I decide that I’m here for some combination of movie screenings, Dining With The Stars, and swag gathering. There will be parties of course, a totally unavoidable occupational hazard, but I will perhaps not include those in the official report to the Library, for its own sake.

Monday night is my first opportunity for movie screenings at the ShoWest Showcase of Independent Film. I arrive at the appointed location (the back entrance of Bally’s) to catch the shuttle bus to the movie theater reserved for the event. I’m wearing my conference badge and press pass (thanks, Blogcritics!), but I’m still nervously awaiting someone shouting YOU! You’re not One Of Us (whomever that might be)! YOU are clearly a LIBRARIAN! To the cataloging dungeon!

I scurry onto the bus and grab a seat as incognito-ly as possible. Shortly thereafter the adjoining seat is occupied by a woman on her cell phone trying to track down a package. I figure out from the conversation that she is a UPS rep who works exclusively for Fox and somewhere, out there, are some missing Eddie Murphy standees. This leads to my first awesome random thing overheard at the ShoWest.

Random Thing Heard at ShoWest: “I mean, have you seen the standees? Fourteen foot high picture of nothing but Eddie Murphy’s face. Who wants to see that? It’s a total disaster, but what can you do? I mean, I’m a huge Eddie Murphy fan and I don’t want to see a fourteen foot high picture of Eddie Murphy’s face.”

So we arrive at the theater which has been reserved for ourselves. There are two showings, at 6 and 9, and seven movies to choose from. My choices are Mongol, the Academy Award nominee; Helen Hunt’s directorial debut Then She Found Me; David Mamet’s Redbelt; The Lucky Ones; Towelhead; Young @ Heart and Son of Rambow. First out, I choose Mongol. Since it has already been nominated for an Academy Award, I figure it’s probably going places.

Directed by Sergei Bodrov, Mongol tells the story of the boy Temudjin and his transformation into the warrior known as Genghis Kahn. It’s an historical epic with amazing battle scenes, but it doesn’t skimp on the emotional back story. At heart, Mongol is a love story between Temudjin and his child bride Borte, about Temudjin’s battle to save her and Borte’s equal battle to save him, even if it means subjugating herself to other men. In fact one of the running themes of the story is how, whenever the two are reunited, Temudjin cheerfully announces his new son or daughter, even if it’s been years since the couple have been together. It’s actually quite charming and beautiful, giving it a heart that many historical war epics just don’t have. But don’t let me mislead you. There’s battle aplenty, great spectacles of battle in fact. Along with the love story, there’s also the painful emotional story of Temudjin and his adopted brother who, despite their affection for each other, ultimately must fight a war to decide who will be the leader of Mongolia. The final battle between them is as jaw dropping as anything in Lord of the Rings.