Episode 4 - The First On Cinema Oscar Special

In this episode of The OTHER On Cinema at the Cinema Podcast, Ramsey and Caleb talk about the first On Cinema Oscar Special and get kinda sad. Diversions include calling your ex while on drugs and going to punk shows in your 30s.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Hey, hey, hey, this is the other on cinema podcast in which me, myself, Ramsey, a on cinema super fan, talks to Caleb, who has never seen OnCinema about OnCinema. And today we are talking about the first On Cinema Oscar special, which I'm super stoked to talk about. But before we get into that, Caleb, how are you doing this week?

SPEAKER_00 0:34

I'm doing just fine. Uh I went to a death metal show last night and got hit in the face. Uh, so pretty stoked about that. I'm in my 30s, and I don't think I can keep doing this.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Yeah, I you we we were talking about this before we were recording, but I also a couple of nights ago went and saw a punk band that was very important to me when I was 20 years old that I've not seen in 13 years, and I got really into it and got into the pit with all the other zoomers and got real sweaty and got you know covered in emo sweat, and two days later I'm sore in a bunch of weird places and my body's not happy with me. But that's my fault. I shouldn't be doing that at 33 years old. Was uh how are how are the smells for you? Because at it It was smelly. It was smelly. Um a friend of mine, so uh at the venue that it was at, a friend of mine is actually kind of like the head of security, and they're currently in the process of like they're not unionized, but they're having negotiations with the people who own the venue because they're like, Yeah, like you guys need to give us more protections. And something they said was just like, we have to deal with so much BO. Oh yeah. At the venue, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

At mine, it was at least the area I was at, it was uh it was like it was starting to turn. It wasn't it wasn't like bad, but uh it was about to be bad, you know. Like, oh, people are sweating a lot, but at least most of them are wearing deodorant. That's good, yeah. It's good.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Yeah, but yeah, no, I'm excited to talk about the the first on cinema Oscar special. I haven't revisited this one in quite a long time.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

I forgot how fucked up it is.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Like they're all kind of fucked up, but this one is like fucked up in a very specific way that kind of like made me feel upset.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Yeah. I mean, I've got I've got my specific reasons why which made things that made me upset in this, um, that I'm that we'll go over for sure. Yeah, the first half though is pretty jaunty, to be honest.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Yeah, so just to kind of get into it, so um the first on cinema Oscar special, they basically didn't have any budget for it. The the the rest of the Oscar specials are are bigger productions, um, because Adult Swim started giving them money to do it. Um, and then once they do the high network, uh that they got money to do it that way. Um, but yeah, this one they they just self-funded, and I believe they filmed in Tim's garage. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

I mean it looks like it. I mean it it looks like yeah, they had no budget. Uh oddly enough, clearly uh Tim uh clearly they had uh off-screen producers. Uh I don't know if that's uh strictly uh strictly in character, like part of the Kfab, part of the the act, but yeah, they they had like off-screen producers, quote unquote, that they were like uh answering to. And it's like, what to what benefit? You're not giving me money for this. You have like you they've got five dollar budget on this thing.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

Just something off the top of my head, I forgot that um I didn't realize. So there's a particular picture of one of the hobbits from the Hobbit that they flash to a lot during the first one. Yes, that's gonna be an every single Oscar special going forward.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

I want it to be an everything going forward. Is it the the redhead one?

SPEAKER_02 4:33

It's the one that has like the bowl cut. That's like I'm making a face, but the listeners can't see that. Um, but yeah, I guess we should just dive into it. Uh what are what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Uh my thoughts are uh good lord. Um, first off, the the real life Oscars are three to four hours of ceremony, which boy, what a war of attrition testing the patience of both our characters to have to sit through all that. Yeah, I mean, I I really enjoyed the first half, and the second half I felt like uh it was like a punishment or something.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Yeah, the the say I mean, we'll get into it, but I like I said, I haven't watched it for a while, and I I watched the first half by myself, and then I was watching it with my partner last night to just kind of get you know ready for this episode, and I was just like, Jesus Christ, this is like so like so much more uncomfortable than I remember it being. Um, but yeah, I I I will say the first thing that made me laugh really hard was that Greg says Aang Lee won't win because she's a woman, and then flash a picture of Aang Lee, who is you know a man, a man. Everyone knows Aang Lee is a man.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

