Thursday, July 13, 2017

Happy 75th Birthday, Harrison Ford

Today, Harrison Ford is 75. That just seems unbelievable. Especially when you look at him. That photo is from like 2 weeks ago. Are you kidding me? I guess he seems a little more like 75 when you watch the video of him acting like basically everyone's grandpa when he can't quite manage to get through airport security without issue, and you realize he is old enough that he is not required to remove his shoes, but whatever. Then again I guess he should seem like 75 when you really think about just how long he has been doing this.

Now of course I do wonder, what's next? It's kind of strange because currently I don't think he is scheduled to do any more movies. Unless you count Indiana Jones 5, but I'll be honest, with the way that they keep pushing off production on that one my feeling is that they are almost purposely waiting so long that the general public will become a little more ok with replacing him with someone else. Oh, newsflash: we will never be ok with that. Just like we are not ok with replacing him as Han Solo. Nobody wants to see that happen. Either way though, I'm not particularly confident he will be reprising his role as Indiana Jones. That is just a personal opinion, and I'd love to be wrong! But come on, 75, what are you WAITING for?

Other than that, we've got the Blade Runner sequel coming out in October. And I'll see it even though I'm pretty sure it will be outrageously dystopian and a complete downer and I'll probably never want to see it again, but I do want to see him in another movie. It will be interesting to see if he signs on for anything else in the near future. I mean, it's not like he HAS to, since I'm sure he has way, way more than enough money. But he does claim to like to work.

So, happy birthday, Harrison. Thanks for being awesome in, well, most of your movies. And for looking something like this for so long:


50 comments:

  1. Ahhh, thank you for these pics! That middle one is my go-to photo for inspiration while writing certain scenes...heh.

    I can't believe he's 75 years old. But even more staggering to me is the fact that I still think he's hot.

    I do check myself sometimes; like, is he really hot or is my brain just doing some superimposition of his younger self over his 75-year-old face and body when I see current pictures of him?

    Then I look again and think, Nope. Still hot. =D

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  2. Definitely still hot. He's managed to age in that Sean Connery way, good for him.

    I hope he's having a lovely birthday, and I hope he's signed up for some more movies soon. He always anted to be a character actor, he proved in 42 that he's an awesome character actor (a friend of mine didn't even realize that was Harrison Ford until she watched the credits), and now Hollywood is only making sequels, prequels, reboots, and remakes of franchise movies. Time for Indy to do some indies or, even better, sign up for a Netflix or Amazon limited series.

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  3. Thanks for the yummy pics, Zyra! (I've not seen that top one before.) I will never stop wishing for a Harrison-specific time-machine, but he is certainly *the* hottest 75-yo I've ever lain eyes on. Happy Birthday, Harrison!

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  4. Happy Birthday Harrison! Looking good still...

    I'd forgotten he doesn't have to take off his shoes due to age, I thought he'd done the TSA pre check... Hell, he's used to flying the plane, not riding in it ;-)

    I keep thinking Indy 5 is just a ruse, to cover him back in Star Wars (because I will be that person!) I too doubt they'll ever get to it.

    This weekend is the big Disney shindig and Mark and Carrie will be inducted as "Disney Legends." Many fans have noted that they always have a "surprise" Legend and I believe it may be Harrison. For the first time, Mark tweeted a birthday greeting to him (and tweeted ANOTHER time based on an article in the Hollywood Reporter so....

    Here's the article, which contains Mark's original tweet:
    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-wars-han-solo-was-swindled-by-luke-obi-wan-original-script-1020829

    Here's Mark's newest tweet:
    https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/885621538178727936

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  5. You guys are funny. I also often wonder if he is a truly hot 75-year-old or if it is just that you can still see in him what he used to look like. But yeah, probably just still hot. I also forgot to mention that the earring is STILL missing, and has been since April. Could our prayers on that have finally been answered? Please tell me this is permanent!

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    1. When you look at that picture of Harrison and Mark and remember they're 74 and 65....and remember that when they made TFA, Mark was Alec Guiness's age when he did New Hope...

      Yeah, they look good! We've been kicking around on Tumblr that we need the adventures of Grumpy Grandpas Luke and Han (okay, neither are in the new movies but go with it)...I would love someone to give them a new movie to do. Hell, have them as "Luke and Han" propping up the bar in the next Guardians of the Galaxy (there's a terrific old Star Trek novel which had Starbuck and Apollo in a bar where the ST folks were).

