On Cinema at the Cinema Season 16, Episode 9: Celebrating the Life of Gabriel "G" Amato

Celebrating the Life of Gabriel “G” Amato
Season	16
Episode	9
Master of ceremonies	New Heidecker
Tributes from	Manuel Giusti (prerecorded) Gregg Turkington maryellen giorgio Joey P. (unprompted)
In attendance	Kaili Amato Axiom Barbara Reynolds Assorted residents of the Grand Terrace Manor
Crew	Mark Protch Grok
Order of service
Prelude	“Adios Nonino”
Opening hymn	“benotafraid”
Welcome address	New Heidecker
Memorial video
Reflections from family and friends	Manuel Giusti Gregg Turkington
Musical tribute	“Daddy's Gone” performed by New Heidecker
Closing song	“timeofyourlife” performed by New Heidecker
Aired	November 26, 2025
Films reviewed
Runtime	49 mins.
Video link	HEI (subscription required)

The funeral for G. Amato, referred to as Celebrating the Life of Gabriel “G” Amato and considered the ninth episode of On Cinema at the Cinema's sixteenth season, aired live at 12:00 p.m. PT on November 26, 2025 on HEI Network from the crownwynne.

New Heidecker, G.'s adopted son, was the master of ceremonies, and paid tribute with several songs, including the hymn “benotafraid”, the original song “Daddy's Gone”, and a cover of Green Day's “timeofyourlife” with Axiom. Gregg paid tribute to G. by talking about their shared interest in movies, while also briefly reviewing Zootopia 2 (2025, 108 mins.). Grand Terrace Manor resident maryellen read Bible verses and Manuel Giusti, who has been deported back to Italy, paid tribute in a prerecorded video. Mark Protch was an usher for the event, and Grok assisted New with event planning and his speech.

Also present at the funeral were members of the Amato family and The Amato Group, including Kaili Amato, Joey P., and giorgio, G.'s twin brother who had previously only been mentioned in joeyinterview. New claims they were not invited, though still allowed Giorgio to give a speech. In Giorgio's Spanish-language speech, he laments the poor financial decisions and suspicious acquaintances G. had made late in his life, and vows to “leave no stone unturned” when it comes to investigating his brother's death and who scammed him, before leaving. Joey also interrupts the funeral to lament how many people G. had pushed away leading to a funeral that, he claims, could have had 300 people. New attempts to get Mark to eject him and Kaili out of the funeral, leading to the two walking out on their own.

The funeral service recording begins with New walking up to the platform to do a mic check, telling Crown-Wynne employee linda he doesn't mind the addition of a step-stool behind the podium, noting that maryellen is short. He then tests the guitar, very briefly playing “Empty Bottle” on it. New, Linda, and Mark Protch then invite people in. Mark, dressed like an usher, tells a woman coming in to “sit down”. New at first tells him to instead say “Thank you for being here” before instead telling Mark to stay silent and walk them to their seats. Several people from G.'s retirement home, Grand Terrace Manor, start coming in, along with Gregg, while New loudly coughs and asks Mark for a tissue. When Gregg sits down, an older lady next to him leaves the room to go to the restroom. More people, including Grand Terrace Manor facility director Barbara Reynolds, come in, while Mark starts asking for some of the funeral program pamphlets back. Axiom arrives, with New hugging him and thanking him for coming.

New tells Mark to usher him down the aisle, saying to imagine it as a wedding and that New is the “man of honor”. They then walk down the aisle, with New sitting up front next to Mary Ellen (and coughing). Gregg can be seen picking his teeth with the program. Mark goes to the back of the room, only to immediately come back up front as New tells Mark to introduce him as master of ceremonies. He gives Mark an exact speech, which he then flubs disastrously. New walks up to the podium.

New thanks everyone for being here, though wishes they were here on better circumstances. New states today is for celebrating G. Amato's life and not to “wallow” in thinking about how he passed away. New asks Mark to hand him a pamphlet so he and the attendees can sing the opening hymn, “benotafraid”. New flubs several lines and gets very close to the microphone at the times, Mark stands in the back and paces around, and Gregg is seen refusing to sing the song.

