Ice Merchants

This short about a father and son living in a tiny cabin anchored on the side of an immense and icy mountain-side cliff is totally absorbing. There is no spoken word but the music is great. Father and son eke out their existence by taking ice to the village far below by jumping off their porch and parachuting down, then they come back up using a rope system. Since I am somewhat acrophobic, parts were a little difficult for me to watch (the son sitting on a swing thousands of feet above the ground - oh my!) but the basic colored line drawings were so engaging and gorgeous that one could not finish the film.

At first the ending is somewhat open to interpretation. Watching it a second and third time I picked up the hints scattered along the way as to what was happening that I had not fully grasped on my first viewing. I so appreciate being able to watch it on The New Yorker Screening Room.

Ice merchants its a beautifuly animated short about a father and a son who sell ice ultimately dealling with loss and grief and how to continue forward.

Inspired by a french animation Style and with a powerfull soundtrack that gonna make your heart feell every second and the absence of dialogue makes it a movie that everybody from everywhere can absorve independant of the age and country to which i mean its defenitely a must show to Kids and young adults with its message for all.

It is defenitely deserving of the Oscar nomination it has and makes you eager to what this newcomer director can do moving forward.

This short is my pick to win the academy award for animated short. The animation and color story in this emotional, and heartfelt. Such a layered story about grief, loss, love, passion, memories, heartache, adoration, hope, moving on, and finding the silver linings in life is absolutely flooring. The entire piece is a gorgeous, impressive, stylish piece of short form animation unlike any other I have ever seen. I watched it on The New Yorker's youtube channel, and honestly the style and vibe of this animation really fits with the outlet to be their home-it's such a perfect collaboration and the correct vibe. I would love love love to see more work from this talented portuguese animator, mr. Joäo Gonzales, and cannot wait to do so in the near future!

So simple, so beautiful and so meaningful. When I saw their house hanging on the mountain, I thought something would happen to them. Obviously, the man's wife, the child's mother is not alive. It doesn't show it with flashback. Very simple. A yellow glass and an empty side of the bed. Very meaningful and simple. I was expecting a bad ending. But the ending of the movie and the way it was finished impressed me a lot. It was so sweet. Among the ones I've watched (I've only watched 3 nomines yet), this is what I liked and was most impressed with. Also the music was very good. The shooting style is again like hand-drawn. I think it was fashion and style to be nominated for an Oscar. I criticized it. Also, a live action version of it can be shot. We can watch beautiful landscapes.

It's incredible how a 14 minute movie without a single word can move you this much.

With just simple and repeated scenes, the director manages to get you to know the characters. For that purpose, this movie makes use of color in a simple way that just makes sense. The slow pace just makes it feel natural and there is no rush to achieve the end of the story.

I also loved the soundtrack, every second of it adds to the story and, in the absence of words, acts as a good way to show feelings from the characters.

Loved this movie, and it's good to see it get this much attention, specially the Oscar nomination.