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    2. Oh, man, that earring. Gah. When I see him sporting that thing and remember that he thinks it looks great, I fall out of love with him for a minute. But then I just look at the rest of him and it's all good. ;)

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    3. @cv73, I would loooooooooove a little cameo of the two of them in GotG. Not even a spotlit cameo; just have them (and Chewie) in the background of some bar/cantina scene, engrossed in conversation over a few beers. An "easter egg" that lasts like 3 seconds. Ahh, that would be sweet.

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    4. @zyra I'm sure that I'm projecting his old hot self onto his current self, but I don't even care. That said, he does fill out a t-shirt and jeans quite nicely still.

      I'd forgotten about the earring! I always notice it and groan inwardly when it's there, but when it's not, I apparently don't think about it. Didn't he get it in the first place in the 90s in response to one of his sons getting one, in the hopes that his kid would abandon it once he saw his dorky dad with an earring? I'm guessing Harrison kept that thing waaaay longer than his kid did.

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    5. @ErinD - wouldn't it be terrific? Somebody needs to get Mark and Harrison in something since Star Wars blew that chance.

      Isn't one of the stories he tells about his scar that he was trying to pierce his ear back in the Sixties and it hurt so bad he fell and scarred his chin?

      I think the earring looks goofy, but I thought he got it because Ed Bradley had one and he was hanging out with him? Who knows, he does have that son with all the tats... He hasn't been wearing it for awhile, he wasn't wearing it at Celebration. Maybe Mark gives him crap about it (I am SURE he and Carrie both did).

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    6. He got the earring in 1997 because I remember him saying he was 55. He said he was sitting at lunch with a few of his friends who were all men around his age (Ed Bradley probably being one, I believe Jimmy Buffet was another and I feel like there was even a third maybe) and realized all of them had earrings except him, so after lunch he went to Claire's, of all places, and got it pierced. After he got it pierced I guess his son wanted it too and he said he could get an earring when HE was 55. Of course an earring on that kid at this point would be kind of a drop in the bucket.

      cv the story about falling after piercing his ear was the story he told in Working Girl to explain the scar. First he told a different story and then he admitted he only used that because the real story was embarrassing.

      And yes, Celebration was the first time I noticed it missing, and I keep waiting for it to come back, because we know how I don't like to get my hopes up, haha. But it's been several months now, so I think maybe this really is the end of it!

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    7. Thanks Zyra! How bizarre I remembered the story from Working Girl as the real thing! Has he ever said the real story?

      Yeah, I remember Jimmy Buffet as part of the earring story too. I can see why he picked Claire's - as someone who got their ears pierced only a few years ago, that's where they tell you to go! (I guess Harrison had more success than I did - I ended up eventually going to a doctor who did a needle piercing before it "worked") I hope the person in Claire's realized whose ears they were doing (can you imagine, Ed Bradley, Jimmy Buffet and Harrison Ford come into your store???)

      Maybe Callista got him to quit with the earring or he just decided that for this milestone, he'd let it heal? ;-)

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    8. The real story of the scar? Car accident in his 20s. He was rounding a corner and had been trying to pull the seatbelt on and he hit a telephone poll and the belt cut across his chin. And he said whoever stitched it up must have never stitched anything before because they did a pretty sloppy job of it.

      I doubt Callista had anything to do with it. I'd think after being with him for 15 years she'd probably be used to it. Funny thing, right before Celebration, where the earring first was gone, he was in Fiji and apparently saw his buddy Jimmy Buffet. Maybe Jimmy ditched his so Harrison decided it was time, too? Maybe he's just tired of it? I doubt after 20 years he would finally come to his senses and just realize it looks stupid, but I guess stranger things have happened. Maybe when he starts doing lots of interviews for Blade Runner in the fall someone will ask him.

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    9. ACK! I knew that at one time...and actually, I have a scar under my chin that looks very similar, must have been the time (I broke my chin open twice in the early 70s as a child). Makes him look, as a novel I read years ago said, "well traveled and interesting."

      Maybe he got sick of bothering with putting the earring in. Hey, if he goes on Fallon again and it's not there, Jimmy'll probably ask, considering he pierced Jimmy's ear...

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    10. I have never been a fan of the earring. Glad to hear it's not there anymore. And, while Harrison really truly looks great for a man in his mid-seventies, I think objectively I really don't find men old enough to be my father truly "hot." That said, if I were a senior citizen, or even close to being one, Harrison would be one hot ticket~! LMAO.

