Welcome to the sophomore installment of our recurring feature in which I’m accepting viewing or reading suggestions from MCC readers and sharing my results in the interest of entertainment science. Today’s suggestion came from Senator Brett, photographer and Thought-of-the-Day thinker extraordinaire.

Today’s subject: Dredd, the movie industry’s second attempt to adapt the iconic British comics character to the silver screen. The first attempt had okay visual effects, Sylvester Stallone reprising Cobra in funnier clothes, and Rob Schneider. Incredibly, the new version has fared even worse at the American box office, possibly because of rampant fears of an uncredited Schneider cameo.

What I knew beforehand: In a post-apocalyptic future, the grim and gritty Mega-City One sprawls across the land, contains hundreds of millions of inhabitants, too many of them evil. Whatever government remains has essentially given up on ruling and created an army of Punishers — duly authorized judges, juries, and executioners. The savings to taxpayers must be enormous. Judge Dredd is the best and angriest of the bunch. One of his frequent coworkers is Judge Anderson, a blonde with psionic powers. They kill crime.

Continue reading →