Page 2 August 19, 2021
Entertainment Dear Neighborhood Therapist,
Film Review
‘Annette’ is An Absurdly Odd Rock
Opera That Will Wow You
By Ryan Rojas for cinemacy.com
It may be best to know before watching
Annette (available to stream on Amazon
Prime this Friday) that it was not originally
intended to be a film. Rather, it was conceived
to be performed as a live musical production.
With an original story and music written and
composed by art pop band Sparks, Annette is
beyond anything that is or would have been
a conventional musical production.
To be prepared for what you’re getting
into with Annette is to know the particular
brand of oddball that the brothers who
make up the band Sparks are. Over the
entirety of their very long career, Ron and
Russell Mael have made brilliantly catchy
music. However, it’s not been without also
defiantly distancing themselves from commercial
compromise, to the point that true
mainstream success has eluded them (Edgar
Wright made the rock doc The Sparks
Brothers earlier this year as an ode to their
unsung greatness).
Always interested in charting new waters
rather than playing into expectations explains
why Annette came into existence as a musical
at all (initially, Russell would play the lead
role and Ron the supporting male role). That
is, until the duo met director Leos Carax
when he used one of their songs for his
film Holy Motors. And what happened next
is–eight years later–Carax would take their
story and bring it to the big screen.
With all of this in mind, it should be
no surprise to find that Annette is exactly
what you would expect a rock opera from
Sparks to feel like: a wonderfully strange and
self-aware circus that’s as infectiously catchy
as it is bizarrely confounding. But for as
much fun as it is, its pop music makeup is
also the thing that makes it unable to be
profound or deep in any real way (paying
less dividends the longer it goes on). But
I’d recommend managing those expectations
and going into this film headstrong anyways,
for it’s one of the most mind-blowing films
of the year.
Inspired by The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
and its “sung-through” storytelling, Annette
is sung from beginning to end, with
“So May We Start” (the film’s best song)
kicking things off in a very meta-musical
overture in which all of the characters tee up
our film. Annette tells the story of a standup
comedian (Adam Driver) and an opera
singer (Marion Cotillard) who fall in
love (they sing “We Love Each Other So
Much” while on a motorcycle) and have
a child. And yet by the time the child has
come–gifted in its own right–the couple’s
love has fractured to the point that it puts
lives in danger.
Beyond its memorably wacky songs and
story, the unquestionable stand-out in the
film is Adam Driver. As Henry McHenry, a
tormented comedian whose darkly clouded
decisions lead him into a world of despair,
Driver makes the character his own, from
wild slapstick comedic scenes to the more
nuanced and commanding ones. Marion
Cotillard and Simon Helberg also star in the
film–and Cotillard matches Driver’s commitment
and star power as the opera singer
Annette, courtesy of Amazon Studios.
Your Neighborhood Therapist
I have been seeing a therapist for about six
months now. I am feeling a lot better, and
I’m thinking that perhaps it is time to stop.
How do I know if therapy is working, and
when a good time to stop would be?
– Happy About Feeling Better, El Segundo
Dear Happy About Feeling Better,
It’s great that you’re feeling better. Your
question is a really difficult one because
there is usually no right or wrong answer
about when to stop, but the fact that you’re
asking about it probably means that it’s
time to start thinking about how you want
to move forward.
The reason there is no right or wrong answer
is because there are too many variables.
It depends not only on each of our own
individual life experience, but also what is
happening around us, as well as our ability
to attend meetings, our relationship with
the therapist we work with, and of course
financial considerations - namely, the perennial
question of whether or not it’s worth it.
I have worked both with people who have
been doing quite well for years, as well as
people who have had many problems to
contend with who only came to therapy for
a short period of time. No therapist should
try to “keep” you in therapy any longer than
necessary. Some people find value in coming
weekly for months or years, while others
want to move on as quickly as possible. Both
ways of working are just fine.
How will you know if therapy is working?
The most unsatisfying answer is that
it’s almost impossible to be sure - again,
because there are so many variables, including
the possibility that you might start to feel
better whether or not you talk to someone.
The slightly less unsatisfying answer is that
sometimes it takes a little while to figure out
if it’s working.
The best answer is that there’s a better way
to think about it. Thinking about whether or
not therapy is “working” implies but there is
something that needs fixing. It also implies
that there is some state of being “better”
that is definitely achievable. I just don’t
agree that there is always either something
that needs fixing or that we can always get
to a better place in life. For example, when
people experience grief and loss, there’s
often nothing to”fix,” because there’s nothing
“wrong” - just sad.
Most people in most circumstances don’t
need any kind of fixing whatsoever. The
better way to think about therapy is to ask
if the meetings are helpful. For example, are
you being asked to reflect on your life and
your circumstances in ways that are helpful
to you? Are you being “seen” in a way that
is genuine?
