Title: Sabrina (1995) Category: Romance Cast: Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, Greg Kinnear Rating: 3.5 stars An ugly duckling having undergone a remarkable change, still harbors feelings for her crush: a carefree playboy, but not before his business-focused brother has something to say about it. Years ago I watched the 1954 version of Sabrina, starring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, primarily because I share the name of the title. I remember liking this movie, despite my usual disregard for older films, and decided on a whim today to watch the newer adaption this afternoon. I'm not a typical romance movie viewer. I find a lot of modern rom-coms quite touchy, sexist and vaguely insulting. But despite the often sexist views of romance films, I really did like both this and the older adaption of Sabrina. I thought that this adaption was much more believable than the original, but perhaps it was my newfound love of Harrison Ford that biased me. I enjoyed the awkward portrayal of Sabrina before her trip to Paris, the blatant and unapologetic carefree, playboy nature of her love interest, David, and the cold, heartless tactics of his older brother, Linus.

I expected to dislike this movie, particularly when they showed the awkward, gangly Sabrina pre-transformation. I thought, oh no, it's going to be one of those movies I don't see half of because I'm busy covering my eyes to shield me from the awkward, but I don't think I shielded my face once, and I did like it. I was fond of the 90s models in rain gear, shooting in the middle of Paris, and the expressive faces and hideous clothing the Larrabee mother wore constantly. Sabrina's chauffer father was loveable and a typical Brit with an excellent sense of humor. Although I did wonder why Sabrina had an English accent, having been born and raised in America, in an American household with only her father's light English accent for influence.

So this is going to be my challenge journal. You'd never guess, but this is where I'm going to challenge myself to do  activities, join things, start and finishing things, and just generally do things I wouldn't otherwise without the motivation of crossing it off a list. I love making lists, and I love crossing things off even more. 
My initial inspiration for this was my friend Breeze's Year-Long Movie Challenge. For 365 days she is challenging herself to watch 250 movies across diverse categories. I'm going to adapt that challenge to better suit my time and interests, and also, to allow myself to also attempt other things (like a social life, work, school, and the gym) simultaneously. 

I'm winging this but here I go. I'm going to start with 50 movies, seeing as I rarely watch TV or movies. I'm more inclined to watch random episodes of TV shows, or finish seasons of things I bought four or five years ago. So, my categories are as follows.

(10) Romance / Rom-Coms
(05) Action / Adventure 
(05) Science Fiction / Fantasy
(15) Classics / Film Noire
(05) Book / Movie Adaptions
(05) New Releases
(05) Foreign Films

I think I should make some rules to go along with this movie challenge. Or this is gonna all go to hell.

1. Any given movie only qualifies under one category.
2. I have to watch my 50th movie by October 17, 2013.
3. Post a review with the movie. Get your opinion-juice flowing.

Okay, get going. Go, go, go!