Friday, July 13, 2012

Happy Birthday, Harrison!

Aw, look at the cute little baby picture.  Yes, folks, today is Harrison Ford's birthday.  For those of you who don't know, he is now, dare I say it, 70 years old.  Yikes.  And in spite of that number and the fact that it means he remains more than twice as old as I am, I still love him. 
Go ahead and use that one to help you imagine what his kids with Leia might look like.  I'll admit I don't really love it when I am reminded of how old he's gotten.  But then again, since we've never met, I can just go ahead and pretend in my mind tha the always looks like this:

It is kind of incredible to think of all of the things he's done, but at the same time, it is also incredible to think that his life as a "real" actor didn't begin until he was close to his mid 30s when he got the role of Han Solo.  To be honest, that makes me feel better because it means I still have time to make something of my life ;)  Sure he was in some movies before that, but nobody had a clue who he was.  I think I even read once that he went to see Star Wars in the theater and wasn't recognized.  Yeah, that wouldn't happen now. 
What would we all do if he wasn't Han Solo?  I actually wonder about this sometimes.  I sincerely doubt that I'd be obsessed with this stuff if he wasn't in that role.  He made it so much more than it could've been and of course we've all talked about the chemistry.  Although maybe if Christopher Walken had gotten the role I'd have more of a social life ;)
Wow, no wonder I've had a crush on him for as long as I've had crushes on people even though he's older than my parents.  If anyone is interested, he's actually been quite busy lately.  He's got three movies in the works right now, like in the filming stages so something we'll actually eventually see, and that doesn't include another Indiana Jones movie, which they still seem to be dangling in front of us.  Obviously the last one was not my favorite, but I'll admit I enjoyed it.  Yes, I have low standards.  But don't you want to see him as Indy again?
Ok, he won't look exactly like that, but still.  I was personally far less upset about the alien thing than I was about the long-lost son thing.  I don't really get why people can accept an artifact that spontaneously melts people's faces if they look at it, a guy who can rip people's hearts out but they live long enough to be burned alive, or a cup that gives you everlasting life but they get really bent out of shape over "interdimensional beings."  I'll say the same thing about the fridge thing.  Indy did some crazy stuff in those other movies.  You know he did. 
Here's another picture of Han, even though we know he will never play him again.  I know a lot of people are very cynical and angry with him for some choices he's made or whatever.  But honestly, the man doesn't have to work again, ever.  He could just hang out at home with his way-younger wife and fly his planes and hang out and drink coffee.  We should be glad he wants to work at all! 
He's still doing pretty well, right?  I don't know a lot of people who are 70, but I bet most of them don't look like that.  So good for him.  Let's hope he continues to age well and at least occasionally do a cool movie and we can be glad that he's still way younger than Clint Eastwood.
Oh, and go ahead and use this as fodder to write a story about Han's birthday if you want.  Happy birthday, Harrison!  Both of his parents lived well into their 90s so we should still get him to hang around for a while. 

46 comments:

  1. I'm loving this post and all the pictures. Aside from my husband, Harrison was the only guy who ever made my knees weak. Both still do :) I was wearing my Han Solo t-shirt the other day while at my mom's and my mother said, "oh your first boyfriend." I was kinda embarrassed, since I am now forty-five. Happy Birthday Harrison and many many more. Nice post/pictures.

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    1. Omg, your mom said that? Funny. You have to describe the shirt now though. Not sure I've seen a Han shirt. And I hear you on the weak knees. :)

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    2. Here is a link to the shirt. http://www.80stees.com/products/Han-Solo-Junk-Food-T-Shirt.asp
      It was originally my daughter's however I quickly confiscated it.

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    3. I am VERY tempted to snatch up that last remaining medium...

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    4. Very cool. Did you see the stuffed AT-AT? Cute!

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  2. Isn't it wrong to have this much hotness on one page? ;) Just love it. Indy's face is awesome and that has to be the cutest baby pic.

