An ‘Extraordinary’ red carpet

It’s not often that there are “red carpet” events here in San Francisco – and if they do happen, it’s very low-key. But when they do happen you bet your ass that I’m gonna be there. I see it as my civic duty.

Last night, people flocked to the Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio to greet some stars for a screening of Extraordinary Measures, a film starring Harrison Ford – who just so happened to be one of those stars. But we’ll get to him in a bit.

Extraordinary Measures is based on the true story of John Crowley (Brendan Fraser, his wife Aileen (Keri Russell) and their determination to fight against the odds to cure a disease threatening the lives of two of their children. Ford plays the unconventional scientist, Dr. Robert Stonehill – the guy who could possibly be the key to that cure.

I made the trek to the Presidio to go talk some of the fine folks that attended the screening including Takeo Spikes, Patrick Willis and Parys Haralson from the San Francisco 49ers.

Okay. I didn’t get a chance to talk to the sport folks. I am not exactly a “sports” person – but I did get to chat with figure skating and Dancing with the Stars sensation (and Bay Area native) Kristi Yamaguchi.

Check out what she had to say about her “maternal” connection with the movie:

Mayor Gavin Newsom and his wifey Jennifer Siebel Newsom also glided down the red carpet fresh off their trip from Bangalore and without their new little girl. Jennifer is currently working on a documentary whilst tending to their new addition and Gavin’s hair looked more voluminous than normal.

The red carpet turned eerily quiet when Harrison Ford stepped on to the red carpet. All you could hear was the water trickling from the Yoda fountain (which was appropriate for the star in question) in the background.

Luckily, I was able to get some words from Mr. Ford.

He talked about stepping into the role of a scientist:

He talked about creating his character…

…and after mistakenly referring to his character as a “real person”, he had to put me in check:

Busted me – but it’s not everyday that you get corrected by Han Solo.

Extraordinary Measures opens in theaters on January 22