The uh yeah, the uh whoever is behind the like slideshow is like just trolling uh Greg and and uh Tim the whole time, which I really liked uh a lot.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yeah, and that uh that whole motif is going to be in every Oscar special going forward. Just there's somebody flashing pictures.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Wonderful, wonderful. I love it. Um the other thing too is like on the in that regard, like um Greg makes a comment about um, you know, people who haven't won Oscars, which it was in that conversation was including uh oh, who was it? Sally Field. And Sally Field has one of the most famous Oscar acceptance speeches of all time. Well, I I don't know anything about that. Uh I think this is in like the late 80s or early 90s, and I I mean I don't remember all of it, but I there is this key line which they use in like the Animaniacs and a bunch of other stuff it gets referred to, where she's like, You guys like me, you really like me, or really love me, you guys really love me, and like yeah, so it's like one of the most famous Oscar acceptance speeches of all time, and they like the the people on the slideshow, like literally when he's saying, like, you know, there's a lot of people that haven't won Oscars and they really deserve it, like Sally Field, and then they show the picture of her accepting her Oscar, and then uh if I recall correctly, then Greg is like, Oh, well, she's accepting the Golden Globe right there, but uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Yeah, that was another line. There uh Tim says, Um, man, they don't have Oscars for the hosts, and then Greg says, they do, and they are called the Emmys. I I do think this the Oscar special is particularly interesting because like what we've already seen that like Tim has anger issues and stuff, but like this is the first glimpse into us seeing that there's something deeply wrong with Tim.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

Yes, like I feel like too, like most of the the episodes are like 10 minutes long, if that. Whereas this and like so Tim is playing the character, whereas this is like a two-hour long video live stream, there's no hiding, it's live. Um, so he has to be the character. He can't escape, you know, there's no cuts, nothing. He has to be the character the whole time. So then he has to embody that character and explore okay, you know, you know, let's what would this how would this character react in this situation?

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Well, also like um uh other I I believe, you know, the people uh on the funny, and I think Admiral Gorg has brought this up before, is that there's a really interesting dichotomy between like what gets shown of Tim on the actual on cinema show versus when he's not in control of the camera. Yeah. Um, which you see a very different side of him, like in those moments.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Yeah, I didn't think about that part too. In regards to Tim, he uh definitely was like a dead ringer for Glenn Beck. He he looked uh he looked shiny like a prize hog. Uh yes, he did.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

It's probably because he was sweating when he was on perkies.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, you don't want to mix uh you don't want to mix alcohol and champagne and perks, you know.

SPEAKER_02 9:39

Yeah. Another point early on that made me laugh really hard when Tim was like pouring the champagne into his water bottle. Did you catch that?

SPEAKER_00 9:49

No, I didn't catch that, but he did refer, he was like, Is champagne in here?

SPEAKER_02 9:53

Yeah, no, there's this cut where it shows like Tim like trying to sneakily like pour champagne into his water ball, water bottle, and he's like spilling it all over himself. It's very funny.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

I yeah, I saw that in like all seven pixels of it, and I was trying to make some I'm like, what am I looking at here? There's something like he is fumbling with this, whatever he was doing. I I didn't understand quite yeah, what the bit was.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Tim has injured his finger because he was fishing with his son, yeah. And Greg is annoyed that he was even fishing in the first place because you can just buy fish at the supermarket.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Yes, Greg does not understand the concept of fishing full stop.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Well, Greg doesn't understand the concept of doing anything but watching movies or talking about movies.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

That's true.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

Yeah. That's when we learn that Tim is on Percocets and mixing that with champagne. Yes. And he gets like very fucked up, like very quickly. That was the thing I forgot about was how fucked up he got, like very early on in the Oscar special. Like, there's that whole portion where he's just like he can't stop laughing, and it was a very funny.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

It really, it really made me uncomfortable because this is the first time that Tim's behavior has reminded me of my behavior as opposed to Greg. Because definitely in like my early 20s, that was pretty much any time that I drank alcohol. I would I would I wasn't an asshole like Tim, but I was like way too fucked up. Yeah. Yeah, way too early too. Way too early. It's like 7 p.m.

SPEAKER_02 11:42

Caleb. Have I ever told you the story of the first time I ever did Molly when I was 20 years old? Um, you might have, but you you gotta remind me. It yeah, it just kind of reminded me of that. I I went and did Molly in the forest with a bunch of my friends when I was 20 years old.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

And it was interesting. Six months later, I ran into my ex-girlfriend at a party. Oh yeah. And she came up to me and was like, Hey, do you always call your ex-girlfriends when you're fucked up? And I was like, I don't know what you're talking about. And I asked my friends about that, and they were like, Oh yeah, you just like disappeared into the woods for hours and were talking to someone on the phone. Um, so yeah, that gave me flashbacks of my own behavior when I was that age. But Tim's supposed to be like a an adult man, so yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Uh yeah, way past his twenties. Yeah. I feel like I feel like Tim the actor was probably a little bit relieved that his character was fucked up, so then he didn't have to hide him breaking as much.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Yeah, he was breaking a lot, wasn't he?

