Violent Crimes

Finally got a chance during my extremely late night last night to watch Quentin Tarantino's 'CSI' episode(s?).

Tarantino definitely has a "thing" about him with whatever he gets his paws on, eh? I think the first thing that comes to mind with Tarantino is music.

He always finds an appropriate song for any incident. And to this day I still get the "heebie-jeebies" when I hear 'Stuck in the Middle With You' and think of the one scene in 'Resevoir Dogs.' And I guarantee you, if you don't recognize 'Misirlou' by Dick Dale & His Del-Tones... you will. How 'bout 'Twisted Nerve' by Bernard Herrmann?

The music sets the story in some ways and in others DRIVES it. And you're left with a visual for, well, when I think of Resevoir Dogs, YEARS.

But in CSI, the thing that really stuck out to me was Tarantino's other gift: pop culture. Anyone else remember board games like 'Dukes of Hazzard'? Oh man, beautiful memories there (not just about George Eads being tortured either!)! Adding some pop culture reference (the Royale with cheese speech from Pulp Fiction or the Madonna Like A Virgin discussion in Resevoir Dogs) helps build the characters by adding a level of humanity you might not normally get out of these tough guys. When Mr. Pink waxes poetically about the deeper meaning of 'pain' in Like A Virgin, he comes across as a poet instead of a weasely jerk (which he actually was).

So it's the pop culture references that really stick out in this case.

So, yep, enjoyed the episode (or 2) and extra kudos to George Eads' acting in this one. He really suffered a lot in the finale and the suffering still seemed prevalent afterward.