Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Dreams and Desires: Family Ties" is a 10-minute animated film from 2006, so this one has its 10th anniversary this year. The director is Joanna Quinn, an Oscar nominee, and the writer is Les Mills, an Emmy winner (just like Quinn) who has worked with Joanna Quinn on several occasions and many of them became a success. So did this one here as it scored a BAFTA nomination, even if it did not win. I am a bit surprised that, after this success, Quinn has not made any new films in the last decade, at least according to IMDb. But in terms of the quality, I am not too surprised. I did not enjoy the watch here. It is a mix of family reunion and wedding and everything goes wrong really. Then again, nothing goes more wrong than it does for everybody of us at such events perhaps. But for me, this film lacked focus and was too loud for my taste. This is a problem I've had with several Quinn movies. The camera was also way too wild for my taste. This is all subjective though, maybe other people like it more. But I would not start with this one if you plan on getting into Quinn's body of work.

usajdfields-536-894059 One thousand channels and nothing's on. Simply call it the 'Boob tube'. You get the idea...So many of these channels are saturated with blatant infomercials and hack wannabee producers groping for even a few eyeballs to curry favor with household product makers to grab some advertising revenue. That seems to be the genesis of so many "reality" programs. Among those hoards of unimaginative 'media moguls' few have the artistic talent to draw and animate a piece of work like this. It's quite apparent that the narrative of 'Dreams and Desires' is not about your old aunty fumbling about with her shiny new video camera while she makes her way around town. In fact, it lacks any substantial narrative at all.While I admire the talent and animation style of 'Dreams and Desires', the narrative, which is little more than a cheap imitation of those "reality" programs, leaves me cold.If Joanna Quinn had shown half as much imagination in developing the narrative as she obviously displays in the animation, this could have been an excellent effort. Maybe she never saw the PSAs (public service announcements) for 'turn off the TV' day?

MartinHafer DREAMS AND DESIRES is one of many animated short films that make up THE ANIMATION SHOW VOLUME THREE. This is an excellent collection and although VOLUME TWO was pretty poor, VOLUMES ONE and THREE were both very good and are worth seeking.The first thing you'll probably notice is all the nudity. While most of it is pretty innocent and not especially salacious, there is quite a bit and the film is a bit crude here and there (with a scene of a dog unloading his bowels on the rug). The second thing you'll probably notice is the animation style--which is wonderful. In some ways, it looks a bit like the cartoons of Bill Plympton--though the hand drawn animation is less detailed but far more billowy and quite beautiful. I don't think they used colored pencils but perhaps pastel crayons--I'm really not sure but it is lovely and unique.The plot involves an older woman who has agreed to videotape a friend's daughter's wedding. However, the lady ends up mucking up practically everything and the wedding turns out to be a bit of a fiasco. Cute stuff and well worth a look.

lakens Joanna Quinn has created the first reality series in animation with Dreams and Desires, Family Ties. A typical British family is followed on a wedding day with a hand-held camera. Naturally, everything goes horribly wrong, and it's extremely funny, as the woman making the recordings keeps commenting on what happens. These comments become funnier and more ridiculous (although I don't know Quinn's relatives, so who knows how realistic they actually are ;) ) while having more and more drinks. As we should, we even follow the characters on the wc. The animation is even better then in Quinn's previous work, I personally thought. The great camera 'work' or the angles make this short very dynamic. I enjoyed it a lot. If you get a chance to see it, do so.