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The first weekend of Cannes is the midpoint in the marathon that will crown this year's filmmakers and actors, their work, and their ideas. There's also an established Cannes lore that says that films shown on this particular weekend are lucky and/or blessed with the jurors' full attention.

The Cannes carpet went muted - but for a smattering of blue and one bright yellow, the gowns regal and subdued. .

Oliver Stone’s latest project JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, is a documentary which explores the factual side of the events he dramatized in JFK (1991), which earned him a Golden Globe exactly 30 years ago. JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, narrated by Donald Sutherland and Whoopi Goldberg, premieres at the Cannes Film Festival on July 11, while JFK will be screened on the giant Plage screen.

Considering the frisson that Paul Verhoeven created with his 2021 Cannes entry, the erotic/religious drama Benedetta, it would be appropriate to recall another shock by the Dutch enfant terrible - Basic Instinct, in competition in 1992. The film had already stirred controversy in the US - it had opened in March -, with critics panning the picture -according to Roger Ebert, "just a worthless scrap with the spaces filled in"- and gay activists loudly protesting the movie with signs saying "Hollywood Promotes Anti-Gay Violence".

In 1968, Cannes had imploded - the nouvelle-vague squad had stormed the Palais demanding the immediate end of the event in solidarity with the student revolt in Paris, among other things. A year later, the festival was still licking its wounds and changing colors.

Color comes to Cannes. Red popped, while Josh O'Connor and Spike Lee showed that men do style too.

One of the key powers of Cannes is its ability to create a brand new talent for the world to see. In 1994, this talent was Quentin Tarantino.

Matt Damon, a multiple Golden Globe contender and two-time winner, returned to the Cannes Film Fest on Thursday night to showcase his latest movie, Stillwater. This highly anticipated feature is directed by Tom McCarthy, an indie filmmaker (The Visitor) whose latest film, Spotlight, was a Golden Globe and Oscar winner.

Maybe it was the strong film selection. Maybe it was the summery vibe.

Go with the flow might be the theme of the red carpet as cascades of material billowed in the breeze. Yellow and shades in the spectrum continue to pop.