News broke earlier this week that James Franco’s “Directing The Actor II” professor, Dr. Jose Angel Santana, is suing NYU after allegedly being fired for giving him a D. Santana claims the bad grade was given because James missed 12 out of 14 classes during the semester and that Franco was given special treatment because of his celebrity status. Santana was fired at the end of the semester, and NYU actually hired James “as a lecturer on how to adapt poetry into short films.” That little tidbit probably didn’t make Santana too happy.

I have a hard time believing that Santana was fired for giving James Franco a bad grade, especially knowing how much schools take into consideration student evaluations and other factors. It seems silly for a school to fire a professor based on a celebrity, especially given accounts from his other professors like R. John Williams, his English professor and advisor at Yale. Read More »

Remember when you were a freshman and lived in a dorm that smelled like mildew? Well check out Dakota Fanning’s freshman crib. She has a two-bedroom apartment all to herself. At many colleges, all freshman are required to live on campus, but I guess that doesn’t apply when you’ve been in The Cat in the Hat. It’s probably going to be amazing living in that apartment her freshman year, but she’s also going to miss a lot of things many freshman get to experience, so there’s a lot of pros and cons about having that apartment (although I would have totally taken that place if someone offered it to me freshman year). Read More »

Everyone knows Gossip Girl is not real. Unlike “The Hills” and “The City,” who try to play themselves off as reality, Gossip Girl is simply a scripted indulgence with a little over-the-top drama peppered in…every 5 seconds. Still, though, sometimes I’d like to think that this show, my guiltiest of guilty pleasures, maintains some semblance of what life is really like on the Upper East Side of New York City. That there really are people up there like Blair, Chuck and Damien. (OK, I think we all know there are people out there like Damien…there are a few of them living on my block.)

But last night’s episode made that nearly impossible. It was chock (Chuck?) full of obvious inconsistencies that took me back to the days of Saved By The Bell – The College Years, when I thought everyone was BFF with their RA (who looked like a wrestler) and could share a mega sweet with their friends from home. Let’s take a look: Read More »

See? Weird.

Talk about the British Invasion.

Yesterday, this post on Jezebel pointed me towards this utterly, utterly ridiculous Times of London article that claims college-bound British ladies are increasingly enrolling in American universities—primarily to meet “Ivy League educated males.”

The article is crazy enough that it blames “hit shows such as Gossip Girl, The OC, Dawson’s Creek and even Twilight”—yes, that noted television program, Twilight—for the pseudo-phenomenon it’s investigating. Author Luisa Metcalfe also cites Ivy League hotties including Barack Obama, Jake Gyllenhaal (both of whom went to Columbia. I’m just saying), and “aspiring Dartford College student Dan Humphrey” as bait for English girls.

I repeat: Dartford College. Never mind that Gossip Girl’s Dan actually ended up going to NYU, or that he originally wanted to go to Yale, not “Dartford”—Metcalfe actually writes the word “Dartmouth” just three paragraphs after she initially mangles the name of the beer-happy New Hampshire Ivy, so how did the term Dartford even make it into the final version of this article? Don’t they have copy editors across the pond?

And even if this article is right and female Brits are really applying to American universities just so that they can meet guys with argyle sweaters and perfect teeth—not, you know, because they want to get a good education at a top school—I have to speak up. Read More »

It seems to me that the more times goes on, the juicier Gossip Girl gets. It’s like chewing gum…only backwards. Which reminds me – have you tried those new Trident Layers? OMG I bought a pack last night at Target and that stuff is so good!

Ok, not the point.

Last night’s episode of Gossip Girl was good. Really good. Not only is there a pretty handsome new man lurking (and dealing drugs) on the Upper East Side, but Chuck Bass continued his streak as the good boy by protecting J-Humph from this bad boy’s ways. And if you didn’t totally swoon when Chuck told him off (something along the lines of, “I’m Chuck Bass and even Europeans know what that means”), you obviously have something seriously wrong with your libido.

But let’s get to the real good stuff. The stuff that can only come from an awkward threesome in Brooklyn. A love triangle that can only form once everybody has seen one another’s goodies/O faces. The kind of situation that Dan Humphrey would no doubt find himself in. Read More »

No, this photo is not of the 3some. Apparently the CW didn't think it appropriate to post those...

