the one who originated- No The first one to ever call us his Dost They just had intercourse They did That was lovely, I watch it every night Today we got a Top 15 Fielding Efforts in Cricut So we got a Cricut video We'll position where you're in baseball, by the way The- I played every position in baseball, but the positions that I played the most were second base, shortstop, and left field My favorite position to play was either short or second I played short the most in softball I was a better second baseman in baseball because of the depth of field I heard you were a good power bottom A better shortstop is taller than me Like Derek Jeter Fuck Derek Jeter He has- Why, you have a problem with Derek Jeter?  That was good That was great And if you're running and not paying attention, you're probably out Good pitch and catch Yep, exactly what happened Oh, nice throw on the hop Nice throw on the hop We're going to a rave Need some glow sticks Nice Oh, is that a- Is that a double play? Does that work like in baseball? If he catches it on the fly and the runner left the box, he's out Yep That is, isn't it?  What was that? Yeah, does the ref have a hat cam on? That's what that looked like High fly ball Nice job Nice job Oh, nice job Wow Way to keep after it Wow Nice Did that not hit the fence? That's not what that's called, I know, but the boundary How did that not hit the boundary?  Oh, you should just posterize that moment right there That was amazing Yeah, that could go in a poster Stay in bounds That was amazing Stayed in bounds too, that's crazy If he would do our rave If he would have touched the sideline, would he have been out? I think it would have been a four if he touched the sideline Oh, geez, didn't even see it Oh, wow He did play well That's crazy That's amazing Like a cat Oh, and then they got it out there Dang Oh, he just stopped it and then they got the out, but still That was like a cat What a great throw Oh, wow Not even on the ground He had no part of his body on the ground Incredible Just ridiculous These are some of the most incredible plays I've ever seen Did he get it to his teammate? Dang Wow That's a heads-up play right there Dang Whoa, what happened? Wow, behind the back With the left hand too, I don't know if he's a left-hander Dang, almost on the ground Incredible Careful, your sweater is going to get dirty Is White really a good choice to play on grass? No, it's probably not Yeah Oh India fielding here Show it to me again Nice Ouch, his tailbone is going to hurt No kidding He might have pulled a hamstring too That was incredible, but the one where he caught it and threw it to his buddy I think would have been number one Posterized that moment though Those were some good plays, man That was a great compilation right there I've never actually played baseball outside I'm with like a team Obviously I've played pickup baseball, obviously But like, I've never actually played But I had mentioned outfielding would be a fun position It is For It's It's just, you realize in baseball When you walk out into the outfield You realize how much ground you have to cover There's a lot of ground to cover To be a speedy guy Yeah, and you have to have an incredibly powerful arm I had a really good arm, which is why I was good at second and I was fast So that's why most second basemen are typically the smallest guys on the team And I was almost always the smallest guys on the team I was the Altuve And you need I had the glove and a good enough arm to play shortstop I can do it in softball I'm absolutely great at shortstop Because it's about the same distance as second base But for the spots in the hole that are between short and third You need somebody who's long and got a great arm like Like a Derek Jeter, somebody who's over six feet tall Derek Jeter's six three Most short stops are at least that in the modern era They were smaller back in the fifties and pre Yeah But yeah, it's a lot of ground to cover Yeah You'd like that because you're a football player So you soccer football So you'd like to cover the ground Well Running No Because people that have a lot of stamina and soccer usually play mid Midfield And those are the ones that go everywhere I was a forward Okay, so you didn't have to go as far Obviously you run Right But my primary position was forward because I had a really good leg to score the goal So usually people that are scoring the goals Yeah Obviously mid kind of does everything Yeah But I didn't have I don't have the overall stamina never have To do because you you're basically running the entire field the entire time is a mid Right And I I'm good at really short spurts Got it Especially as a young kid. I was really really fast Especially it's sprinting So that I was much much better and I could kick with both legs as well Nice So I was I was always even though I'm dominant right foot of my father stepfather Who primarily coached me my entire life who was on the junior Olympics team here When he was a teenager So if if he didn't knock up his first wife, he probably Gone to the Olympics Gone to the Olympics So yeah So he always made me train with my left foot So then I became like basketball players They need to be good on both sides Right Exactly Yeah The other thing about the outfield You have to be really mentally tough Yeah Because you can get bored Yeah Because when you're in the infield every pitch something's happening And you're always ready Your glove is down And you need to do that But you have to be more mentally prepared to do that It's not something that you're in circumstances that make you do it So I could never be a goalie It's too boring for me Yeah You actually might not like the outfield You might prefer third base Yeah, it's very possible Yeah Anyways We'll let us know about other cricket videos that we can react to down below