SPEAKER_00 13:02

Yeah, he's and then he would like laugh for real and then immediately like lean into it a bit, so it seemed like he was fucked up laughing. Yeah. He was like, Oh, I get a little bit of I can hide a little bit here.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Oh, yeah, we we we completely went uh skipped over Greg's whole like theory that the Hobbit was going to win best picture through Ryden or something like that. No, no, he said specifically they're trying to drum up ratings for the Oscars by not even nominating the Hobbit, and then they're gonna surprise everybody by not.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Yeah.

unknown 13:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

I mean, they're gonna release Half-Life 3 any day now, they're not gonna promote it at all. They want us to simmer and uh uh uh speculate on it, you know? Just drum up that natural word of mouth uh marketing and promotion and excitement. So the the exact same logic. When Tim like disappears and Greg is left alone to just meander and just spew uh uh uh nonsense about film of uh dubious veracity, incredible, incredible stuff. Just his ability to fill time with just absolutely meaningless drivel is so incredible.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

So halfway through, Tim is super fucked up and he pukes all over Greg's VHSs, which very much uh upsets Greg. And man, just they come back and there's that shot that's just like lingering over the VHS tapes with the vomit on it, and like the vomit looks like biscuits and gravy, like gravy and it just holds it, and I think that's the first glimpse into on cinema where it kind of feels like art a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

I felt like um for me, yes, that shot, and then also the shot. I'm guessing now that you told me this, it was probably the champagne, but there's a shot where um Tim leaves and he leaves his like I wrote down exactly the description shot of open three-quarter drink, slightly crumpled bottled water standing on director's chair is modern art. Uh I feel like both of those shots were like I don't even know how on purpose it was. It was like this confluence uh of coalescence of of these situations which led to this. And it was like, okay, well, this is going somewhere, you know, beyond just comedy, you know.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

Yeah, yeah. I think this is the first kind of glimpse that they're doing something a little bit more not to sound pretentious, but like elevated. There we go. Yeah. What was very revealing because, like I said at the top of the episode, I haven't watched this Oscar special in a very long time. I didn't have a lot of memories of it. And as you watch the show, um, it's very clear that like Tim and Greg have a very abusive, like codependent relationship. It's so like nakedly clear in this Oscar special in like a very realistic and uncomfortable way that like made me like a little upset I was watching it.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

I was really upset when uh it sounds so stupid to be upset by these the stakes are so low. The the real stakes are so low. There's no money involved. Uh, you know, they have a five-dollar budget for this, but the emotional stakes could not be higher at the same time, and that's what really made me upset was when it sounds so stupid, it's like children, but it's very real for both of them. Um when Tim damages Greg's VHS tapes, Greg leaves, and Tim calls Greg and tries to negotiate him coming back, offering giving him status of host as opposed to guest for on cinema at the cinema, the show, not just the Oscars special. And Tim or uh and then Greg concedes and comes back under those terms, and then Tim renegs on those terms.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

Well, can can I can I even take like step it back a little bit before that? When Greg walks off and Tim is trying to get him to stay, and like Greg is just saying, like, no, no, no, no, no like I I did not remember that part, and that like like that part was like so real, yeah, and made me feel just icky, because like I've I don't know. I don't know if you've ever been in conversations with people like that before, but it's bad. But yeah, back to what you were saying. I mean the same thing where he he's negotiating with Greg to get him to come back and then he reneges on it, would just like classic like emotional like abuse manipulation shit. So going forward, he's going to be very abusive to Greg the whole time, but like it not like that, like it in a very nuanced way, he's just gonna be mean to Greg.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

Okay. Greg is just spewing nonsense all the time and needs to be corrected and needs to be proven wrong, and uh in that regard needs to be taken down a peg. But again, Tim Tim like uses that fact as like an opportunity to be kind of monstrous and manipulative and exploitative, and I I don't like it. My poor, sweet, uh confidently incorrect Greg. Yeah, I've definitely I've definitely had relationships um with strong notes of that, where it's like, no, no, I don't want any part of this. And they're they keep declawing back, you know, they want to claw you back, and it's uh it's really rough, you know, as someone who doesn't want to cauterize relationships, you know, because it feels it feels rude to do that. I definitely again I see I see a lot of myself and Greg uh primarily, and yeah, it really made me it really made me sad and and uh upset.

