Film Review: The Judge

Last night I went along to our local Odeon to see Robert Downey Jrs new film The Judge. 

I will start off by saying that I'm a huuuuge RDJ fan (come on, he is Iron Man, how could you not love him?!), so yes, that was the main reason I chose this film as we also wanted to see Gone Girl, which I've heard is good, but I always feel guilty watching a film adaptation of a book before reading the actual book. Leighton Meester is also in this film, although she doesn't play a huge part in the script, we only really see her twice, so Gossip Girl fans shouldn't get too excited! 

Without giving too much of the plot away, RDJ plays a lawyer, who gets a phonecall to say his mother has died. He then goes back to his hometown for the funeral, where we're introduced to his family and an old flame/childhood sweetheart. He makes a few startling discoveries about his father (the judge) who he doesn't really get on with, and he's told a few home truths. I'm not going to say any more than that because it's no fun if you know what's going to happen! 

So anyway, I really enjoyed this film! When it first started I must admit I thought it was going to be a low budget flop, but as the story progressed it got deeper and the plot actually got really good, it wasn't just some basic, predictable storyline (or at least I didn't think it was!). It's probably not really the sort of film I'll rush out to buy when it comes out on DVD, but I'm glad that I've seen it and I would probably watch it again if it was on the telly. 

I feel like I should also mention that this film is produced by Susan Downey, who is RDJ's wife. I didn't realise until earlier this week when I read an article about the couple that she actually produces most of his non-marvel films, such as Due Date (hilarious), and the amazing Sherlock Holmes films. So naturally I'm her new biggest fan. 

My rating for this film is 8/10, it's definitely worth a watch but it's unlikely it'll end up being your favourite film ever! 

Thanks for reading! Xxx

Book Review: The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike)

Last week I finished reading The Silkworm, the second book in the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith. For those who don't know, Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym J.K Rowling decided to use for these books to see if they would sell without her name attached (which obviously didn't work as some idiot rumbled her and revealed the secret!). 

This book is the second in the series about a private detective called Cormoran Strike. In the first book, (The Cuckoo's Calling) we were introduced to Cormoran and his new assistant Robin, as they investigate the suspicious suicide of a famous supermodel, Lula Landry. I would definitely suggest reading this book first, as not only is it a good read that keeps you guessing, but it gives you much more of a background to the characters, which is useful for reading the second book. 

In The Silkworm, Cormoran and Robin are on the hunt for a missing author who they soon found out has been murdered (don't worry, that's not a spoiler it's in the blurb), so naturally, they then try to track down the killer. Problem is, the guy wrote a book which pissed a lot of people off, so there's a lot of suspects! 

I really enjoyed this book, I think maybe I liked The Cuckoo's Calling a bit more, but The Silkworm is definitely worth a read too. I finished this book pretty quickly because I really wanted to find out whodunit so kept picking it up whenever I had a free moment (yes I may have had a sneaky read at work once or twice, shhh!)

Rowling/Galbraith's writing is excellent, as you would expect, and these books will make you want to become a private detective after you've read them so be warned! I've read that Galbraith has at least six more Cormoran Strike books planned, so I would definitely suggest getting in on this, who knows, they could end up being as big as Harry Potter! I would imagine there will be lots of underlying storylines that will come to fruition later on in the series as Rowling certainly doesn't keep things simple! 

My rating for this book is 7/10, it's definitely worth a read! 

Thanks for reading :) xxx