      Harrison's hotness peaked for me in the 70s and the 80s. I've noticed in photos from the 90s onward I tend to think in terms of "pretty hot for an old guy" rather than the sheer unchecked lasciviousness of my response to what he looked like before then. That isn't to say that I am not mightily impressed with how he's aged. He's in fabulous shape and easily looks better than even much younger actors. I guess I'm just not really into men who are very much older. A little older is kind of sexy. Waaaay older? Yeah... not so much.

      Still I can only hope to look half as good when I'm that age!

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    11. Sometimes I think he peaked in the 80s, and then sometimes I see pictures of him from the 90s and I'm like... damn. I decided fairly recently that he had to be downgraded from "ridiculously hot" to just "incredibly attractive" really, coincidentally, sometime around when he got the earring. That was also about when he cut his hair like it was in 6 Days, 7 Nights and that wasn't my favorite either. So, with those two things, definitely SLIGHTLY less attractive, but, you know, still. Is he older than my father? Yes, absolutely. Does that sway how I feel about him? Sadly, no. I mean, it's been said he looks great for 75. Honestly, he would look pretty damn good for 55 right there. I keep waiting for him to finally really, truly start looking like an old man to me, but it hasn't happened yet.

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    12. Oh, he looks like an old man to me now. Just a really, really hot one! LMFAO~!

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    13. You know I love ya, LoveThis! and Zyra, but peak hotness definitely lasted into the mid1990s:

      [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EXzrPALSf4[/url]

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    14. Kels I love you too, and hey, Harrison Ford at any age is going to look great, but 90s Harrison and onward really does start moving into "hot dad" territory. Even though, technically he's been a hot dad all along, so it's more like "hot old guy" which he most definitely is IMO in that link.

      I mean, compare that to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPWu-XwRKus - at which point I just do an absolute OMFG, the man is so gorgeous I can't stand it.

      Anyway, he looks great no matter what. I'm kind of like Zyra. "Ridiculously hot" or just "incredibly attractive." Like the difference between the two is so slight, and still way above anything we could consider average for a human.

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    15. His lips are mesmerising. lololol

      I need to know, though; did the Inspector get Giles off the hook?

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    16. Agreed about that lip. Kinda hard not to watch the snarl, but gotta say - I like the early 1990s hotter-than-hot dad clip better. So you all can clone the 1969 version, I'll taken 1994 :)

      Oh, and who else noticed that the "Ford Finger" was already a thing in 1969?

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    17. Hey, I said he was at the peak of hotness all the way until 1997, so 1994 definitely falls in that stretch. I agree with Kels, I'd take 1994 Harrison over 1969 Harrison. I mean, I'd take either, of course, but if given the choice....

      And watching these interviews, first I love what a hurry he is always in to leave the stage. Also, there is a link to that Letterman interview from 1982. I really think that is basically THE best he ever looked, at any time. He just looks SO good there. Which is sort of weird because that had to have been either just before or just after they shot ROTJ, where he didn't look AS good to me. But, you know, still amazing.

      I think I'm overanalyzing.

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    18. This thread here is just so good! I really liked the way he looked in that 1977 RTS interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkg-KTXxLJ8

      It's true, I prefer the "younger" Harrison! But I agree he is fabulous at any age!

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    19. LoveThis! he does look REALLY good in that interview. Like, really, really good. Admittedly though looking back on a few of those while knowing what we know now, I do have a harder time watching him there looking Alpha AF as they say, and then Carrie around then when she wasn't Leia just somehow looks way younger, and so much more insecure. Just looking at her body language there, either her arms around herself or picking at her nails. It reminds me that as hot as the idea of Han and Leia is, I actually don't really like that 34-year-old Harrison had sex with 19-year-old Carrie.

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    20. Oh @Zyra, I thought the same thing too about Carrie in that interview. But then I decided to leave it alone because it's all in the past and just seems so sad. Especially looking at the interview footage. Carrie has such a baby face and just looks so young, so much more awkward and uncomfortable.

      That's why I ship the fictional characters Han and Leia and not at all the real people who play them in movies.

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    21. I agree that he's staggeringly handsome in that RTS video and also that Carrie looks very young, so it's a little squicky to think about what had gone on, but I also love that she also totally shows up the Alpha AF Marlboro Man by not needing a translator and speaking in French. Very Princess Leia of her. Loved that.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpf8O6NYvA0

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    22. I thought I loved Harrison at any age, but it turns out Harrison in his 20s does nothing for me. (I couldn't get past the lisp with those false-teeth!) However, 50-ish Harrison in the Leno interview got my ovaries jumping. Maybe it's because I'm slowly nearing the age he was when he gave that interview?

