I am reminded by L.A. writers Nancy and Bart Mills that the summer can't be ALL about blockbusters. So, how about epics set in central Asia?  One, Mongol, in theaters now, shows how the greatest conqueror in history, Genghis Khan, did it all for love. The other, The Children of Huang Shi, also out now, tells how a man of peace saved dozens of orphans in the bitterest days of World War II. They’re not Iron Man, but they’re real. If you’ve only got time for one, Nancy tells me, wait for Mongol, "because slaughter with swords is easier to watch than aerial strafing of refugee columns." Of course, The Children of Huang Shi does have the benefit of Jonathan Rhys Meyers (at right), fresh from his triumph as Henry VIII in Showtime’s The Tudors (in which, I must say, he IS brilliant) — and fewer subtitles.

(Photo by Zhu Jialei © 2006 Ming Productions/courtesy Sony Pictures Classics)