Bad Girls We Love: Machine Gun Woman

The titular Machine Gun Woman of Ernesto Díaz Espinoza’s 2012 Chilean action-comedy Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman (with a title that riffs off Sam Peckinpah’s 1974 cult classic Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia) is not actually the villain of the film. Sure, she does things like shoot people with … Continue reading Bad Girls We Love: Machine Gun Woman →

Bad Girls We Love: Molly from Batman (1966)

Decades before Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) movie ignited Batmania across the land, the original Batmania spread like wildfire after the debut episodes of the 1966–1968 Batman television series. One of the few instances of an honest-to-goodness pop culture phenomenon, Batman’s camp sensibilities and colorful pop art style endeared it to millions of fans, including yours … Continue reading Bad Girls We Love: Molly from Batman (1966) →

Baby Pfeiffer, Baby Fran, and the Hollywood Knights

What was the elevator pitch for The Hollywood Knights (1980)? “It’s American Graffiti meets Animal House, only twice as silly and half as fun!” Sold! I don’t care how inferior it is to those films, though. I have a major soft spot for this one. Overall, it’s a frivolous and fluffy affair, a crass teen … Continue reading Baby Pfeiffer, Baby Fran, and the Hollywood Knights →

Calendar Girl: Julie London for March

Calendar Girl’s track for March hits home in all the right ways. Of course there’s Julie London, whose sultry voice makes seasonal ennui sound sexier than it has any right to be. Then there’s the lyrics to “Melancholy March,” which so perfectly capture this month’s awkward middle child syndrome: Melancholy March, your gloom is showingYour … Continue reading Calendar Girl: Julie London for March →

The Art of the Ad: The Playboy Club

At some point in the 1970s, probably just a couple of years before I was born, my parents and some of their friends visited the Playboy Club on East 59th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan. I know this because of the Playboy swizzle sticks stored in a kitchen cabinet during my childhood, which I … Continue reading The Art of the Ad: The Playboy Club →

That Pfeiffer Glamour

In the spirit of this blog, here’s a randomly selected set of Michelle Pfeiffer. As the inspiration for and patron saint of this site, Michelle can hijack any posts at the Starfire Lounge any time she wants. I’ll always allow it. This collection captures Michelle in full-on glamour mode. Fair warning: these images are absurdly … Continue reading That Pfeiffer Glamour →

Lost and Found: Shock Treatment

There must’ve been something in the water in the 1970s. Something that made artists really stretch their creative muscles, throw caution to the wind, and push boundaries like never before. The decade birthed punk rock and rap. It was the decade of the auteur in cinema. Subway graffiti art proliferated across American cities as a … Continue reading Lost and Found: Shock Treatment →