So the next time you watch a baseball game on TV They're gonna put up this screen and the announcer is gonna say something like Walle's having a great year because he has more RBI's than anybody else on the team and you should not listen to this man because RBI's are misleading. Why is that? Let's say in the first game Walle gets up and he hits a home run And so everybody would then clap for him and be happy and then the next batter Gus gets up and He hits a home run So in the view of most people and in the view of RBI's included These two players are equal because each player got one RBI for what they did now Let's say in the next game Larry leads off the inning with a triple And then Walle comes up and he hits another home run and everybody's happy and then Gus gets up Following Walle and he hits another home run So again in the eyes of most people Walle and Gus did the same thing and therefore they would be equal That makes sense to me But in the view of RBI's Walle is the better player because Walle drove in two runs as opposed to Gus's One run and therefore we see the shortcoming of RBI's Walle did not help Larry reach base in any way, but it helped Walle's RBI count and Likewise, it was not Gus's fault that nobody was on base when he hit and so we see that solo home runs are in fact The only thing that do not require help from another teammate in order for a player to get an RBI and being the baseball is set Up the way that it is one player cannot affect the outcome of another teammates at bat and so therefore it is beyond their control Whether or not there is anybody on base or not whenever they are up to bat and therefore RBI's are relying on events out of players control and so throughout the season Walle had 100 of bats with a runner on third base He had a batting average of 300 in those at bats and therefore a total of 30 RBI's Gus on the other hand had half of that number of at bats with a runner on third base And even though he still hit for the same average He only ended up with 15 RBI's and so it's important to note What RBI's do not tell you and that is how many at bats a player had with runners on base How many at bats a player's had with runners in scoring position? What a player's batting average or on base average with runners on base was and what spot that player hit in the batting order? Because it's been statistically proven that some spots in the batting order come up with guys on base more often than others So when that announcer says Walle's having a great year He very well may be having a great year, but it is not because of the number of RBI's that he has


You guys hit this shot or really any shot in here. You guys really got to make sure that I'm out of place. This isn't a duck shot. I'm lowering my level and I'm pulling them over me. So when I hit this, my shoulder and chest, I really got to hit this thigh or if they're tight, whether it's a high crotch. So I pull, I'm going to double. Same concept. I'm trying to drop my shoulder and my chest in. So I'm lowering my level and keep going forward. I'm not ducking this. I'm trying to hit an high C. They did float in there. Same position. Overtide. This time I'm going to do everything that makes it look like I'm hitting this high C. Only at the very last second I'm restoring that leg. Maybe I hit the high C couple of times. If I go and hit here, I'm going and attaching this opposite side leg into a good low level position. You guys went over yesterday with Hamilton. You guys went over that with Hamilton again today. Yeah. Same concept. In here. Bacon. It's my thigh. Overtide. I'm acting like I'm going high C. The head's in the knee. You have to go through this slope. Rather you do it that way, then try just to gun it. I'm acting like I'm just coming here.


Once upon a time there lived a bird with two heads. One day one of the heads saw a delicious piece of fruit lying on the ground and it immediately started to eat it all the while commenting on just how utterly tasty it was. The second head said, if it's so tasty won't you share some with me as well please because after all we are the same person we even share the same body. But the first head wouldn't let the second head anywhere near it. It kept twisting and turning and saying it's okay you'll get the benefits of it when it reaches our stomach. If we're the same person then we don't both need to have it and no matter how much the second head asked the first head did not let it touch the fruit at all.  So the next day when they were out walking again the second head noticed a deadly piece of poison on the ground and in that moment of revenge decided it was going to eat it.  So what's the moral of this story? Well as you can see I think the story has so many lessons but today ladies I'm going to actually make the story about a lesson that we need to learn as women. You know they say that women can be each other's worst enemies and unfortunately a lot of the times that's very true. So ladies here's the thing you know we are all connected which means that if you stand up for the rights of even one woman it has a ripple effect and eventually we all get the benefits of those rights. Similarly if you cut down even one woman that also ripples out and eventually that same disempowerment belongs to all of us. So I guess for me the moral of the story is that if you cut down your community no matter what that community is you cut down that community you cut yourself down as well.