Author: Mary Miracle

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Conventions Film/TV

Arrow Stars to Shoot into Philly’s Wizard World Comic Con

"Katie Cassidy & Stephen Amell" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

As you may recall, I’m a huge fan of the annual Philadelphia Wizard World Comic Con. This year, I’m as excited as ever. The wonderfully fun-to-watch stars of the CW’s Arrow are on the guest list. Yes, both Arrow (Stephen Amell) and Laurel herself (Katie Cassidy) will be appearing!

Arrow screencap by Mary Miracle

If you haven’t checked out Arrow yet, I’d recommend doing so ASAP. This superhero show does get suspenseful but isn’t always serious. You gotta love a show in which multiple characters know the lead’s secret identity, which is mainly covered by green eye makeup.

Stephen Amell from the CW

Amell can portray Oliver Queen skillfully in both the present and in flashbacks when he was still a spoiled rich boy. Not to worry, he’s not really like that anymore, due to “5 YEARS ON THE ISLAND!” Oliver, aka the Arrow, aka the Hood is one hell of a vigilante. His parkour game is on point.

Arrow screencap by Mary Miracle

Katie Cassidy plays attorney Laurel Lance. She’s one tough cookie. Of course, Oliver and Laurel have a history. It’s awesome to be able to watch Ms. Cassidy regularly. I’ve been a fan of hers since her role in the Black Christmas remake. 

Getting the chance to meet two of the fab stars of Arrow is one of my top reasons for attending the Philly Wizard World show this year. It could only get better if Diggle were enlisted.

This year the Philadelphia Wizard World Comic Con runs May 7-10th. For info about all of Wizard World’s conventions, visit the Official Facebook Wizard World page.

Categories
Film/TV Movie Reviews

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: X-Men

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Anna Paquin as Rogue in X-Men, screencap by Mary Miracle

This shot is my choice for The Film Experience’s X-Men Hit Me with Your Best Shot series. In this series, we choose a shot from a movie that is in some way meaningful to us.


I had to go with this shot because of the relationship between Rogue and Wolverine in X-Men. X-Men is a visually stunning movie, especially considering that it is now 14 years old. Wow, time flies.

However one of the things that have always stood out for me is both Anna Paquin’s fantastic performance as Rogue and her tenacity in dealing with Wolverine. In Rogue, we have a character who is fearful of herself but not so much of hunting down the seriously tough Wolverine, in a dive bar so dangerous that I might not even visit.


Despite her fear of injuring others with her power, she can’t help but run to Wolverine’s side during a night terror. In the scene above we see him accidentally stabbing her due to a protective reflex in his sleep. Even in this situation, she is strong enough to come to terms with things quickly enough to heal herself from this deadly injury by feeding off of Wolverine’s power.


Of course, she hasn’t mastered her ability yet and is lucky not to kill him but we all have to start somewhere. I bet there are Freudian explanations of this scene out there equating it to penetration but I would disagree. Yes, there is unrequited sexual tension between them (since she’s a teen & he’s much older) but this is more about trust and friendship.


If you are one of those naysayers who hate True Blood and hence disparages Paquin’s acting, I urge you to watch not only this movie but her 90′s work. She’s always been quite talented. Dislike Sookie, if you want, but don’t blame it on Anna.

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Fashion

Style File: Like a dungeon dragon

white floral hair clip-The Dollar Tree, NYC Color Expert Last Lip Color in Forever Fuschia-courtesy of Influenster, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Polish in Pat on the Black-courtesy of Influenster, Barbie necklace-courtesy of CBT’s Closet, SmartHealth Walking FIT pedometer watch-Amazon

Last week I decided to go out and sing some karaoke, which I love to do. I don’t do it nearly enough though. I often go with a boob top when going out, to steal a phrase from “Must Love Dogs”. Luckily I recently bought a fun Nicki Minaj top from Kmart for a great price.

Nicki Minaj Peplum Bra Top -Kmart, Luxury Blues acid wash jeans-Dots

Tyra would hate this no-neck shot.

So I built the outfit around that. I added some kick-ass 80s throwback jeans from DOTS (RIP) and I had to go with my old Barbie necklace on this one. I mean, it’s the obvious choice. It’s Nicki Minaj for Pete’s sake.

Beau & Ashe Pedal sneakers in Pink-ShoeDazzle

Obviously, the lighting on my staircase sucks but I had to have a pic that includes my shoes. That’s just who I am.

Mary Miracle by Mary Miracle

I had a decent, not great time. I sang two songs so I did accomplish that, which was why I went. I sang One Piece at a Time by Johnny Cash and later My Favorite Mistake by Sheryl Crow.