Near the end of the hymn, four attendees arrive late: Kaili Amato, Joey P., G. Amato's twin brother giorgio, and his wife. New appears surprised and taken aback by their appearance, before asking that the music be cut off as there was no third verse on the program.

New then presents a short memorial slideshow of images from G. Amato's life. The slideshow includes images from his childhood and early adulthood, an image of him and Chris Amato, and images from his various appearances on On Cinema at the Cinema from the 9th Annual On Cinema Oscar Special onward. Several images are included of G. and New, then going by T. Amato, driving around in the Dodge Charger that New ultimately did not get during the events of AmatoCon 2024. Several of the images of New and the car do not include G. at all. As the slideshow ends, New can be seen staring at his phone, with Giorgio leering at him from behind.

New then presents a video message from Manuel Giusti, who has been deported from America back to his home country of Italy, paying tribute. Manuel, shirtless and on the beach, says he is “devastated” about G.'s passing. He calls G. a mentor, talking about the fun times they spent together talking about Italian heritage and Italian music. He sends his love.

New looks back at Gregg, telling him it's time for his speech. Gregg walks up to the podium, uncrumples a piece of paper, and says hello to Kaili. Gregg starts his speech by talking about how G. Amato was a movie buff and had a great collection of “priceless” movie memorabilia that he helped G. locate. Gregg notes that the suit he's wearing is a priceless piece of movie memorabilia, being Jonathan Kington's suit from Decker. Gregg laments that the Pep Boys movie G. Amato produced has not yet come out, though notes “one day it will”. Gregg compiled a list of three movies that G. Amato loved, telling the attendees to watch these movies within 48 hours in memory of G. New tells Gregg from the pews to make it two, but Gregg refuses. Gregg notes that the first movie, The Ten Commandments (1956, 220 mins.)¹⁾, is a Guinness Book of World Records holder as one of the ten longest movies of all time, 1 minute shorter than Gone with the Wind (1939, 221 mins.)¹⁾. He also notes that G. owned a sandal from the movie, stating those at the Grand Terrace Manor were lucky to see it in person.

Gregg then mentions the Crosse & Blackwell cream of shrimp soup can from the ma_and_pa movies that, “due to [G. Amato's] own fault, not due to any prop-master or anyone associated with the Pep Boys movie”, G. Amato ate, “which was not the best thing to do.” New interrupts Gregg at this time, telling him “there will be a time to litigate it” and not to bring up the “murder weapon” at the service, especially as he was the one who “delivered a weapon into my father's home”. He then tells Gregg to “cut that shit out”, looking back at Giorgio and the rest of the crowd to apologize. Gregg continues to talk about it, saying the soup can should have been in a trophy case. New attempts to stop his speech at this point, which makes Gregg change the subject to the second movie, The Searchers (1956, 119 mins.). Gregg then tries to quiz the attendees, first asking who stars in the film (John Wayne), then asking “From?” (True Grit (1969, 128 mins.)); both questions received dead silence. Gregg states G. Amato loved westerns and knew a lot about them, though “not VFA level”, and knew more about it than New, who “doesn't have basic knowledge on the subject of movies”. Gregg attempts to quiz the attendees again, first about what The Searchers co-star Natalie Wood also starred in (Rebel Without a Cause (1955, 111 mins.)) and then about what Rebel Without a Cause star James Dean also starred in (Gregg Turkington's Decker vs. Dracula). New attempts to wrap Gregg's speech up, to no avail.

The third movie, The Switch (2010, 101 mins.), is a much more recent film, though Gregg noted that G. liked new movies as well, having loaned a copy of the film to him as Gregg was dubbing the film from DVD to VHS. About the movie, he told G. to “don't ask, just watch” as it was a Popcorn Classic. Gregg is unsure if G. actually watched the film or not as he died a couple days after that conversation, but figures he would have loved it anyway. He notes that the film stars Jason Bateman, who also stars in Zootopia 2, a film that came out the week of the funeral. He briefly reviews Zootopia 2, calling it a great sequel that's better than the original. He attempts to quiz the attendees one last time on what movie Zootopia 2 co-star Macaulay Culkin is from, once more to silence. He asks one more time, which leads to Kaili answering, with a smile, with Home Alone (1990, 103 mins.). Gregg thanks Kaili and calls it “very cool” that she answered, giving Zootopia 2 five bags of popcorn and ending the speech.