    Oh, what would we have done if he hadn't played Han Solo? The movie and role wouldn't have been the same. Probably wouldn't have paid near as much attention to the movie. And might have a life. ;) Empire certainly solidified him as super hotness for all time in my mind. And given that the "I know" line was his idea, it really wouldn't have been the same.

    I kind of liked the last Indy movie. The aliens didn't bother me either. I liked having Marion back.

    Happy Birthday, Harrison!

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  3. Yes, he's twice as old as me, but, when I first fell for him, he was more than four times as old as me.

    Lots of Harrison/Han/Indy hotness on this page. Enjoyed it.
    I hope he has a fun movie. I think the problem is that even though he said he avoided being typecast character, he got typecast as a leading man role, whatever that role may be. He was supposedly filming his new Ender's Game in my city, and I told all the girls at work that if he came by for any reason that they were to call me immediately.

    Also, I agree with the Indy review. It definitely wasn't the best one, but it was still fun to watch and unbelievable things have always happened and been accepted in Indy movies, so why is it the aliens freak out about. I appreciate that they tried to do a 50s B movie sci-fi things even if the classic 40s serial movies were more fun for me.

    Happy Birthday, Harrison, and many more to come!

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  4. Thanks for mentioning me in a post. I do wish he wouldn't make movies. Atleast that would be one less thing to be disappointed about.... besides that other thing I am severely pissed off about. ;)

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    1. I wasn't talking about you specifically although you are a good example. Plenty of other people get unreasonably angry with him and what he's done with his career and stuff.

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  5. If anyone should have drank from the fountain of youth, it was this guy.

    I actually I have a friend who is his neighbor up in Wyoming. My friend had invited my family up there a few years ago but I got sick. So my whole family went without me. :P

    I liked new the Indy too. Not the best, but it was still fun, and certainly not the heap of trash I see people making it out to be. Oh well.

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    1. Are their stories from this friend being his neighbor? Do tell! Maybe he wasn't there when you were supposed to go anyway. I feel like he doesn't go there much anymore, mostly in California.

      Yes, people are way too hard on that movie. For the wrong reasons, I think. One of my gripes is CGI. I feel almost queasy when I see the bugs in Temple of Doom. The rats and snakes aren't quite as bad for me but it is definitely nearly chilling to see Elsa with rats falling onto her (although I hate her so I don't care that much) But when the ants show up in Crystal Skull all I'm thinking is, oh, look at all of the giant cartoon ants.

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    2. Oh my goodness! His neighbor!?!

      I have a friend that's just getting into the "Hollywood" thing (she just went through an audition process and got a callback!) and one of our other friends said that once she gets famous she'll have to introduce me to Harrison Ford somehow. I decided that I would faint...but if I was at his house, then maybe I'd get to lay on his couch! LOL...I'd never wash those clothes again.

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    3. No real stories that I can remember him telling me. Yeah, I doubt he would even be around, but the stalker in me would just think it was cool to see where he lives. And I know it's beautiful up there.

      I know what you mean about CGI, but unfortunately it's just become a norm in modern film that I expect it. I know it's cheap and makes stuff "look cool", but like you said, my brain just thinks 'Oh, cartoons'.

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    4. Oh, I'd feel the same way, even if there was likely miles of empty land separating us, which I'm sure he owns. I wonder if he still occasionally volunteers his helicopter skills to help injured hikers? I could be an injured hiker ;)

      Exactly on CGI. How do movies made before it look more "real" than ones made WITH it? The Star Wars movies are an easy example. I was talking about this with my brother. Look at Jurassic Park, which was one of the first movies to REALLY utilize it, but in this case in a good way. That movie is almost 20 years old (wow, that is scary) and yet to me anyway it looks pretty darn good and there is no point during it where I look at it and go, look at the cartoon dinosaurs! They blended it perfectly. Why do they just insist on making everything cartoons now? I don't understand!

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    5. Lol!

      Jurassic Park is one of the few movies that used it properly. It's almost seamless. It's crazy how it good it still looks. Now that we've got hi-def, you do start to notice things, but still.

