"Wow, there was major disappointment in 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley'!" says Paul Sheehan, my cohort at the Toronto International Film Festival, reporting on reactions overheard following the first big press preview on the first day, which was attended by scores of journalists and industryites. "After the screening, you could hear lots of people griping as we walked out of the theater, 'I can't believe that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes!' or 'What was the point of that?'"

Tonight at 5:45 p.m. is the first real biggie — Pedro Almodovar's "Volver," starring Penelope Cruz as a ghost-beset mom. It was also kudos-ed at Cannes where Almodovar won the screenplay prize and all of its chief female stars shared the best actress award: Cruz with Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo and Chus Lampreave. There's no "Barley"-type controversy surrounding those Cannes wins, though. Industry reaction to "Volver" was ecstatic at Telluride last weekend.

Tomorrow's top screenings include "Venus," "Stranger Than Fiction" and "Shortbus."

Paul Sheehan will be assisting in our coverage of those and more. What a thrill it is to have him on our Toronto team! He's a devilish, savvy journo (contributes to gads of international publications), a contributor to The Envelope (he wrote some of our Tony Awards coverage) and a starring member of the original Gold Derby gang (managing editor of the kudos website that was folded into The Envelope when the latter was launched by the L.A. Times). Paul's a Canadian by birth — knows the Toronto backstreets and secret fun spots. Together we're sure to discover the fest's ins and outs and report them (well, the printable parts) here in this column over the next 10 days. Pitching in, too, will be the biggest rascal of all: Toronto-based wag Nelson Branco, who's covering red-carpet and party shenanigans for various publications. A good friend, he'll be blabbing to us what he spies along the way.

Photo: "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" is director Ken Loach's tale of two brothers (Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney) who battle the British for Irish independence in the 1919 civil war. Its Golden Palm victory at Cannes in May was hotly debated when it beat 19 other films, including critics' faves "Babel" and "Volver." (IFC)