New admonishes Gregg for his speech, saying he asked Gregg not to review Zootopia 2 and calling it disrespectful and a “breach of decorum”. He also admonishes Gregg again for being specific on how G. Amato passed away, stating he showed a lot of “grace, and dignity, and humility” by giving Gregg a speech and that he “abused” it. Gregg starts to argue back, saying he was talking about what G. Amato loved. New warns Gregg that he could be escorted out by Mark at any time.

Zootopia 2 (2025, 108 mins.)
New: Did not review
Gregg: 5 bags of popcorn

• “Welcome to, uh, G. Amato's stage. I am here, I am master of ceremony. I am the master of ceremonies, New Heidecker, uhh, and welcome me up here.”
  — Mark Protch introducing New Heidecker
• “Hello? Kaili.”
  — Gregg Turkington starting his speech
• “Mr. Amato also owned the famous can of soup from the Ma and Pa Kettle movies which sadly, due to his own fault, um, not due to any prop master anyone associated with the Pep Boys movie, Mr. Amato ate, which was not the best… [New interrupts] Okay, anyway, he ate the soup, which was not the best thing to do.”
  — Gregg Turkington during his speech
• Gregg: “Zootopia 2 is a great sequel, even better than the original. Um, same characters teaming up once again to solve another case, and it has Macaulay Culkin in it, from?”
  [silence]
  Gregg: “Macaulay Culkin?”
  [more silence]
  Kaili: “Home Alone.”
  Gregg: “Thank you, Kaili, very cool! 5 bags of popcorn.”
  — During Gregg Turkington's speech
• “I normally would be reviewing movies with you, but this is not the week for that…“
  — New Heidecker, to Gregg Turkington
• “I don't know where I go from here because… G was, uh, the only man that ever really believed in me, and maybe the only man who ever, you know, really loved me, and uh, I don't… you know, I don't know, uh, I don't know what that says about me, but he's gone and he ain't coming back.”
  — New Heidecker
• “Today, we remember my brother, Gabriel Amato. He wasn't just my brother, he was my twin. As children, we were inseparable, and our mother dressed us in the same clothes, which made perfect sense, because she simply had to buy two identical outfits. We were also very close, but as we grew up and graduated from college, Gabriel told us he wanted to move to the United States. We said, 'Are you crazy?'… No.
  
  He wanted to become a successful entrepreneur in California. He considered it the land of hope and dreams. He loved movies and dreamed of working in Hollywood, but he was realistic, and he knew he would never be a movie star. He just wanted to be in the action. He worked his way up from the bottom in the service industry, after doing a little job as a busboy to see a program with Jimmy Stewart about the Carnival of… Hollywood celebrity… something in English that I don't remember. This… then, in the service industry, he started as a dishwasher, then as a waiter, and restaurant manager. And finally, he ran his own event space. The Amatos from Argentina are a wealthy family, and we were able to help Gabriel in his ambitions to expand the Amato name here in the United States, in the San Bernardino Valley. It was a great honor for our family to see our brother succeed in the country that he loved so much.
  
  

  ”…personas sospechosas…”

  But today I am sad. I regret it so much. I wish I had never come. I wish I had told my brother to go home and be with his family. Now we learn that the end of his life was marked by bad investments and suspicious people. But Gabriel was so stubborn… Today we remember the good times and say, “Gabriel, it's time to come home.” We will make sure that the morgue sends his body back to the fa… to the family plot in our hometown of Buenos Aires. And finally, we will investigate how my brother died. How he had access to that poison.
  