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    6. Oh, wow, on his neighbor. Dang.

      I hear you on the CGI. One of my gripes with the prequels and movies in general these days. And those ants in Crystal Skull were silly looking. Jurassic was pretty seamless with it.

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  6. Harrison as Han was my first crush, and I don't think any other actor has ever come close to how hot he was in his prime. He will always be my fav, and yes, he must be the hottest 70 year old around. And he'd probably be a little bit hotter if he lost that earring!

    If he hadn't have played Han? Well, I doubt I would even be posting here now. I cannot imagine anyone else in that role. For me Han will always be the character I remember him for, not Indy. And despite the fact that Harrison clearly doesn't rate Han as a character, I have always thought he had WAY more depth and is far more interesting than Indy. Never understood why Harrison prefers Indy.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRISON! :)

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    1. Good point on the earring. Has he grown out of it yet? That would be nice.

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  7. He's over three times as old as I am...but I still love him the same. LOL. And honestly, I really freaked out when I realized a few things a few months ago.

    When I was much younger, I must of had a crush on him as Indiana Jones. There's no doubt about that, but I never even knew Han Solo existed (terrible, I know), but when I watched Star Wars for basically, the first time, a number of months ago, it hit me! Han Solo is played by Harrison Ford, who played Indiana Jones. And the rest is history...although I now love him much more as Han Solo (I think it's the hair). Plus, it is true that no other actor could ever match up to his hotness....they just can't compare.

    Hmmm...would I be here if he hadn't played Han? Obviously not. I would probably think Star Wars was incredibly lame...because really, the only reason I love it so much is because of Han...and if Harrison hadn't played Han, I wouldn't like him as much (probably) and I wouldn't be here.

    Good point on the earring! Hopefully it will go away eventually! =)

    And a Han birthday story? I'll have to think that one over. I've been wanting to do a shorter story for a while now, and that sounds like just the ticket. =) We'll see how fast I can write that today.

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    1. You know I think it's great the younger generation are stil discovering how hot young Harrison was. None of today's band of "heart throbs" even come close. Glad to see that some of the young crowd have such good taste! :)

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    2. Haha, yep! It's totally true...no one comes close. If I had my choice between young Harrison and Justin Bieber (if I even spelled that right!)...it's Harrison all the way...and it always will be! LOL. =)

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  8. I take some pleasure in knowing I am his wife's age. Still hope for me with him (kidding about the hope thing, not the age thing).

    He is hot, was hot, and will be hot for years to come. I fell for him as Han and continued to fall for him as Doctor Jones and then so many other characters. I love that he has aged, makes me feel he is human and takes it gracefully.

    Happy Birthday Harrison.

    Big kiss for you, well ok for me as well.

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    1. Haha, I'm still quite a bit younger than his current wife, but each subsequent wife has gotten younger, so I feel as though there is still a chance for me ;) Although by the time I got him, probably nothing would work anymore.

      I think he still looks great, though. And I recall hearing in an interview they'd talked about dying Indy's hair for the latest one to make him look younger but they wisely didn't. Indy gets older, too, and they wouldn't be fooling anyone. So, yes, he has aged gracefully, although like most people I'm sure he wishes he were younger!

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  9. News from SDCC via twitter

    StarWarsBooks ‏@DelReyStarWars
    Announced Star Wars: Crucible by Troy Denning. A single book adventure featuring Han, Luke, & Leia post FotJ. #SWEU

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    1. Interesting. And from Denning too. Very interesting.

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    2. http://www.theforce.net/latestnews/story/SDCC_Del_Rey_Announces_New_Titles_146930.asp
      more information on Crucible.

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    3. Let's hope this book isn't the final adventure for one of them! I'm already slightly concerned why in all the times they mention the main trio, Han is mentioned first, it's normally never like this..it's always Luke, Han, Leia, but they insist on writing this Han, Luke, Leia. Why the emphasis on Han?

