"Reptile." "Renfield."

“Reptile” (2023, Netflix) crime thriller. Lead performer Benicio del Toro co-wrote the screenplay so the “slow burn” pace of the storytelling benefited his acting style. Cool as a sleeping Magnum, calculating as a deadly copperhead. The sort of vicious quiet that fits a serial killer or a patient hitman. But in “Reptile,” Senor del Toro as detective Tom Nichols is the hero (sorry for the spoiler). Yet a hero with some quirky tastes: Perennial song “Angel in the Morning” by Juice Newton on his car stereo and a “The Oogum Boogum,” a 1967 song by Brenton Wood, as cellphone ringtone. 

       Plot: A real estate businessman finds his girlfriend brutally murdered in a rural Maine house that they had been showing for sale as realtors. When questioned by the police detectives assigned to the case, Tom and his partner, real estate dude reveals that he was planning on marrying GF but couldn't because she was technically still married to another man. And so on and so forth.

      Fine performers here, aside from Mr del Toro, including Justin Timberlake as the real estate guy and Michael Carmen Pitt as a suspect. And so although the show can be lumbering and tired at times, just watching these actors is entertainment enough. 🎥💻📽

“Renfield” (2023, Amazon Prime), action comedy horror inspired by characters from the 1897 novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker, the film is more of a reimagined shenanigan. And hey my idol Nicolas Cage is Dracula! So I was biased already before I clicked play. Meanwhile, director Chris McKay is also an experienced film editor as we deduce from the slick, trigger-happy sequencing of this fun ride. Written by “The Walking Dead” mastermind  Robert Kirkman with Ryan Ridley, we know these guys know their fun horror silliness. 

       Nic Cage actually had lots of fun playing the Count here and he melded pretty well with Nicholas Hoult as Renfield. Mr Hoult is always cool, anyways. Awkwafina is a bit awkward and miscast as a cop and, oh God, I hate this annoying dude Ben Schwartz. 

       But I did enjoy this eerie shenanigan. That’s what matters. 🎥👍📽