Floria Sigismondi's The Runaways

The Runaways: from left, Cherie Currie, Joan Jett, Sandy West, Lita Ford and Jackie Fox.

The Girls Who Kicked in Rock’s Door

THE most striking thing about "The Runaways," a new film about the trailblazing bad-girl rock band from the 1970s that spawned Joan Jett, is how authentic it feels. The clubs are properly scuzzy. The dialogue is properly raunchy. The actors can properly sing. The hair is fried and feathered, the skin spotty from weeks of running on little but potato chips and estrogen.

Floria Sigismondi, 44, earned her first big buzz as a video director in 1997 after strapping Marilyn Manson into stilts and gruesome dental gear for the "Beautiful People" clip. She looks like a rock star herself, dressed in slim-fitting black pants and a black sweater, her long, slightly-goth hair fanning over a furry caveman vest. Simultaneously cool and effervescent, she is easy to imagine directing arty musicians like Bjork, Sigur Ros and Interpol as well as pop divas like Christina Aguilera, which she did.

link | trailer

I never cared much about "The Runaways" except for Lita Ford's most excellent guitar playing. I'm way more excited about the fact that Floria Sigismondi directed the film. She's got the magic touch.

Floria Sigismondi's The Runaways