Revenge of the GDIs

GDI defined, courtesy of the Urban Dictionary.

Doesn't open until next month, but I saw a sneak of Sydney White Tuesday night. The title seems kinda generic; you get a better sense of the plot from the working title, Sydney White and the Seven Dorks. (But then, look at the alternate definition of dork.)

As the title character, Amanda Bynes plays to her strengths; her off-kilter character seems downright normal compared to the company she keeps. Spurned by the sorority that her late mother claimed as home, she sets up shack with 7 social outsiders and seeks revenge. I'll admit it was kind of fun to pair each dork with his respective dwarf.

The movie has clever, modern variations of all that fairy tale's elements -- evil witch, Prince Charming, heigh-ho, mirror mirror, poisoned apple. It gets a little Revenge of the Nerds by the end, albeit a PG-rated version. Derivative, yes, and I could have used a Ted McGinley sighting, but not a bad way to spend an evening.

Put it this way: it was a vast improvement over A Cinderella Story. Could we be seeing a new film genre? Maybe, but I'm not holding my breath for Lindsay Lohan's take on The Little Mermaid.