      Ok, I'm paranoid. And it's late, so I'm probably delusional. ;)

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    4. Claire, that actually passed through my mind briefly too. Probably nothing, but hmm...

      Thanks for the link, Seams!

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    5. Did you see there was a cover to it? Does say it's not the final cover, but goodness, they look so old. I hope we get more stories when their younger.

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    6. I had all the same thought too. I really was not very excited over this news, the first thing I asked my daughter who sent me the link was "who dies." It took me a long time to get over Apocalypse. I was really hoping for something along the lines of the Shadows of Mindor book or a complete rewrite of the entire EU :). And yah that cover. What annoys me the most is does Leia really have to wear jedi robes all the time, not very flattering. Kinda reminds me of the housecoats old women wear.

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    7. You guys are scaring me, my head didn't go there first! I doubt it though. I mean, why have a new book come out just to kill one of them? Honestly, this actually doesn't excite me at all. I love reading about them especially when it's Troy, but dear lord, how tired must those poor people be? Can't they have a little rest? Maybe it's just more stuff about Han and Leia being grandparents, or Jaina having a baby or something. I doubt that of course but they need some peace and quiet, even if Apocalypse didn't exactly end with everything in a great place.

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    8. Now it's morning I can think clearly.....they know how much fans analyse stuff in the lead up to book releases, so the emphasis on Han is probably a red herring and done totally on purpose, when it most likely doesn't mean anything.

      Death or not, this could be the Big Three's final adventure in print, then the younger generation take over full time. That will happen I think.

      But yeah, the cover is bad! They look ancient. To be fair though, they haven't really aged that much on book covers over the years. Luke still looks 20 something on most of them. But at least when they look young on the cover we conveniently forget how old they really are. And this kind of slaps you in the face doesn't it?

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    9. Ok, so what does the title mean? A crucible can be a large cooking pot, like a cauldron or it can also mean a very severe test or trial. I am guessing the title refers to the latter definition, which does sound ominous. But then you can't get anymore ominous sounding than Apocalypse can you? And no one died in that.

      The thing that keeps me thinking positive on this is this...who is the head honcho of Lucasfilm publishing now? Yes, the lady who used to write as Dianora. I cannot seriously believe that so early into her job she would approve the death of either Han or Leia, she would certainly have a lot of input to what the writers can and can't do, and I honestly don't think she'd be happy about that.

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  10. Thanks for the great pics, many of my favorite here! I agree about Crystal Skull; it does grow on you. Most people don't like Temple of Doom the first time either, but it is dark and funny after you've seen it a few times. The nuking the fridge scene never bothered me, though I wish some of the dialogue was better among Indy, Marion, and Mutt. And portraying Indy basically as an absentee, deadbeat dad (even though he didn't know, he should have)? Not the best choice.

    I am excited for 3 HF films next year! He has never done this much work at one time. He has consistently done one film per year and that's it. I hope he is not planning to retire anytime soon after one last year of making money. I know the divorce must have cleaned him out a bit and maybe he feels the need to replenish his savings, but I hope he's not planning to call it quits. That would be a very typical HF move. He's still got it. Maybe he can get that Oscar yet.

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    1. Agree on the deadbeat dad thing, that was one aspect of it I was not a fan of. We know it wasn't his fault because he didn't even know, but it seems unfair he never knew his son until he was 19 or whatever. I don't think he'd respond lightly to that! Although I'll be honest and say I do enjoy the quicksand... I mean, drysand scene when she tells him and the snake he has to use to get him out.

      I feel like he likes his work enough that he might not ever retire, especially if he can be picky, which he probably can be. People will always want him for things. I doubt though that he really needs the money. Yes, he had one of the biggest divorce settlements ever, but the man has his own private hangar for his fleet of airplanes. I have a feeling he's not strapped for cash.

      I think he'll get an Oscar eventually. It may only be honorary, but still. It does kind of suck though that he's never gotten one, though not many of his films were Oscar-type roles. He's far too iconic to never get one, though, even if it is honorary. Cuba Gooding, Jr. has an acting Oscar and Harrison doesn't? What?