It was like any Monday night around here. I came back from the gym, had a little dinner, did a little reading and gathered with the roomies to watch some Gossip Girl. There was the usual Jenny drama (homegirl is such a bitch!), some witty banter, a funny ploy by Chuck to get Serena and Blair to make up (he just keeps getting dreamier)…and makeout, and ho-humness over at NYU.

But then, 35 minutes later, Olivia downed her shot of mysterious clear liquid and everything changed. (Including Hilary Duff’s clean-girl image!) First Olivia’s kissing Dan. Then Olivia’s kissing Vanessa. Then Dan is KISSING VANESSA!

Yes, this is the threesome we’ve been hearing about for a week now. Read More »

An NYU student was found dead at the library this morning.

Some celebs did it all wrong on Halloween.

Is there a J.Lo sex tape coming?

Angelina Jolie needs a cookie.

Kirstie Alley tries another weight loss idea.

Kim Kardashian gets a fist to the face.

That shapeless "dress" is what you get for lying to Dan!

I think we can all agree that it’s not nearly as fun watching Vanessa Abrams be a bitch as it is watching Blair Waldorf.  Mostly because Blair doesn’t normally get bogged down by remorse…at least not right away.

In an episode all about playing games, some people just didn’t know when to stop.  Take Vanessa being even more of a home-wrecker than usual.  As I watched her almost mess up the blossoming love between Dan and Olivia, all I could think about was how the dress that the wardrobe people put her in at the end of the episode was obviously punishment for her being selfish.  And my next thought: when did giving a speech at a Parents’ Weekend dinner become so damn important?

But as Vanessa, Blair, (and Olivia, though unbeknownst to her) battled it out for the right to stand atop the flowery podium at Parents’ Weekend, we saw too many claws come out. Perfectly manicured claws, mind you, but sharp claws nonetheless. Yeah, Vanessa can get off the hook quickly for what she almost did to Dan and Olivia – those Humphrey’s are incredibly forgiving people – but I can’t say the same for Blair and Chuck. Make him kiss a guy (which, by the way, was incredibly hot)? Fine. But lie to him and manipulate him to get what you want?

No one manipulates Chuck Bass. Not even Blair.

And the same goes for Serena, which Nate Archibald may find out the hard way. Before I get into this little Rounders-meets-Gossip-Girl storyline, I’d like to take a moment to welcome Nate back to the show. For the past 5 episodes he’s taken a backseat with Bree Buckley and we haven’t seen much of his cuteness. I know he wasn’t pregenant/post pregnant like Lily Bass, so I wonder what was keeping him from the screen? Meh, it doesn’t matter; he’s back….and falling in line with the family once again. Read More »

Yesterday was the best day ever.

First, my Communications teacher decided to show Gossip Girl in our class and then the CW broadcast a fabulous new episode and finally developed the “Rufus Humphrey’s kid is hiding out in New York” plot line.  Oh, and I got to see Dan Humphrey do a Walk of Shame.

Yay, life.

Ok, so yeah, I was jumping up and down when Scott was finally ready to admit who he was. And then the moment actually happened – or didn’t. Turns out that Scott kid is more Humphrey than I thought – he didn’t have the balls to come out and tell the Humphrey-clan his true identity. The only one who knows right now is Vanessa, and, let’s be real, that girl can’t keep her mouth shut for an entire subway ride to Brooklyn. (Disclaimer: I really don’t like Vanessa and will take every excuse to bash her.)  As soon as she learns the smallest of details, she has to go spilling it to everyone and poor Scott’s life is going to be turned up-side-down.

Does that mean that hottie will be back for more episodes? We can only hope. Read More »

Thank you, television Gods.

For a week there, I thought that my beloved Gossip Girl was destined to go the way of The O.C., becoming a drama where the only superior things were wardrobe choices. But after watching episode two of the season, it seems that the drama and romance we cannot live without is here to stay and growing better by the week.

And the guys are looking so. much. hotter. College did those boys gooood.

Well, for some. For Chuck Bass it was that businessman/entrepreneurial drive that turned up his sexy factor. That boy looks good when he’s holding meetings with rich old guys to get his restaurant/sex club off the ground. Too bad dear old stepsister Serena seems to thwart him at every turn. Poor Chuck finally has a vision and a plan to do something great in the future and Serena goes and ruins it for him.

If she didn’t have such an amazing wardrobe (that orange romper? I die) I’d totally hate her. She’s become the annoying little sister and has a knack for messing everything up. I’m pretty sure the same will be said (in 4 episodes, max) of her new relationship with super hottie, Carter Basin. Read More »