Who's A Busy Boy?

Since Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Quentin Tarantino’s chin has been flapping a damn sight more than his clapperboard. Par for the course, we know, but we finally have some walk to go with the talk. His war opus Inglorious Bastards script is nailed – and so is the cast. “It’s going to be myself and Tim Roth,” Madsen tells Total Film. “Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy are in it, too.” Yes, Eddie Murphy. Tarantino, clearly, has something special brewing in his mind. Possibly Alzheimer’s.

But that’s not the only thing the QT’s been cooking lately. Just as he did for a ripsnorting episode of ER in 1995, the helmer has dropped to the small screen to direct the season-closer of hardcore TV forensics drama CSI. Featuring a man buried alive with a short supply of oxygen and a handgun, QT’s CSI is riveting, cinematic and very, very nasty (see below). Most interestingly, though, he says he’s using it as a litmus test for his own television series. No doubt about it, QT’s trademark episodic storytelling is a perfect fit for TV. Question is, where will he find the time? Especially since he and Robert Rodriguez are each writing and directing a 60-minute horror film, which the Weinstein brothers will fuse together under the sunny banner Grind House. After a six-year post-Jackie Brown lay-off, seems our Quentin really has his mojo back.