Page 2 March 26, 2020 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
By Ryan Rojas for cinemacy.com
While movie theaters remain closed through
this ongoing period of social-distancing, we
can look to the abundance of films that are
available to watch across all streaming platforms
(though do support your local cinema
through the purchase of gift cards, if you can).
For this week’s review, I want to take the
opportunity to recommend something that is
currently available to stream, yet is something
that you may have yet to see or even have
added to your queue. But at only fifteen minutes
long (did I mention that it’s a short?), you
should feel comforted to know that you won’t
be outside of your comfort zone for too long.
Now streaming on Netflix, Anima is a musical
short film from Radiohead lead singer Thom
Yorke and filmmaker Paul Thoms Anderson.
Where one could liken Anima to an extended
music video, Anima really does operate as a
short film. Ambitiously abstract and conceptual
in nature (the film touts itself as a “mindbending
visual piece”), Anima is a loosely
narrative story of an unnamed man (Yorke)
who, amidst the dream-inducing drudgery of
working-class life, finds a woman (Dajana
Roncione) only to lose her, and attempts to
find her again through obstacles and oppressive
forces.
I’m not exactly sure why Anima feels like
the right film to recommend this week, given
the state of everything right now. But as I
think through it more, I find that a few things
leap out at me since I’ve recently watched it
than when it first started streaming last year
(I first saw it at an advanced screening at an
IMAX theater). Quite simply, the thematic
undertones of Anima dramatize how, through
the society we’ve created and actively participate
in, that we have grown to sleepwalk
through a mechanized, spiritless life. The
amazing choreography (by Damien Jalet) sees
a host of dancers envelope Yorke throughout
the piece (with Yorke evoking Buster Keatonlike
comedy), and blend movements that are
a battle between the soulessly dazed and the
spiritually awakened.
I don’t intend nor wish to hide the fact that I
am also a fan of both Yorke and Anima’s filmmaker,
Paul Thomas Anderson (if you need a
further recommendation of a film to see, make
sure you’ve seen the rest of Anderson’s films
including The Master and Phantom Thread).
Beyond the film’s other artistic credits (with
projections by Tarik Barri and photography
by the great cinematographer Darius Jhnodji),
Anima leaves the viewer with a very real sense
of what dreaming through real life can feel
like. Now feels like a moment where we’ve all
woken from a shared, comfortable dream, and
must reassert how we wish to live our lives
now that we’ve awakened. 15 minutes. ‘Anima’
is not rated. Now streaming on Netflix. •
Douglass
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Obituaries
Mary Roanne Mahony
Long time El Segundo resident,
Mary Roanne Mahony (nee
Blakeman), born May 29, 1931
in Los Angeles California passed
away peacefully at her home in El
Segundo. She is survived by her
sister, Marvel Blakeman Kirby
(Montecito), daughter Roanne
“Maggi” Sikking (Scotland),
son Mitchell Bonn Mahony
and wife Mary (Texas), four
grandchildren, Florence Millett-
Sikking de Valladares and husband Cesar
(El Segundo), Alfred Millett-Sikking (San
Francisco), Leah Jackson-Blake (Norway),
Robert Jackson (Scotland) and nine greatgrandchildren.
Roanne was born to Roland
and Maxine Blakeman (R.B. Drug) and
moved to El Segundo in 1937. She graduated
from El Segundo High School in 1949
and went on to graduate from UC Santa
Barbara in 1942. After a brief marriage to
James B. Sikking, Roanne married Francis
James Mahony. Roanne’s creative career
included modeling, and perfecting the art of
Trompe-l’oeil painting. She also
held high-level clearance working
at the Rand Corporation in
Santa Monica. In 1984 Roanne
and partner Brenda Newman
created a “start up” called The
Jewelry Source. Roanne went
on to earn her degree from the
Gemological Institute of America
in 1990 and continued to help
grow the business until 1999.
Although she chose to retire,
Roanne was an invaluable mentor to the
business and continued to travel, purchase
and design for the store.
Roanne will be missed by so many family
and friends but her legacy shall live through
the memories created. Her love of opera and
art, birds and bunnies, her home and her
family gives strength and meaning to those
she has left behind. We love you “ Annie
Annie”. In lieu of flowers, please make
donations to the El Segundo Auxillary of
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, P.O. Box
24 El Segundo CA 90245.
In Memoriam
Dr. Paul De Sena, professor of counselor
education for 53 years and a
member of the Faculty Senate at
Loyola Marymount University,
died on March 14, 2020 at the age
of 83. He was born in Waterbury,
Connecticut on August 31, 1936.
The renown of LMU School of
Education’s counseling program
was built on the transformative
work of Professor De Sena. He
began his impactful career at LMU
in 1966 as an assistant professor of
counselor education after serving as a professor
and administrator at John Carroll University,
Pennsylvania State University, Ohio University,
and the Berlin Connecticut School District. He
was promoted to associate professor in 1969,
then professor in 1976. He served as chair of
the Department of Education, as coordinator of
LMU’s Counselor Education Program, and coordinator
of the School Psychology Program.
Professor De Sena was an example of civic
engagement. He served as a consulting school
psychologist for the El Segundo School District
from 1979-92; was a consultant to the
state Department of Education Adult School
Counseling Academy; and since 1992 was a
consultant for the Wiseburn School District
in El Segundo.
He was highly respected in his field and
a distinguished scholar. Professor De Sena
was a nationally Certified School Psychologist
and credentialed school counselor and
K-12 teacher; he was the president of the
California Association for Counselor Educators
and Supervisors; he was former president
of the California Association for Specialists
in Group Work; and he served on the board
for the California Coalition for
Counselor Licensure, which was
successful in bringing licensure
for professional counselors to
California in 2009. He served on
the executive council and the educational
foundation board of the
California Counseling Association
and was on the governing board
of the California Association of
School Counselors.
Professor De Sena received the
LMU Rains Award for Excellence in Service in
2014, was presented the H.B. McDaniel Award
by the California Association for Counseling
and Development, and a year later he was
given the Clarion Modell Distinguished Service
Award. He was the first person to win both
awards. He was also awarded the California
Adult School Counselors Association Service
Award, the Outstanding Mentorship Award by
the Western Association for Counselor Educators
and Supervisors, and the Outstanding
Service Award by the California Association
for Counseling and Development.
In his long professional career, Dr. De
Sena touched many lives and made a lasting
impression on everyone who entered his circle
of influence. He was a great presenter and a
wonderful teacher, loved by generations of
students. Paul De Sena will be missed by
many. Paul De Sena was survived by his wife
Margarita De Sena, her daughters Flora and
Elina, brother Philip De Sena, sister Marie
Tutolo and her husband Leonard, many nieces
and nephews. A celebration of Professor De
Sena’s life will be held at a later date. •
Entertainment
Stream Netflix’s Musical Short Anima,
a Dream For These Modern Times
Thom Yorke in Anima. Photo courtesy of Netflix.
Ryan Rojas
Film Review
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