  We will also closely audit his finances here in the United States, with the specific intention of discovering any fraud against me… that was… any fraud committed against my brother or the Amato family. You have my word, we will leave no stone unturned!”
  — Giorgio Amato's speech, translated to English²⁾³⁾

• “Get uh… Google Translate for that… beautiful speech nonetheless.”
  — New Heidecker, after Giorgio Amato's speech
• “I just want to say I think it's sad. I think it's sad that a man who spent 40 years of his life here in the San Bernardino Valley, a man who was a respected member of his community, a man who had many good friends, ended up here. I'm sorry, I don't wanna… it's just, you know, if it was up to me, there would be 300 people here. But um, you know, you just didn't listen to me G. You pushed people away and you didn't listen.”
  — Joey P.'s speech

• “I like you, Mark…”

  “Mark, Mark, I like you, Mark, and I'm just going to tell you right now stay where you are and don't come near me, okay?”
  — Joey P., when New ordered Mark to eject him

• This is the longest episode of On Cinema at the Cinema to be counted as a regular episode, with a runtime of 49 mins.
• This is the second episode of the series to not have the name of the movie(s) being reviewed in the title, the first being On Cinema and More! In the Morning's "On Cinema and More! In the Morning Christmas Special In the Evening", which had no reviews.
  • Other special episode titles, like the "Doctor San Forgiveness Special" and "Debt Forgiveness Special", were retconned at first by the oncinematimeline before being made official by HEI Network. A third episode, "On Alternative Medicine On Cinema", was retconned by Adult Swim.
• Gregg does not say “Hey guys!” in this episode, but does say “Hello?”
• As Gregg notes in his tribute, his outfit in this episode is the Jonathan Kington outfit he used to wear on Decker.
• The funeral was originally supposed to stream 2 hours earlier in the day, at 10:00 a.m. PT, but a shuttle delay resulted in the funeral beginning 2 hours later.^[1]

• The actual reason for the two-hour delay was due to the HEI Network site and app going down right when the event was about to occur. On Cinema at the Cinema's social media accounts and newsletter announced a delay 4 minutes into the planned start of the event.
  • The event still had some connection issues for some, but otherwise went on as planned.
• Like The Trial, this was an event that was pre-recorded yet streamed live as if it was happening in real time.

• The episode was originally going to be recorded in the same room that the prior Grand Terrace Manor episodes had been shot. However, when location scouting for that set, they found a temple in the same building that doubled perfectly as a funeral home.^[2]
• The decision to include images of T. Amato by himself with Dodge Charger that he didn't even get to keep in G.'s memorial video was director Eric Notarnicola's idea, something he had felt strongly about including.^[3]
• Gregg had suggested that Dekkar cover “Now and Then” by The Beatles instead of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, as a tribute to “all that they've lost”.^[2]
• New and Mark walking down the aisle like it's a wedding kept causing Tim and Mark to break out in laughter, ruining takes.^[4]
  • Tim and Mark kept worrying they would ruin the sound as both of them kept breaking throughout the taping.^[2]

• During the presentation of “Daddy's Gone”, during scenes shot from behind the audience and during the zoom in on Gregg, Mary Ellen appears to be enjoying the song, bobbing her head around, while in forward facing shots, she is as stoic as the rest of the attendees are.
  • Tim appears to acknowledge this during the guitar solo when he looks directly at her and nods his head. Tim presumably was not a fan of her actually enjoying the song as the edit avoids showing her enjoying it as much as possible.

• New briefly acknowledges the fact that he has practically no one left in his life that believes in him or his work. G. is dead, Dr. San is dead, Gregg only stays on to be on what he believes is the top movie review show, Toni has left him twice (and only ever loved him when she was an alcoholic), Joe is not on speaking terms (and has been seen frequently with Toni as of late), and Toni's therapy tapes seen in the 9th Annual On Cinema Oscar Special have her state that even New's closest associates, including Axiom, Manuel, and LaRue, all “talked shit” about him behind his back.
  • While New sat at the front row on the left side (facing the podium), Axiom notably sat in the back row on the right side.
• The superimposed footage of New in the “Daddy's Gone” music video is shot entirely in black and white, just like episode 4 earlier in the season. In that episode, New demanded Gregg return all of G.'s movie props, including the now infamous soup can. Perhaps he made this music video *before* G. died?

• HEI Network (video, subscription required)