The Hemingway Night is a short film about the interplay of ego, friendship, and regret.  The plot is fairly simple, but the interactions are anything but.  Terry, a young man in his 20s, goes to visit his old friend Leon, an older guy still reeling from his recent divorce.  The two decide to have a few drinks before going for dinner, and turn to remembrances of times past, as such events often do.  Eventually Leon gets drunk enough to spill that he more or less blames Terry and one of Terry’s old friends for his divorce.  But Terry’s version of the story reveals just how little Leon understands himself or his ex-wife.

That’s the high-level summary, but I want to talk a little more about the details, plus a few other things.  So if there’s a chance that you’ll see this micro-budget indie short and you want to remain unspoiled about the details, please proceed with caution.

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The High Hat, a web-based quarterly journal of arts and cultural criticism with which the Screengrab just so happens to share some personnel, has posted a special supplement featuring its top tens of the year, and of particular interest to readers of this site is the fact that the lists are very film-intensive, with special attention paid to the question of whether or not 2007 actually lives up to the hype that it's one of the best movie years on record.  Absolutely, says CalArts film professor and writer Gary Mairs; sort of, says my Face/Off sparring partner Phil Nugent; not really, says cinephile and freewheeling critic George Wu; no freakin' way, says movie janitor/"Bottom Shelf" auteur Scott von Doviak.  As for me, I was too busy listening to metal to pay attention.