Sydney White Starring Amanda Bynes, Matt Long; written by Chad Gomez Creasey (Pushing Daisies); dir. by Joe Nussbaum Sony, 108 minutes, PG-13 DVD $19.99

This 2007 modern retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is now available on DVD with a good set of extras, including deleted scenes that genuinely contributed to the character development. Amanda Bynes plays Sydney, the daughter of a widowed plumber, who was raised in the company of construction workers after her mother died. (I loved the scene where her father is explaining the anatomy of puberty.) Sydney, who is just heading off for her freshman year at college, dreams of joining her mother’s sorority and making friendships that last a lifetime. But Rachel Witchburn, president of Kappa Phi Nu, who checks out her “Hot or Not” rating on her computer every day, is jealous of Sydney’s easy popularity with everyone, including Tyler Price of Beta Omega; so she banishes Sydney from the sorority on pledge night. Sydney moves into the Vortex, a ramshackle student housing overflow occupied by seven misfits, aka the dorks. They have the frozen Han Solo propped up against the wall, among other memorabilia, and they play poker for collectibles. These guys are great Sydney decides to challenge Rachel’s political stranglehold on the student council and forms the Freedom to the Seventh Power party, with the brainy Terrence/Doc as contender, who wins over many of the jocks with his ability to predict game outcomes and out-drink the champ at a kegger. As the campaign gains momentum, wicked Witchburn resorts to hacking and poisons Sydney’s Macintosh, deleting her term paper the night before the student council debate. The movie is full of charming scenes, such as the serenade with a quartet Tyler arranges for Sydney in her carrel, or the interplay between the kindly Lenny/Sneezy and legacy pledge girl Dinky. All the actors are fine in their parts, including the superlative Danny Strong, who was the diminutive Jonathan on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and here plays Gurkin/Grumpy. He should be cast as Miles Vorkosigan – and I was thinking this even before the scene where he goes over a wall with the ROTC guys. He’s got the looks, the height, and the acting chops to bring Miles gloriously and painfully to life. Hellooo, any Hollywood agents paying attention? – Chris Paige