Five Tarantino References Worth Catching in Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” Music Video

So: After endless anticipation, Lady Gaga’s music video for “Telephone” is here, featuring Beyonce. True to form and expectation, it’s really weird: In a good way, though, IMO.

For one thing, “Telephone”’s nonmusic/music ratio rivals Martin Scorcese’s 18-minute music video for Michael Jackson’s “Bad”: the thing is nine-and-a-half minutes long, with about three minutes of highly stylized female prison drama and Lady Gaga naked-making before you hear a single note.

But then… there’s the stylization itself. Lady Gaga told E! that “There certainly is a Tarantino-inspired quality in the video;” while there are other influences swimming around in there (we’d like to propose Twin Peaks), the Tarantino shines through the most.

You may recall that Beyonce’s “Video Phone” started off with a reference to the slow-mo walk in Reservoir Dogs; where’s the Tarantino in “Telephone”?