Four Play

Kill Bill held a special place in a lot of hearts. The Whole Bloody Affair was supposed to be the definitive version: Tarantino's original vision restored as a single four-and-a-half-hour film. Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo sat through all of it, and what they found was the precise moment Quentin Tarantino disappeared up his own references. Everything that made Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction brilliant, such as the compelling dialogue, the clever homage, the subversion of genre, is replaced here by wholesale theft from better movies that the audience can now watch for free on YouTube.

Raycon — The Essential Open earbuds wrap around your ear so you can hear everything while working out. Secure fit, great sound, 30-day guarantee. Go to https://buyraycon.com/fourplayopen to get 20% off sitewide.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pulp Fiction is one of the most hyped films in cinema history and Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo are here to confirm that even after 30 years the hype is entirely earned. What shocked them most wasn't the violence or the nonlinear structure, but how slow the film actually is. Strip away the iconic moments seared into cultural memory and what you find is a movie dominated by two people talking, and it's riveting every single time.

Mint Mobile: Ditch overpriced wireless. All plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text on the nation's largest 5G network, starting at just $15/month. Shop plans at https://www.mintmobile.com/fourplay

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Before Pulp Fiction made Quentin Tarantino a household name, there was Reservoir Dogs — a film so raw and transgressive it was banned in the UK for years, circulated on pirate VHS tapes, and became the blueprint for an entire generation of filmmaking. A guy who worked in a video store in LA wrote and directed this. Wrap your head around that.

Richard Lewis, MonteCristo, and Thorin kick off Four Play's Tarantino Arc with the film that started it all. They dig into why Reservoir Dogs was banned in the UK (and what the Jamie Bulger case had to do with it), how Tarantino's background as a video store clerk — obsessively watching foreign cinema and genre trash alike — produced one of the most assured directorial debuts in film history, and why this movie, despite its reputation as a "video nasty," has a surprisingly low body count and a genuine soul underneath the blood.

The crew breaks down what makes the non-linear storytelling genius rather than gimmick, unpacks the iconic Mr. Blonde torture scene and what Michael Madsen brought to that role, makes the case for Steve Buscemi's Mr. Pink as the film's true protagonist, and explains how the K-Billy Super Sounds of the 70s changed how soundtracks work in movies — commercially and culturally — forever.

This is the beginning of Four Play's deep dive through Tarantino's career. Coming next: Pulp Fiction. The arc is just getting started.

Mint Mobile — If you like your money, Mint Mobile is for you! Shop plans at https://mintmobile.com/FOURPLAY.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1995, a film predicted POV recording technology, VR experiences you can buy on the black market, deepfake manipulation, police brutality caught on camera, and a society addicted to experiencing other people's lives through a screen. It starred Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, and was written by James Cameron. Almost nobody saw it.

Strange Days bombed at the box office, nearly destroyed Kathryn Bigelow's career, and has been virtually impossible to find ever since, as right now no streaming service carries it. But everything it warned us about has come true, and somehow the reality is worse than the fiction.

MonteCristo, Thorin, and Richard Lewis make the case for why this is one of the most important sci-fi films ever made. We get into the SQUID tech that directly inspired Cyberpunk 2077's Braindances, the darkest plot device in sci-fi, Ralph Fiennes as the perfect cyberpunk noir anti-hero, Angela Bassett's tragically wasted career as an action star, the Rodney King and OJ parallels baked into the script, and a long conversation about how AI, social media, and surveillance culture have made this film more relevant than ever.

Roger Ebert gave it 4 stars in 1995 and called it a future cult classic. He was right. Again.

Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with Mando and get 20% off + free shipping with promo code FOURPLAY at https://shopmando.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Four film lovers revisit The Matrix (1999) for the first time in years.

The action still holds up. The philosophical ideas still land. But the script? That's where things get complicated. We break down the Hong Kong cinema influences Hollywood never credited, the Dark City and Invisibles connections, what Keanu Reeves actually brings to Neo, and whether the Wachowskis wrote a cyberpunk masterpiece or got carried by everyone around them.

Plus: our 10-point rating and the one scene that still divides the room.

Ready to stop paying more than you have to? New customers can make the switch today and, for a limited time, get unlimited premium wireless for just $15 per month! Switch now at https://mintmobile.com/FOURPLAY.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Was The Matrix the first film to ask whether our reality is manufactured? No! There are huge parallels between Dark City and The Matrix, with both films using some of the same themes, visuals, and even sets.

In this episode of Four Play, we dive into Dark City (1998): Alex Proyas’ noir-drenched sci-fi cult classic that arrived one year before The Matrix and explored memory, identity, and control in ways that still feel unsettlingly modern.

Is Dark City just a forgotten cyberpunk curiosity or is it one of the most important science fiction films of the 1990s?

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Four Play begins a brand-new Cyberpunk Arc with a deep dive into Blade Runner: one of the most influential science-fiction films ever made.

Released in 1982, Blade Runner didn’t just define cyberpunk aesthetics,  it also reshaped how cinema explores identity, consciousness, artificial intelligence, capitalism, and what it means to be human. Decades later, its themes feel more relevant than ever.

Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/FOURPLAY and use code FOURPLAY and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch is not an adaptation: it’s a psychological autopsy.

In this episode of Four Play, we dive deep into one of the most challenging films ever released by a major director: Cronenberg’s surreal, disturbing, and deeply personal interpretation of William S. Burroughs’ life and work.

Rather than translating Burroughs’ famously “unfilmable” novel to the screen, Naked Lunch fuses biography, addiction, sexuality, guilt, and creativity into a dream-logic nightmare that feels closer to a hallucination than a movie.

Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with Mando and get 20% off + free shipping with promo code FOURPLAY at https://shopmando.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU’RE DEAD (1995) is a time capsule of 1990s crime cinema: strange characters with even stranger nicknames who speak in impossibly slick slang.

Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with Mando and get 20% off + free shipping with promo code FOURPLAY at https://shopmando.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

THE GREEN KNIGHT (2021) is often described as abstract, slow, or confusing, but those labels miss what the film is actually doing. Directed by David Lowery, this Arthurian adaptation isn’t a puzzle to be solved, but a moral fable about avoidance and the cost of refusing to grow up.

In this episode of Four Play, Richard Lewis, MonteCristo, and Thorin break down why The Green Knight is less concerned with symbolism and mythology than it is with character. Gawain’s journey isn’t about heroism, it’s about procrastination, self-deception, and the terrifying moment when excuses run out.  

Rather than presenting a traditional fantasy quest, the film strips the genre down to its emotional core. Each encounter tests Gawain not with strength or cleverness, but with honesty and courage, which are virtues he repeatedly fails to embody until the moment that finally matters.

Raycon's Essential Open Earbuds are here to help you crush your new year goals! Go to https://buyraycon.com/FOURPLAYOPEN to get 20% off sitewide.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.