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    2. I never understood why he wasn't nominated for The Mosquito Coast. I thought he was amazing in that, in my opinion his most Oscar worthy performance without a doubt.

      Oh, he'll definitely get that honorary Oscar, I've no doubt about that. But it would be nice if he got one for a specific acting role too.

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  11. Cute post, Zyra! I guess I should introduce myself.

    I'm Endless-Skyway on FF.Net, and I've followed both you and Push over there. I've been stalking (yes, stalking) this blog shamelessly for the past year, wanting to read all your Han and Leia goodness. Please excuse me if I start rambling about them, I am one BIG fan of H/L (excluding everyone else here). I have a blog on here (Lord of the Stars || Multi-Fandom Blog) but it's mainly about Star Wars. Of course. And I need followers.

    I'm really looking forward to Crucible (along with my other 36 Star Wars books, and yes I'm operating on the assumption that Crucible shall be mine) and I can't wait to see what Denning has in store for the Big Three this time. If it's their final adventure, I'd rather they more "retired" than one of them die.

    Although, watching Han weep over Leia's body... heart-rending.

    Zyra, Push, I just bought 'The New Rebellion' by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and it has SO MUCH H/L goodness! I won't spoil anything, but YOU NEED TO GET A REVIEW FOR IT UP SOON! It's seriously -the best-.

    Kso, I've rambled. Skyway out.

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    1. Welcome Skyway, glad you decided to delurk. Always good to know there are other H/L obsessed people out there. We are all in good company here.

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    2. Welcome, Skyway.

      Fear not, when the men in white coats finally show up, we will all be commited together. :)

      Have fun!

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    3. Hi, Skyway, and thanks for finally chiming in!

      I know on New Rebellion. To be honest I read it in April and had a review partly written for it before losing steam. I know I need to finish it because it's one of my favorites as well. It will get done eventually!

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    4. Welcome, skyway!

      Claire, do you think we could ask for our own ward? ;)

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  12. Oh we totally need our own ward!

    Can anyone with a good memory, and a keen eye for Harrison hotness help with this? I believe that when I saw The Fugitive at the cinema way back in the summer of 1993 there was a full body shot of Harrison in a pair of tight white briefs. It's during the scene where he ditches his prison overalls and shaves off his beard. It made quite an impression on me, because it was the first time I had ever seen Harrison on film without his trousers, not to mention that there was a rather impressive looking bulge in those tighty whities - and when you're sixteen, you tend to remember things like that, you know?

    Anyway, I patiently waited for the VHS release, planning on freeze framing said scene. But I was totally stunned to discover it wasn't there! Well, it was, kind of. Part of the shot remains, but it looks as though the camera has zoomed in ever so slightly, so that you only see him from the waist up, although from memory, you can just see the waist band of the briefs. Disappointed is not the word, and this has bugged the hell out of me ever since. Is there a conspiracy? Did they deprive us of what could be the most revealing shot of Harrison on film? But why would they do that? It doesn't make sense.

    Does ANYONE remember this scene in the cinema version? Or do I really need to be locked up?

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    1. Unfortunately I never saw it in the theater. And I do hope you're wrong only because I don't want to think I've missed out on something. But if I had seen that at 16 (or any age) I know it would've made an impression on me as it did you!

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  13. Claire, I remember it as him pulling on the jeans he just swiped, and a brief shot of briefs :-) but definitely not just waist up. If you need to be locked up so do I, although in my case it could have been wishful thinking and hormones as I was quite pregnant when I saw the Fugitive.

    On topic comment: Harrison made half price books happy birthday hunks list for July. I think theycould have picked a better pic though.

    Http://blog.hpb.com/hpb-blog/2012/7/18/handsome-hunks-of-july.html

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    1. You remember that? A full shot of those tightie whities? I may not have described it perfectly as not seen the film for a while. But there WAS something there, you agree?

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    2. It might not have been a full shot but it was definitely more than what the video had.

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