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  6. You know how goslings and ducklings are said to imprint on their parents (or a human, if being raised by one)? Sexual imprinting is "the process by which a young animal learns the characteristics of a desirable mate" (Wiki).

    I'm no psychologist, but I do sometimes wonder if, when ESB came out, I was merely at the right age to "imprint" on Harrison Ford as the epitome of a handsome, sexy man.... and that's why he still seems so attractive to me, no matter how old he gets. And even with that dumb earring (although I have to say, it does lessen his impact on me somewhat)!

    That doesn't explain anybody else's fixation, though! lol

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    1. LOL Erin I think you could be on to something. A LOT of us were at the imprinting stage in the early 80's!

      I'm quite certain Harrison and Pierce Brosnan are the images in my head when I write descriptions of hot men or evaluate my daughter's generation's celebrity crushes.

      It's a running joke when we go to movies or watch TV and I sigh wistfully that, for example, I am old enough to be Matt Smith's mother, I clearly have a thing for thin chests with no hair. of course since I ended up with a thick and hairy one, that just goes to show that love and list are not the same thing at all.

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    2. Oooh, science of why Harrison Ford is hot, haha. I mean, he could've very well imprinted on a lot of us. Even if I was too young when I first saw him, obviously I kept on watching those movies until I reached "that age" where suddenly I was like, oh, ok, isn't he nice to look at? I wonder what it would be like to be Leia and kissing him right now....

      Honestly, it sort of makes sense. Because think about movies you watch as kids and growing up. A lot of them are, well, KIDS movies. Directed at kids, there aren't really any subtle sexual undertones like we have in Star Wars or even Indy. But then a lot of us grew up watching these movies, and maybe appreciated them for different reasons when we were younger, until we started noticing the more "adult" themes in them, even if they weren't like, explicitly adult.

      And come on, JZ, hairless chests? This is one of my least favorite trends right now. Men, grooming is ok, but please, stop taking away ALL the hair.

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    3. Well, OK, Zyra, not so much hairless but a little hair as opposed to a furry vest.

      ;)

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    4. This is just another one of those things where HF is my model for perfection. See above photos for the perfect amount of hair a man should have on his chest ;)

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    5. That middle photo though. Really. The one in the middle.

      I think he must have started working out more for the Indiana Jones series. He looks lankier and less built in ANH. Not that I'd complain or anything, like sign me up for either one, but his physique did subtly change from the late 70s to the 80s. Think of that photo in the middle compared to him in the navy speedo: https://c1.staticflickr.com/2/1303/531085888_0203d1baac.jpg

      He definitely built up his shoulders and pecs. (And of course, um, it's not weird or pathetic of me that I've noticed this????? Naw... not at all...)

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    6. At some point in the 80s there started being a credit for "Body by Jake" as his personal trainers.

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    7. Oh, I've noticed too. I think he only really worked on bulking up when he did Temple of Doom. I mean, look at that photo of him from that. And even just compare it to him shirtless in Raiders. I know ladies, this is difficult research, but it has to be done. I think it's even relatively obvious if you think about what he looked like when he went into carbonite (before he shot Raiders) to when he came out (just before he shot Temple of Doom) I am sure I'm not the only one who feels like he got a bit bulkier in there. Probably became obvious he was going to have to start kind of regularly taking off his shirt in movies. And oh how we've all suffered because of it ;)

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    8. I have to admit though, I loved him lean and lanky in ANH and ESB. He looks noticeably bigger in ROTJ, and it's not because he actually "gained weight" or was less in shape, he just has more muscle mass. I kinda liked the lean look though for Han. It made him look scrappier and younger. Like you really could see this guy scrambling and hustling to make a living.

      Bah, who am I kidding. I'll take two of everything. Please!

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    9. I like all versions of Han. Of course he is best looking in ESB, but that does not mean I don't still love him in everything else.

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    10. I just love this thread. "Of course he is best looking in ESB, but that does not mean I don't still love him in everything else." @Zyra: same.

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    11. I'm glad we agree. I should also note that even though I think ESB Han is better looking than ROTJ Han, I also think that Temple of Doom Indy is *slightly* better looking than Raiders Indy. Slightly. Maybe. I think. Maybe it's just because he spends a more significant portion of ToD without his shirt though.

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    12. All right. That's it. Time to rewatch Temple of Doom.

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  7. Did the rest of you have any other fic couples before this one that intrigued you? Thinking back, I can't recall being interested in stuff like that. Prior to 1980, I was mostly into music (Blondie, Michael Jackson, Gary Numan woot!) and roller skating. lol So, H/L was the first fictional romance that captured my imagination. Huh. Maybe it was a form of imprinting....

