Feeling drained? So’s Renfield! But he’s not bugging out. In the movie starring Nicholas Cage as Dracula, Renfield stands up for himself as a result of joining a co-dependency support group. As a member of the support group, he can secretly identify victims to feed to his master: all the horrific partners the group members discuss. However, he comes to a realization that perhaps his own master is a blood-sucking narcissist. Then, the action just kind of takes off from there—and you can count on plenty of laughs and blood. Yes, the amount of blood is unnecessary—just the way I like it.
Nate, Alex, and I went to see this movie with high-stakes expectations of buffoonery and unhinged Nicholas Cage moments, (and we weren’t disappointed), but what we hadn’t anticipated was a love story, which makes the whole movie even more worthwhile. (I’m going to leave you in the dark for now, since I don’t want to melt anyone’s faces with enlightening spoilers from the Renfield movie.)
And, if you like creepy crawly bugs and insects, well, there’s plenty of that, too. So, if you decide to see this movie, I suggest a little pre-game warm-up—a nibble perhaps—in honor of Renfield and the magnificent progress he makes in taking on the worst possible boss you could ever imagine.
Just a Bite: Savory Date Recipe
To me, whole dates kind of look like the bugs that Renfield eats in the movie, but they are sweeter and less squirmy. They will stay still when you stuff them with yummy ingredients—and, if you eat dates, you can leave the bugs alone and let them live their lives, probably in the spaces between the floorboards and wherever bugs can enter a dwelling, but that’s a blog post for another day.
To make this bite, all you have to do is find pitted, whole dates at the grocery store, cream cheese, and some chopped pistachios.
Split the dates down the middle lengthwise, without cutting them in half. Fill the middle with cream cheese, and roll them, cream-cheese-side down, in the chopped pistachios.
We absolutely enjoyed the savory-sweet-crunchy results—and, depending on how many you eat, you may still have plenty of room left for popcorn later on, perhaps sprinkled with a hint of garlic.
Conclusions/Lessons Learned
–Gathering and feeding victims to Dracula (whoever Dracula may be for you in your life) is work that goes unnoticed and unrewarded. (No good deed goes unpunished with these Dracula types.) Take some time for yourself. Ask yourself: who’s taking care of you?
–Don’t go without eating just because you have work to do. Have that savory sweet date filled with cheese and spices. Dracula can wait.
–Use the energy from taking care of yourself (eating/taking walks in the sunlight/joining new groups) to empower yourself and rid yourself of your inner (or outer) Dracula. Open the window. Let in the light. Seize the day.
Your Turn: What’s your favorite movie snack? What’s a movie you’ve seen lately or that you want to see?
Fixin' Leaks and Leeks 
That does look delicious! We went to a nice fruit and veggie market today before the anticipated storm. I enjoyed a small apple with peanut butter (dab).
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Yum! That sounds lovely!
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Speaking of Dracula movies – I like them all! But one stands out you may not have seen yet: Nosferatu by german director Werner Herzog from 1979. With Klaus Kinski as the most pathetic Dracula you have ever seen, and italian star Isabella Adjani and a few others. The scenes with Renfield are somewhere between disgusting and elated. The film is easily the one with the most atmosphere. Don’t know if it can be rented or streamed, but I do know there is an english version.
Highest recommendation!
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Oh, yes! I’ve been meaning to watch that one–it is a classic!
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My husband and I just recently saw Renfield as well. I talk about it in my most recent blog, Weird Date Night. We loved the movie. It had a lot to it. I loved the mix of everything that was included. I would definitely see it again. My favorite movie snack is probably popcorn. Simple and obvious, haha!
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Popcorn is always a crowd pleaser–and I agree–that’s a movie I’d probably watch again. It was a lot of fun.
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Those look like very large dates. At first glance, they looked like stuffed potato skins. Regardless of their size, they do look very good. At the movies, I always liked Junior Mints, Good ‘n’ Plenty, and some chocolate-covered caramel things I don’t remember the name of.
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Ha! They were actually quite tiny. I was trying to get a decent camera shot without shadows or glaring light, which is really hard to do in the state of Washington. The lighting here is just so strange. Also, I love Good ‘n Plenty–I’ll have to pick up a box at the store.
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You certainly fooled my eyes!
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Hi. Cage was in a movie last year called The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent. Have you seen it? It’s wild and crazy and fun. No blood, however! (None that I recall, anyway.)
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Hello! I did not get to see that one, but I really wanted to. The trailer for it looked good. Maybe it’s streaming now. I’ll check it out.
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I doubt I’ll watch the movie, but the savoury date may happen. It sounds delicious.
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They’re so good and so easy to make.
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Sounds like a fun movie, and the date looks delicious, as Dracula’s dates ought to look. 😉
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Ha! Thanks 🙂
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Clearly I’m old school with popcorn. I just saw Polite Society which was fun, and I want to see Are you there god it’s me Margaret…
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Oh, yes! I definitely want to see Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Thanks for the reminder 🙂
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I didn’t even know Nicholas Cage had a new movie out, and I’ll have to see it—I love him! And those dates—much better than popcorn!
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Yes–this new movie is so much fun. Nicholas Cage does not disappoint 🙂
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He never does!
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Rosemary fries!
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Yum! That sounds amazing!
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They are!
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Your date snack look great, I love dates but usually just put a little peanut butter on them. Impossible to name just one favorite snack, but for a vampire movie, I’d eat pickled beets so my teeth are red when I smile at the other movie-goers. If you can find an old bottle of Campari, that might also give you nice red teeth and as a bonus, the coloring was from ground-up cochineal bugs, so perfect for the Renfield theme.
There was a movie from twenty years ago with Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich, “Shadow of the Vampire,” about the filming of “Nosferatu” but with a twist, pretty good.
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