Toronto, September 9-14 – Some of us put on our helmets and charged into the battlefields of the Toronto Film Festival.

Jake Gyllenhaal is festival darling with two films on the docket, Proof and Brokeback Mountain. He turned up everywhere solo, while his longtime girlfriend, Kirsten Dunst, stoked the rumor mill, about town on the arm of her Elizabethtown costar Orlando Bloom. Jake did drag Kirsten along to the premiere of Bee Season; his mom, Naomi Foner, wrote the screenplay.

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee had to phone in his regrets to the Brokeback Mountain press conference, because he had to fly back to Venice to pick up the Golden Lion, the best-film award at that festival. The film’s stars remained in Toronto with us. It is amusing that Heath Ledger played Jake Gyllenhaal’s lover, and ended up impregnating costar Michelle Williams in real life.

Robert Downey, Jr. showed us his new wedding band, just two weeks after marrying producer Susan Levin. We cannot, however, explain his shaggy hairdo or Jackie O-style sunglasses, although the press conference was first thing in the morning after the previous night’s premiere and party for his movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Paparazzi-hater Cameron Diaz snapped at - who else – photographers during the press conference for her latest, In Her Shoes. She didn’t grab any cameras, and her complaints had no effect, because everyone in the room was invited press, and happily continued clicking away the whole time. Keanu Reeves had a much smarter and quieter solution at his Thumbsucker presser, simply laying his head down on the table so you couldn’t see his face. Keanu took a look at Charlize Theron’s new film, North Country. Madonna perked up the screening of her husband Guy Ritchie’s Revolver.

Naturally, while we so looked forward to escaping to the crisp, cool Canadian air, a New York-style roaster of a heat wave embraced Toronto during our stay.

Photos: Joy E. Scheller, LFI