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    1. Not really for me. I didn't even realize fanfic was a thing until I was 19 I think? I did read a few Mulder and Scully stories there first. I stumbled on it when looking for info about upcoming X-Files episodes, had no idea fanfic was anything and wound up on a site that had some 'shipper stories about those two. It didn't take me long at all to suddenly think, wait, if there are stories about this, there MUST be stories about Han and Leia and Star Wars, right? And yes, indeed, there were! I'm not sure I've looked at a Mulder and Scully story since.

      Before that I did really like Lois and Clark from the Dean Cain/Terri Hatcher TV series and if I'd known about fanfic when that show was on, I probably would've looked for stories on them. I can't think of any others at the moment that really intrigued me the way Han and Leia do, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone mentions a few and I'm like... oh yeah, I like them, too! I really don't look for fanfic about anyone else though.

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    2. When I first saw Star Wars I was an actual kid (not an adolescent, but in grade school.) I liked Luke and thought he and Leia were destined to be together (HAHAAA~!) I remember feeling annoyed that Leia got paired off with that other guy. Meanwhile my mom was all over Harrison Ford, both as Han Solo and Indy. It took a few more years to understand why.

      I don't entirely remember when I got into fan fiction. I might have been in college or actually maybe grad school. I was looking for X-files spoilers and found Mulder/Scully fic instead! (Again, my mom was the one who was addicted to it, and I didn't get it at first, until I watched a few episodes with her.) Then there was a phase where I was really into Han and Leia, but I moved onto other things, sometimes shipping TV/Movie couples, sometimes not even being involved casually in fannish things. I think I was into Buffy and Spike for a bit (so dysfunctional!) I also loved Neela and Ray on ER, and for a time I really wanted Padme to ditch that whiny blond stalker she seemed so enamored with and end up with Obi-Wan. (Because Ewan McGregor... as if that doesn't explain it enough?) I got back into Star Wars and Han and Leia sadly, in anticipation of the ST. (And then proceeded to have my heart ripped to shreds!)

      And for now? It's all the good writers (you all know who you are) that keep me engaged with this community. And I really like the way Harrison Ford looks, especially as Han. Carrie also looks so good as Leia. Aesthetically I'm into them as well as the characters and their romance. I like their age difference (10 years is sexy but not so large that it's creepy) and I love how each of their characters subvert and complicate what would otherwise be cringey gender stereotypes.

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    3. Han and Leia were the first because Star Wars was my second fandom after Trek, back in the day ::g::

      Funny there's mentions of Mulder/Scully - I find a lot of crossover fans of SW and XF. I found SW stuff on Tumblr because I was following XF fans so...

      The only other couples I've really stanned for have been Riker/Troi and Scarecrow & Mrs King, although I really never wrote any fic for them...

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    4. I think we had this conversation before about how there seems to be some overlap between Han/Leia and Mulder/Scully fans. I'm sure part of it is just that they are sort of in the same genre. BUT, personally my theory is that the main reason is that in both cases, the relationship part of it is not the focal point of the story, it is merely one aspect of it. And in both cases nobody is shown to be some lonely, longing soul who is actively looking for love. It just happens. They're individual people who happen to fall in love in their crazy situation. And I think that is one of the reasons at least I personally like both. I've never really been a fan of other stuff where the whole basis of the story is these two people trying to come together.

      Except wait didn't I mention up there I liked Lois and Clark? And yeah, that was kind of the whole point of that show. BUT, they were also solid individuals without the actual couple part, so I guess that makes it ok.

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  8. This is my favourite interview with HF He's so...calm. His voice is just dreamy. And the way he focuses on the interviewer is somehow hot as blazes (although there's no suggestion of sexual interest, as far as I can tell). He just listens so carefully, and gives thoughtful answers.

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  9. Speaking of great interviews - no video and it unfortunately cuts off too soon but this one is one of my favorites - you see how smart they all are and how they've thought about the movie:

    https://youtu.be/C7d1NnMjFDY

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  10. Earring Update:
    Still appears to be missing at ComicCon. You go, Calista, hide those earrings from your husband!

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    1. I have an urge suddenly to start a Twitter account from the perspective of Harrison Ford's lost earring. About how it misses him and doesn't understand what it did wrong.

      Except of course I am THRILLED that it is still missing!

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    2. HILARIOUS.

      DO IT DO IT DO IT.

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