On the way home I took a selfie with this giant Ten Commandments sign in front of a local church because I find it ridiculous when sober and hilarious when drunk I know, this is an awful angle for my face, but I don’t care, it still makes me chuckle.

Note: There used to be a Polyvore set here to show you where to get a similar look, but Polyvore went under.

Categories
Conventions Film/TV

2013 Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con: Q&A with Lost Girl’s Kris Holden-Ried

Kris Holden-Ried Q&A at 2013 Philly Wizard World by Mary Miracle

Kris Holden-Ried is a good-natured actor who is currently known for his portrayal of Dyson on Syfy’s Lost Girl. I was lucky enough to catch his Q&A and later meet him at the 2013 Philadelphia Wizard World Comic Con. Lost Girl recently finished airing its third season.

In case you aren’t in the know, Lost Girl is about a succubus who learns that there is a whole world of magic within our own. Kris plays Dyson, a police detective/werewolf. He mentioned that the cast is gearing up to film the fourth season this upcoming week. He just managed to squeeze this con into his schedule. The Q&A was moderated by Dr. Rebecca Housel.

Filming was allowed at this Q&A but Hot Donna and I had some technical issues. So while we were only able to film a few snippets of the Q&A, which you can watch below, we also took notes.

A few choices anecdotes:

fan: “Who was the biggest practical joker on set?”
Kris: “I’ve been known to walk onto set without my pants on.”

Kris: “I would definitely do superhero roles.”

Ried loves playing Dyson.

He has great on and off-screen relationships with both of the main actresses, Anna Silk and Ksenia Solo (who play Bo & Kenzi).

While he doesn’t feel that he’s been typecast thus far as a werewolf in both Lost Girl & Underworld: Awakening (2012), he wouldn’t take a similar role soon.

He is a fan of Games of Thrones. He’d like to appear on the show if it weren’t for scheduling issues with Lost Girl.

“I like everything from classical to rap.”-Kris Holden-Ried
Kris Holden-Ried, Donna Allis (left), Mary Miracle (right), Photos by Mary Miracle and Donna Allis

Donna and I both purchased photos with Kris at his table on Saturday and Sunday, as he’s fun, friendly, and sexy. The first time I mentioned he was hilarious at the panel, which he seemed to like. The next day I complimented him on his hat. He replied that it was his bad hair day. I said “Nah, you don’t have bad hair days” and he said “self-inflicted”.

Mary Miracle, Kris Holden-Ried, Donna Allis

His convention manager, Holly Evans, was personable and even remembered us when we returned for another photo on Sunday. She told him that we were back, it was slightly embarrassing but funny. I said “yeah, we’re here every day” and he said, “me too”.

A press pass to the convention was provided to me gratis from the awesome PR team at Wizard World. For more info on upcoming Wizard World conventions please visit the Official Wizard World Facebook page.

Categories
Film/TV Movie Reviews

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: The Talented Mr. Ripley

Matt Damon in the Talented Mr. Ripley, screencap by Mary Miracle

This post is for The Film Experience’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot series. This series concerns choosing a shot from a current film that has been chosen and sharing why it’s your favorite shot and/or in some way important to you.

The Talented Mr. Ripley was released in the late ’90’s. While I don’t think that the ’90’s are a particularly important time for movies in general it was important to me. It was in the mid-’90’s, as a pre-teen, that I realized how much movies meant to me. Before that, I wasn’t old enough to care about any movie that wasn’t just pure fun, a drama like this wouldn’t have appealed to me. Luckily I grew up.

The Talented Mr. Ripley is a long, yet fascinating film about sociopath Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) who is adept at studying and mimicking others. He uses this to his advantage when during happenstance he meets a rich father who hires him to bring his fun-loving son who has traveled abroad back to the US. The man assumes that he went to school with his son due to what he is wearing and sensing an opportunity he doesn’t disabuse him of the notion.

He studies up on the son, Dickie Greenleaf’s (Jude Law), interests to figure out how to endear himself to him after arranging a faux meet-cute. The only thing that I really find silly about the film is that Damon isn’t really considered one of the beautiful people (hence he wears glasses, ah!).

Tthere are many important moments in the movie. However, Tom often seems to wear a blank expression during key moments, which is what I often go for. Despite this, it was still difficult to choose a scene.

I chose the above scene as at this point in the movie he is going back and forth between playing Ripley and playing Dickie Greenleaf. To me it seems as if he’s looking in the mirror to see which he is playing at.

Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley, screencap by Mary Miracle

I also almost chose this last scene which is amazing but probably pretty obvious.

Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley, screencap by Mary Miracle

and just for fun…gratuitous, shirtless Jude Law

The Visual Index for this challenge is here on the Film Experience.