Down a mess of stogies; and the many Bob Dylans in the beautifully bizarre “I’m Not There” manage to frantically lip-lock at least 973 cigarettes...

Toronto — Smoking, sex and the ’60s. That triple-threat theme swirled across screens at opening weekend of the Toronto International Film Festival. With all the butts, puffs and deep-inhaling, it’s as if the fetterless ghost of Humphrey Bogart was holding a giant ashtray over the festival, or maybe RJ Reynolds is secretly funding films.

Viggo Mortensen chokes back a carton in “Eastern Promises”; the espionage gang in “Lust, Caution” constantly clicks their lighters; there’s some weed sharing in “Into the Wild”; Jesse and the outlaw boys of “The Assassination of Jesse James” down a mess of stogies; and the many Bob Dylans in the beautifully bizarre “I’m Not There” manage to frantically lip-lock at least 973 cigarettes.

 Maybe it’s societal backlash: we’re not allowed to smoke anywhere anymore, so we live vicariously through furtive, fantasy drags in dark movie theaters. As for the sex, you can always expect a fair amount of naughty bits from any festival with “international” in its title, but this year’s brand of heavy breathing comes from the tasteful Ang Lee. (He has directed a Jane Austen movie for gosh sakes.) Lee’s latest, “Lust, Caution,” arrived at the festival with the good housekeeping seal of prurience: an NC-17 rating. In official movie circles such labels usually provoke the same two words: artistic freedom. Savvy film fans know it means two other words: hubba-hubba.Yes, there are some steamy sex scenes in Lee’s sprawling, elegant period piece about a love affair in 1940s Shanghai. But it’s also an extended, slow-to-develop endeavor. (Remember, “sprawling” only acts as a complimentary adjective when applied to land holdings.) The collective vibe exiting the 21⁄2-hour-plus “Lust” was, “Nice movie. Cut 30 minutes.”

The 1960s are revisited in Todd Haynes’ aforementioned cig-cinema “I’m not there,” and Julie Taymor’s Beatles musical “Across the Universe.” Bob Dylan is reinvented by multiple actors (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and, best of all, Cate Blanchett) at several iconic moments in his life. Much fun. Taymor takes a kaleidoscopic look at a multitude of Beatles songs in a grand musical that is truly effervescent.The festival is a crunch of press conferences, glittering galas, red-carpet arrivals, celebrity ogling, and lots of long lines outside theaters. Jodie Foster, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Terrence Howard and Sean Penn are all on hand, not to mention about a thousand media types from 55 countries here to chase stars and get the early line on Oscar season.

The best movie I’ve seen so far is “No Country for Old Men,” codirectors Joel and Ethan Cohen’s take on the Cormac McCarthy novel. It’s an exceedingly well crafted film that manages to be funny, sweet, violent, sardonic, philosophical and spiritual.Josh Brolin plays a man who stumbles upon a drug deal gone bad and a mess of cash. He is soon being trailed by a crazed killer (the superb Javier Bardem) and a no-nonsense sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones in the Tommy Lee Jones role). Brilliant. George Clooney actually said this at the press conference for his new legal thriller “Michael Clayton”: “It’s really hard to find a good script in Hollywood.” Well, duh. Like we haven’t heard that one. But it struck me as an even sadder assessment than usual of the death of creativity coming from Mr. A-list actor-director- producer.If a hunka-hunka-burnin’ Clooney isn’t seeing golden scripts, imagine what’s sitting in Tom Arnold’s mailbox.

Got to run. I’m off to see “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” with Cate Blanchett. Let’s go way out on a limb here and guess this is the first time in movie history that an actress has played both a 16th - century queen and a 20th-century male music legend in two films at the same festival. I’ll get back to you about her flick. But first, I really need a cigarette.

Read Interesting Marlboro Facts