Why are Archers So Popular?

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Guest Contributor

While watching “Hunger Games: The Mockingjay, Part One,” my mind wandered. When Katniss Everdeen gets her new set of arrows (this is not a spoiler, is it?), some are explosive – “trick” arrows, similar to the ones used by Oliver Queen on Arrow or Hawkeye in The Avengers.

When these characters came to mind, I started to sense a pattern. In the 21st Century, people love archers: Legolas in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films; Green Arrow on both Arrow and Smallville; Hawkeye over at Marvel is experiencing great popularity both on the silver screen and in the pages of his own comic; Neytiri from James Cameron’s Avatar; Sterling Archer; Merida from Pixar’s Brave and Katniss offer girls positive role models, while Hanna maybe not so much. I think there’s also a girl who shoots arrows in the Narnia movies, but I’ve never seen those. I started to think about why these archers are so popular.

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Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

It takes a real out of the box thinker like director James Gunn to really approach “Guardians of the Galaxy” with a fresh sense of vision that doesn’t make it feel like a stock space epic. Truly, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is the most complete Marvel movie since “The Avengers.” It adopts the quirks and flash of the Marvel universe, while also introducing us to a group of complex and truly interesting rejects that become saviors of the universe thanks to colliding fates and unusual circumstances. Suffice it to say “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a near masterpiece, and one with an amazing soundtrack. Rather than sidestepping everything from the comic, director James Gunn embraces the fun of the diverse alien bunch, while also injecting his own demented dark comedy.

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

“They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

Ed Brubaker’s acclaimed source material is the basis for “The Winter Soldier,” a remarkable and incredible follow-up to 2011’s “Captain America.” I’m very secure in declaring that “The Winter Soldier” is the “Empire Strikes Back” of the Captain America trilogy thus far, as the sequel manages to not only give Captain America the much needed conflict with his American ideals, and age old views on the concept of freedom and liberty, but turns him in to a hero who is no longer fighting for America, but for the idea of America. “The Winter Soldier” picks up right after “The Avengers” where Captain America has essentially taken to SHIELD headquarters as a home base, and doesn’t really keep in touch with his old teammates.

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All New Ghost Rider #1 and #2

Posted on April 12, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

I appreciate the fact that Marvel are appealing to a more diverse audience of readers by turning their more dynamic characters in to alternate versions more interesting and complex. Surely, there will always be a place for the eighties Ghost Rider, but “All New Ghost Rider” is pretty fantastic in its own right. It dares to change the entire mold of Ghost Rider and manages to build a titillating and complex look at a corner of the Marvel Universe rarely explored: The lower class struggling to get by. Mostly though I appreciated Felipe Smith’s writing abilities, as he touches upon a lot of elements growing up in inner city neighborhoods. Robby Reyes is a high schooler caring for his disabled little brother alone, and in one scene there’s gun fire in the distance, followed by police sirens. “Remember, we never go outside when we hear firecrackers,” Robby tells his brother Gabe, after convincing him the gun fire was firecrackers.

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Captain America (1979)

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Oh Reb Brown, where would cinema be without you? Without Brown, we wouldn’t have had the 1979 Television movie “Captain America,” a movie so inept, it can’t even mimic Evel Knievel well. Brown is Steve Rogers for some reason, who came back from the war, and now drives around in a very kick ass van that also sports his favorite motorcycle. He’s a an ex-Marine/surfer/artist/motorcycle racer who also happens to be involved with a scientist developing a new formula for super strength (with the acronym F.L.A.G.), so while he’s helping develop a potentially groundbreaking formula for humanity, he is constantly moping around about the war and his lack of money. The sad fact is that the serum can only work for the Rogers blood line. Why? Because it’s a Captain America movie.

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