One good turn deserves another as Shaun and Glen from the Counter-Blast Podcast join me for round two of Rhymes With Nerdy’s SciFi Showdown!

We discuss Jodorowsky’s Dune, which might go down as the greatest “What Might Have Been” in movie history and Jonathan Glazer’s starkly gorgeous film Under The Skin.

There isn’t really any comparing these two, unless you get down to the most basic level of what these guys do. They make Art.

Dune is one of the first SciFi stories I ever read. It was the ultimate gateway drug. I couldn’t get enough. The scope and breadth of the story alone are massive. An entire galaxy, thousands of years, the many lives of Duncan Idaho, Leto the God-King, the essence of life…Jodorowsky chose well in wanting to give audiences something that would replicate the effects of LSD without having to actually drop acid.

 

And just to prove to you what an enormous impact this story has had on Artists on AND off-screen, here’s a song from Grimes’ Dune concept album Geidi Primes.

While I can totally see how Jodorowsky’s Dune would have been the ultimate drug-free acid trip, I wouldn’t want to go ANYWHERE NEAR drugs before watching Under The Skin. Or During. Or after. Or like, ever.

This movie is deeply unsettling, moving, intensely beautiful and terrifying. Johnansson’s nameless character stands apart, observing us and all our noise until her curiosity gets the better of her, and we begin to see through her eyes what it means to be human. It’s a quiet, lonely experience, one that had me pondering for days after.

 

Winner: I’m going to have to go with Under The Skin, barely. But see them both, for sure.

And be sure to check out Shaun and Glen on Counter-Blast, now on iTunes! They also have a Facebook page!