Your decision when to stop, but I would
invite you to think about it differently. When
you find someone you like and trust, have a
conversation about changing the frequency of
meetings - for example, meeting less often, or
only “as needed.” Most therapists are happy
to accommodate these changes if they can.
That way, you won’t have to guess about
when the “right time” is; instead, you’ll just
go if and when you need or want to.
Please write to tom@tomandrecounseling.
com or text to 310.776.5299 with questions
about handling what is affecting your life,
your family, the community or the world.
Tom Andre is a Licensed Marriage & Family
Therapist (LMFT119254). The information
in this column is for educational purposes
only and nothing herein should be construed
as professional advice or the formation of a
therapeutic relationship. •
El Segundo Herald* • Hawthorne Press Tribune*
Inglewood Daily News* • Lawndale News*
EL SEGUNDO OFFICE • 531 MAIN ST, # 1160 • El Segundo • CA • 90245
Ad Sales / Legal Notices / Marketing: (310) 322-1830
Classifieds / Real Estate: (310) 322-1831 • www.heraldpublications.com
Staff and Departments
Editor-in-Chief: Heidi Maerker
Classifieds: Clara Nilles • class@heraldpublications.com
DBA: Debbie Waite • dba@heraldpublications.com • For Fictitious Business Name (DBAs) filings
Display Ad Sales: Debbie Waite • marketing@heraldpublications.com
Production: Michael Gonzales • ads@heraldpublications.com
Legals: Debbie Waite • legalnotices@heraldpublications.com
For legal notices, name changes, obituaries
Letters to the Editor: letters@heraldpublications.com
Marketing: Debbie Waite • marketing@heraldpublications.com
Real Estate: Clara Nilles • graphics@heraldpublications.com • For new realtors, contracts, ads
General Inquires: web@heraldpublications.com • For general questions or announcements
Our website can no longer take inquires or emails
* Our newspapers are adjudicated of general circulation accordance with the laws of California. El Segundo Herald, Case Number 372819;
Hawthorne Press Tribune, Case Number 187530; Inglewood Daily News, Case Number 601550; Lawndale Tribune, Case Number 479346.
Classifieds
The deadline for Classified Ad submission and payment is Noon on Tuesday to appear in Thursday’s paper. Advertisements must be
submitted in writing by mail, fax or email. You may pay by cash, check, or credit card (Visa or M/C over the phone).
Errors: Please check your advertisements immediately. Any corrections and/or changes in an ad must be requested prior to the following
Tuesday deadline in order to receive a credit. A credit will be issued for only the first time the error appears. Multiple runs will only
be credited for the first time the error appears. No credit will be issued for an amount greater than the cost of the advertisement.
Beware: Employment offers that suggest guaranteed out-of-state or overseas positions may be deceptive or unethical in nature. If
you have any doubts about the nature of a company, contact the local office of the Better Business Bureau, (213) 251-9696. Herald
Publications does not guarantee that the advertiser’s claims are true nor does it take responsibility for those claims.
Employment
Mult IT openings. All req. travel/reloc:
(JC9) Solns Engr- BS/equiv & 5 yrs IT
exp incl 3 yrs w/ SailPoint IIQ, Java,
Oracle Idntity Mngr, Sun Idntity Mngr,
XML, Javascrpt, SQL, PLSQL, Unix,
SQL Dvlpr, Java Eclipse, Salesfrce,
PLM, Logical, SAP, JDBC, & Azure c.
(JC10) Sr. Prgrmmer Anlyst- MS/
equiv & 3 mos exp incl. JSON
templates, PowrShell, SQL Azure
PaaS, Data Factries, Cosmos (Big
Data soln), Azure automtion, Srvc
bus, MongoDB, Cassndra, Gremlin,
Spark, SQL, Azure CLI, ECS,
Kuberntes, & T-SQL. Send résumé
w/ JC# to Saviynt, Inc.,1301 E El
Segundo Blvd., Ste D, El Segundo,
CA 90245
Apartment for Rent
2 BD, 1 BTH, Westchester, no pets,
no smoking, new paint, stove/frig,
hardwood flrs, near shops. $2,250/
mth. 310.740.3884
Wanted
WANTED. Vinyl, records, vinyl,
anything musical. Collectibles/
antiques. Typewriters, sewing
machines, military, silver, Japan,
records, stamps, coins, jewelry,
Chinese, ANYTHING. Buy/Sell/Trade.
We sell for you on EBAY. Studio
Antiques, El Segundo. 310.322.3895.
To appear in next week’s paper, submit
your Classifed Ad by Noon on Tuesday.
Late Ads will incur a $20.00 late fee.
Reach
thousands
of viewers
YOUR AD
HERE
Classified Ads
only $40
for twenty words or less.
Email class@heraldpublications.com
or call 310-322-1831
for more information.
See Film Review, page 8