SPEAKER_02 20:33

Yeah, and I I I think that's what's really compelling about the show is that they just like randomly tap into these moments and like there's um as we go along, there's gonna be so many other moments like these. Yeah, I forgot that there was such a strong one so early on. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how they integrate that in future seasons, because I feel like I feel like with the this first Oscar special, it was during season two, like during it, not like the capstone. And so they I feel like with season two they kind of were they were experimenting with that kind of episode to episode short form kind of format, and then the Oscar special is like its own thing. And it'll be interesting to see like how those kind of deeper uh relationship dynamics are are uh allowed to uh allowed to be explored in future seasons. Sorry, I'm sad.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

I'm sad too.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

I I I want to say I you know, I'm just looking at my notes here. And uh in regards to the Hobbit, you know, the clear right in winner, the clear wide and right in uh sweeper. Of all categories. Um, they say that the Hobbit wasn't nominated for Oscar, um, but it was. It was nominated for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Achievement Visual Effects, Best Achievement in Production Design. But it seems like they don't Tim and Greg do not have a clear understanding of how the Oscars work because they seem to No, you don't think so?

SPEAKER_01 22:31

You don't you don't think they understand how the Oscars work?

SPEAKER_00 22:39

Uh do you think they have uh do you think they have a cognitive disability?

SPEAKER_02 22:47

I mean, there's something deeply wrong with both of them. Both of them deeply wrong. That's definitely true.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

I feel like they're on the cusp.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Uh before I ask some final questions, do you have any other uh notes on it?

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Battle Greg says Battlefield Earth was John Travolta's Waterloo. I'm sorry, I can't laugh at that. Again, another person that they said did not get an Oscar. And in fact, uh they were talking about how Kirk Douglas never got an Oscar and should have gotten an Oscar just for his life's work. He literally did in 1996. They gave him exactly that in 1996. I do want to say, regardless of Greg's um spewing wildly uh nebulously correct anecdotes and facts, I do think that Greg again being able to vamp and keep the show going makes him a consummate professional. I think that being able to just say some bullshit when you have to uh is really impressive and important uh to keep the show afloat. Uh another quote, Greg says uh breast director. Uh apparently there was a Oscars boobs song that they commented on. What? I looked it up. This is the 2012, 2013 Oscars or whatever. And yeah, they had a song where it was just Seth McFarlane uh singing about having seen the different actresses boobs uh who were in attendance because we love Seth McFarlane on this podcast. Speaking of consummate professional, yeah, again, the stakes could not be lower, yet the failure, failure could not be more spectacular.

SPEAKER_02 24:59

So now that we've watched the first On Cinema Oscar special, where I think it like really reveals nakedly the the dynamics going on between Tim and Greg. How are you feeling about the show so far?

SPEAKER_00 25:19

Uh again, I'm curious. I I want to see what happens going forward, but you know, you said that there's a lot of shitting on Greg, and I wanna see I wanna see that shitting on him more justified than just he's stubbornly incorrect about everything. Um I want I wanna see I wanna see it more deserved because otherwise I'm just gonna feel so bad and so sad.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

How long is it gonna take to get there?

SPEAKER_02 25:57

It's gonna it's it's gonna take a while. I I I'm of the opinion that some people kind of overly shit on Greg until very recently. Okay, but we can't get into that.

SPEAKER_00 26:09

Can't get into that. I don't I don't want spoiler spoilers, you know. I was just you know, give me a give me a vibe check on on what I'm signing up for here. What I have already signed up for here. I can't escape. This podcast is underway. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

So yeah, we've uh I've legally contracted Caleb to do this podcast with me. If he does not, I'm allowed to trap him in my basement.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

Well, I mean, you did make me co-host. I'm not a guest, I'm co-host, so I have to continue the show.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

You're you're you're the co-host, not the guest.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Hey, well, you you know, you offered me this co-host position in good faith, and you've been truthful to your word. We'll we'll see in the edit.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

Yeah, we'll see in the edit. Yeah. I do have to say, so I I gotta give some updates on um the Boondocks Saints poster company sponsorship. That fell through. Why?

SPEAKER_00 27:12

How how did that happen?

SPEAKER_02 27:13

Well, they went full ice. Full ice? Yeah, they decided to shit, you know, because they were just like, you know, we're getting all of our revenue from ice already, so we're gonna, we're, we're just gonna fully embrace it. So now they're they're they're making body armor with Norman Reedus's face on it. For ice. For ice specifically. So I, you know, I didn't want to take the dirty, dirty ice money, but it's okay. I found a new sponsor. So we are going to be sponsored by the DuPont Chemical Company. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, the company that makes uh Teflon coated pans. So, listeners, please go out and buy a Teflon coated pan. For every Teflon coated pan that you purchase, the DuPont Chemical Company will poison a farmer's cow in Ohio.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

I mean, you know, people eat cows all the time. I mean, they have to kill no.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

I I am curious, uh, Caleb, as a vegan, do you support poisoning cows? I think you would because it's it's less meat on the grocery shelf.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Well, you know, I hear death is very peaceful.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

Anyway, this is the other On Cinema Podcast. Um, next episode, we will be recording about season three. And we'll give you updates about those poison cows. That's all.