| AMANDA BYNES LOWERS HER IQ
Sydney White is an Amanda Bynes comedy that shows the after-effects that a long-running TV sitcom can have on an actress. The snappy, quick-on-the-uptake Bynes of She's the Man is missing in this college update of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Some of that is editing, and a lot of it is script. After all, she was funny enough in a supporting role in last summer's Hairspray. But her Sydney is a low-wattage star performance in a movie that sorely needs the perky Bynes of a pre-What I Like About You live "studio audience" plus laugh track. She's just off. Sydney is a girl raised "by construction workers," she says in her opening narration. Her widowed dad (John Schneider) did the best he could. But she's wholly unprepared to go to Southern Atlantic University and pledge with the Kappas, her late mother's beloved sorority.
‘Sydney White' can't lift Amanda Bynes out of cutesy TV clichés
With "Sydney White," former teen TV sensation Amanda Bynes makes a bid for grown-up stardom. In this case, "grown-up" means her character is still a teenager (but old enough to be in college) and is surrounded by mild PG-13 content. She can't be TOO adult if she wants to keep the "Amanda Show" fan base happy. Bynes' title character is a classic misfit, a down-to-earth tomboy starting her freshman year at a sunny Florida university. Her late mother was in a sorority, but Sydney doesn't quite fit the mold, having been raised by her dad (John Schneider) around his construction crew pals. She's more comfortable with comic books than beauty magazines, and when she tries to pledge as a legacy candidate, she runs afoul of the house's snooty president, Rachel (Sara Paxton).
Sydney White
Amanda Bynes takes another step from kids� movies into teen movies, playing a fresh-faced young college student who heads off to college, only to find that the sorority her mother was a member of is no longer exactly civil. Can Sydney survive sent off amongst the nerdy rejects? Joe Nussbaum directs. .
Do pay raise memories linger?
Has the fire gone out of Pennsylvania voters over the July 2005 pay raise for judges, legislators and some executive branch officials? We'll have two chances to find out, one on Nov. 6 and one on April 22. In November, Supreme Court Justice Tom Saylor has to face voters for a 10-year retention election. Even though he was the lone dissenter a year ago when the Supreme Court upheld the pay raises for 1,000 state judges, his critics note that he still took the raise, and some groups are calling for his ouster. Now another incumbent politician, Sen. Gibson Armstrong, R-Lancaster, is facing a challenge. He has an opponent in the Republican primary for Senate next April, at least in part because he voted for the pay raise (which was later repealed for legislators and cabinet officers).
Electra, Pelfrey at fundraiser
Carmen Electra will be the main speaker at the Humanitarian League's "Toasting the Stars" black-tie gala Nov. 3. "She's a very charming person. When I met her, I could sense she really wants to give back and help," said Jan Malley, Humanitarian League founder. She said Electra, who grew up in Sharonville as Tara Leigh Patrick, has waived her speaking fee. .
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