The Checkout Counter #42
May 2026

Children of Men

Sorry to Bother You

Children of Heaven

happy june! may had such perfect weather—don't think i ever really appreciated it until now. how fortunate to be able to enjoy a stroll around town every day.

thanks for reading and until next time 😎

Film

  • Central Station (Central do Brasil), 1998
    Drama. A retired school teacher helps a boy on his journey to find the father he never knew.
  • Children of Men, 2006rewatch. i last saw this at a very impressionable age nearly twenty years ago, which is wild considering how much of the imagery i remember. it sure left an impression!

    revisiting this movie in 2026, just a year before it's set, feels so visceral and makes me acutely aware of being in the present. this is the kind of filmmaking that makes me leap out of my seat and yell how the hell did they do that, how on earth was this made, etc. the long takes have been discussed and dissected to death but they really are that good! it's infuriatingly good.

    what isn't as talked about is that this movie is also really fucking funny in places, in spite of everything. people are still going to be funny when the world's ending.

    i could go on and on and on but this review really puts it best: it "activates my fight or flight response more than a movie should be capable of doing and leaves me lying awake at night with the restless urge to make the world a better place. What more could I possibly ask from a movie?"
    Scifi, thriller, action. In 2027, when an infertility crisis leaves human civilization on the brink of collapse, a former activist helps an immigrant woman escape the totalitarian police state of Britain.
  • Y Tu Mamá También, 2001coincidentally watched this on mother's day and had no idea the title was a "your mom" joke until they said it in the movie. got em.

    all i knew about this before going in was that it's the horny threesome roadtrip movie, so naturally i was heartbroken by the ending. the universal ache of sharing such special experiences with people you'll never see again...!
    Romance, drama. After graduating high school, two teenage boys and a married woman embark on a summer roadtrip.
  • Sorry to Bother You, 2018soo fun. and real and scary. lakeith stanfield is very charming. i do wonder about an alternate version of this story where the more overt scifi bit is pared down and cassius's selling out/his friends' union organizing remains the focal point.

    looking forward to i love boosters and everything else boots riley conjures up next!
    Scifi, comedy. When his underpaid telemarketer coworkers go on strike, Cassius Green lands a coveted promotion and gets thrust into the nightmarish, corporate world of Power Callers.
  • Real Women Have Curves, 2002i'm usually averse to high school coming-of-age dramas so this was a breath of fresh air. the specificity of ana's story and the loving way los angeles is shot makes this simple narrative really work. america ferrera is such a star.
    Drama, comedy. Ana's dreams of going to college clash with her mother's traditionalist expectations.
  • Children of Heaven, 1997 (بچه‌های آسمان)
    Drama. A brother and sister share a single pair of shoes.
  • Moonstruck, 1987i'm always so fascinated by how italian americans are portrayed in hollywood lol. the constant cooking and eating, the chaotic family gatherings around dinner tables, the melodrama. very much a shared experience across immigrant american communities.

    cher is so stunningly hot with gray-streaked hair i was aghast when she got rid of it in the makeover scene. so it goes.
    Romance, comedy, drama. As Loretta falls for her fiancé's estranged brother, she soon learns that she isn't the only one in her family with a secret romance.

Music

Articles & essays

  • Museum of the Home, Gabrielle de la Puentenice to be able to put the odd, temporary feeling of apartment living into words. i keep an old, extra suitcase and sturdy cardboard box around because i know i'll have to move eventually—and of course "eventually" could mean several months to a decade.
  • Invisible Services, Jonny Bunning
  • From My to Me, Olia Lialina"Making links being the node was the duty, the reason or an excuse to be online. You are maybe not an expert in anything, you are not a fan of anybody, but you can provide links to others and that’s a noble role."

Blogs

Games

Around the web

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