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Long before she was a movie star, a teenage Nicole Kidman appeared in the early-’80s action comedy “BMX Bandits,” a rowdy Australian kidpic full of bicycle stunts and Scooby-Doo crime-stopping shenanigans. It’s too early to say whether any of the adorable young leads in “Riddle of Fire” will go on to have successful acting careers. Still, it’s amusing to think that two decades into the 21st century, writer-director Weston Razooli has taken inspiration from such questionable classics, along with vintage live-action Disney fare — like “Escape from Witch Mountain” and the Herbie movies, which the studio sold in puffy white VHS cases — for his own retro-spirited debut.

Spun from equal parts imagination and nostalgia, “Riddle of Fire” comes as close as any film since “Spy Kids” or “Kisses” to mirroring the kind of cinematic adventures we made in our heads as kids. Razooli remembers how it feels to...

Yellow Veil Pictures and Vinegar Syndrome have released the hypnotic and beautifully meditative trailer for Riddle of Fire, a movie that was included in the lineup at last year’s Fantastic Fest and Midnight Madness at TIFF. The trailer plays like a fever dream as writer and director Weston Razooli takes you on a unique journey through the eyes of children as they make their way through the forest and encounter many threatening figures, which plays out like a dark fairy tale.

The official synopsis reads,

“This neo-fairytale set in Wyoming, USA follows three mischievous children as they embark on an odyssey when their mother asks them to run an errand. On the hunt to obtain her favourite blueberry pie, the children are kidnapped by poachers, battle a witch, outwit a huntsman, befriend a fairy, and bond together to become best friends forever.”

Skyler Peters, Phoebe Ferro, Charlie Stover and...

One of the surprise breakout hits of the 2023 film festival circuit, Weston Razooli’s directorial debut “Riddle of Fire” charmed audiences around the world by blending the aesthetics of classic family adventure movies with a modern midnight movie sensibility. After premiering in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival, the film went on to close the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival and screen at Fantastic Fest. Now, thanks to Yellow Veil Pictures and the legendary boutique Blu-ray label Vinegar Syndrome, the film will receive a domestic theatrical release this spring.

The official synopsis for “Riddle of Fire” reads: “This neo-fairytale set in Wyoming, USA follows three mischievous children as they embark on an odyssey when their mother asks them to run an errand. On the hunt to obtain her favorite blueberry pie, the children are kidnapped by poachers, battle a witch, outwit a huntsman,...

There’s nothing quite like a throwback film – whether it’s driven by nostalgia or executed as a creative exercise, it’s fun to see how creatives handle the material.

Weston Razooli’s Riddle of Fire has all of the hallmarks of a classic ’80s children adventure film, mixed with the quaintness of a British fairytale. This is evident from the film’s opening scene, which features ethereal folk music, heavily stylized cursive font, and fairytale language: “Are ye a knight or are ye a squire? Can ye solve the Riddle of Fire?”

Like the best examples from the ’80s, however, there’s a persistent undercurrent of peril as the child characters are repeatedly put in danger with antagonists who won’t hesitate to harm or even murder them. In short: think Goonies meets Adventures in Babysitting with a touch of The Princess Bride‘s aesthetic.

One of the great...

Making the pie should have been easy. The recipe calls for the usual ingredients: flour, sugar, lemon (both zest and juice), blueberries and an egg. But the parenthetical after the egg complicates matters. “Preferably speckled,” it reads. In truth, any egg would have been fine. But Jodie (Skyler Peters), Alice (Phoebe Ferro) and Hazel (Charlie Stover), the precocious trio at the heart of Weston Razooli’s fanciful debut feature Riddle of Fire, are not only novice bakers — they’re also children. So what should have been a suggestion becomes a mandate.

The search for the speckled egg is the crux of Razooli’s film, which renders the American West (it’s set in Wyoming but was shot in Utah) as a landscape baited with obstacles. There’s a painterly quality to the director’s depiction of the Great Plains state: Billowing white clouds drift across the powder-blue sky, their path...

Recently, CBS released the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Hawaii Five O" episode 11 of season 5. The episode is entitled, "Ua 'aihue," and it turns out that we'll be seeing some very intense and dramatic stuff go down as Chin and Kono work an undercover art black market event and get taken hostage, and more! The episode is titled, “Ua ‘aihue.” In the new, 11th episode press release: Kono and Chin are going to go undercover in the world of black market priceless art and get taken hostage. Press release number 2: When a tourist is killed after unknowingly transporting a stolen Van Gogh, an undercover Kono and Chin are going to enter the world of black market priceless art and are taken hostage. Also, McGarrett will ask Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto to help train Kamekona to beat Chef Sam Choy in a shrimp cook-off. Guest stars feature: Masaharu Morimoto...