What’s on our shelves: The Fantastic Four, a Royal Family weekend, Belgian beer and well written women in horror…

Film: The Fantastic Four: First Steps, directed by Matt Shakman

Fantastic human being Pedro stars in this one so of course I saw it!

I loved the retro feel of this one, reminiscent of the Jetsons and Lost in Space, and being an ardent Fallout games fan it was just my thing. But interestingly one of our party of film-goers found it “slow” in comparison to other super-hero fare.

The story is simple – protect the Earth from an impossibly superior force. But the film artfully builds our knowledge of the characters and we are well invested by the time the real action kicks off. All the actors do a great job. The story makes for some interesting openings for cross-overs with other super hero worlds, so I think we will see them again soon. Top Tip: stay for the mid-credit scene, don’t bother with the post credits scene which is just a very short redo of the TV Fantastic Four intro.

8.5/10

Sam Goldsmith, Business Development Manager – Open Fifth

Helen’s Mum’s 70th Birthday extravaganza in London

For this month’s WOOSH I’m not going to mention any of the books I’ve read or listened to or talk about any of the films or TV I’ve watched.

I’m going to share my weekend in London with my mum, sister-in-law, aunt and cousin because it was my mum’s 70th birthday and we packed it in.

There was a distinctive ‘Royal’ theme….

First up was Buckingham Palace. My mum has wanted to see inside Buckingham since they first opened it to the public but had never managed to be in London at the right time. We had kept it as a surprise for her and were throwing her off by mentioning things like she might not be allowed to take part and asking if she’d remembered to pack her bathing costume. It wasn’t until we got close and all the street signs started saying ‘Buckingham’ that we confessed all. She just walked around with a massive grin on her face. It was also lovely to see an exhibition of artist works that Charles commissioned over the years as he travelled on state visits which included a painting by my cousin’s uncle (on her dad’s side of the family).

The next activity was going to the Cartier exhibition at the V&A. I’m not a fan of jewels and gems so I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy it. It was superb. The Royal family had loaned so many pieces (continuing the royal theme). The only thing it lacked was a count how exactly how many gem stones there were in total in the exhibition and how much each item weighed.

That night we went to see The Devil wears Prada and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t love the film but appreciate how iconic it is. The music isn’t the best I’ve ever heard and the general performances aren’t the most polished I’ve ever seen but they were all clearly enjoying themselves so much and the audience was all enjoying the fashion ‘Queens’ so much, you couldn’t not enjoy yourself.

Finally on our last day my mum and sister-in-law went to Kensington Palace to see the Dress Codes exhibition that had an amazing collection of clothes from military uniforms, through casual day wear of the Duke of Windsor, to evening wear. A ticket for the exhibition allows you to visit the whole Palace so we also wandered around it. The only thing lacking in that exhibition is that I would have loved to have seen more outfits.

I haven’t even covered the food and drinks…. That’s for a different blog

Helen Symington, Sales Executive – Open Fifth

Venue: Delirium Café, Brussels

A Belgian Beer Paradise.

Tucked away in Brussels’ winding streets, Delirium Café isn’t just a bar – it’s a pilgrimage site for serious beer lovers. With over 3,000 different beers on offer, the menu reads like an encyclopaedia of Belgian brewing excellence.

The Delirium Red was my gateway drug that afternoon – a cherry-kissed masterpiece that balances tart fruit with a malty backbone, delivering the kind of complexity that makes you pause mid-conversation to savour another sip. It’s deceptively smooth, with just enough sweetness to complement the natural cherry tartness without feeling cloying.

Even on a quieter August afternoon when Belgium feels pleasantly sleepy, the atmosphere still hummed with fascinating characters. We struck up a brilliant conversation with an international lawyer who’d clearly come here to decompress from the day job’s pressures. He took genuine delight in educating us tourists about the nuances of different beer styles, turning what could have been intimidating into an engaging masterclass over multiple glasses.

The staff know their stuff – ask for a recommendation and you’ll get a proper consultation, not just whatever’s on tap. Whether you’re after a delicate saison or something with the punch of a dubbel, they’ll steer you right.

Fair warning: what started as a planned afternoon visit turned into several hours of exploration as we worked our way through the bar’s different sections and an ever-expanding selection of Belgian classics. Delirium Café doesn’t just serve beer—it serves revelations.

Martin Renvoize, Head of Development and Community Engagement – Open Fifth

Featured image: Delirium Café, Martin Renvoize (2025)

Film: Bring Her Back, directed by Danny and Michael Philippou

I love a good horror film. I love a bad horror film (although after getting 5 minutes into The Monkey this week before turning it off, there are limits.) I had no idea what this film was about when my wife suggested it, just that it was from the same directors as Talk to Me which we’d really enjoyed and we had free cinema tickets.

I won’t get too much into the plot, for the sake of spoilers and so you can share my experience of going in blind. Set in Australia, the film follows a brother and sister’s arrival in the foster home of a former counsellor. There are some content warnings to heed – there is gore and it is harrowing.

Sally Hawkins is excellent and gives a raw and unnerving performance. So manipulative you want to shout at her! Huge credit to how incredibly well written and styled her character is. Her wardrobe and home decor are very Toast and just feel right. The same for Wendy, the social worker played by Sally-Anne Upton. Of course her phone case, car and coat should all be matching limp green. Here’s to Well Written Women in Horror!

I am really excited to follow where the Philippou brothers go next, and to see more horror out of Australia.

Lauren Purton, Marketing Executive- Open Fifth

TV series: Blackbird, by Dennis Lehane on Apple TV

6 episodes

The series stars Taron Egerton in the main role and in a wonderfully emotive last performance by Ray Liotta as the protagonist’s father.  But I cannot fault any of the performances here. Paul Walter Hauser, Greg Kinnear and Sepideh Moafi are great as the killer and the small FBI team that pursue this confession. A charismatic drug dealer gets framed by the FBI and sent to prison for 10 years, they then offer him release IF he will go undercover to another maximum security prison for the criminally insane – to elicit the confession of a serial child murderer or at least the location of his victims’ graves.

This is based on true events and the series does a marvellous job of ensuring we know the depths of the horror without actually having to watch or hear it, something I really appreciate as I do not enjoy being traumatised by TV! Despite skirting the details I was creeped out by the alleged killer and was really gunning for our “snitch.” Worth a watch and led me to research the real story after, which is just as strange as the fictional portrayal (but I won’t spoil that for you, watch it first)!

Sam Goldsmith, Business Development Manager – Open Fifth

Video game: Xenoblade Chronicles, developed by Monolith Soft, published by Nintendo

Xenoblade is a series I’ve been circling around for years. I always bounced off it because of the combat.  It’s in a strange middle ground between a traditional “turn-based RPG” and a “real-time action” systems. It wasn’t what I was used to. As someone who has always leaned toward either a fully turn-based strategy or fast, hands-on action combat, the “Real-Time Auto-Attack with command prompt” system felt clunky and unintuitive at first.

But after hearing countless people rave about how special this series is and with the purchase of a Switch 2 being very recent, and not many games that have been released for it yet, I decided to give it another shot.  The memories of playing Clair Obscur (review here) reminding me how rewarding it can be to adapt to a system outside my comfort zone, I made the most important decision to enjoying this game; stop fighting the mechanics, embrace them, and play for the story first. That turned out to be the best approach I could have taken.

Once I settled into it, the combat began to click. It’s not about flashy combos or button-mashing, it’s about timing, positioning, and strategy. Success comes from knowing when to unleash your abilities called “Arts”, how to line up attacks for maximum effect, and coordinating with your party’s AI, which at times isn’t the best but what AI is!  At its best, battles feel close to the rewarding feeling of a turn-based system especially when overcoming and strategising to face a tough foe. It scratches a different itch than action RPGs, leaning more toward MMO-inspired design, and while it will never be my favourite system, I’ve come to respect the depth it offers.

And the reward for pushing through? The story. What begins as a fairly standard “heroes against a powerful enemy” setup quickly spirals into something far richer. The narrative constantly reinvents itself with twists and reveals, raising questions not just about fate and free will, but about morality, identity, and what it truly means to fight for the future. Just when you think you know the trajectory, the game pulls the rug out and reframes everything.

That ambition is mirrored in the world itself. The environments are vast, imaginative, and brimming with scale, every location feels like it has history and purpose. You can immerse yourself deeply into the history of the different areas as there are NPCs on hand to help provide you with the lore of the world while there also being collectables to help unlock deeper lore. The soundtrack, although not as iconic as Clair Obscur, is equally incredible, setting the tone for quiet reflection one moment and driving intensity the next. The cast also hold a special place in my heart and help drive the narrative, with all their clashing ideals and emotional arcs, grounds the story in a way that makes the bigger philosophical themes land even harder.

Looking back, I think I needed to approach Xenoblade differently to truly appreciate it. By putting aside my expectations for combat and allowing myself to trust the journey, I discovered a story that more than justifies the reputation it carries. It’s not just another JRPG, it’s an experience that dares to ask difficult questions, all while sweeping you up in its world.

If you’ve ever hesitated because the gameplay didn’t immediately click, I’d say: give it the same chance I finally did. The payoff is worth it.

Ryan Henderson, System Administrator – Open Fifth