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From pumpkins to punk: NGV reveals its next blockbuster

From pumpkins to punk: NGV reveals its next blockbuster

The National Gallery of Victoria will follow up last summer's record-breaking Yayoi Kusama ticketed exhibition with one on fashion icon Vivienne Westwood, teamed with another reclusive Japanese genius.
Pieces from the late British designer who defined the punk aesthetic will be exhibited alongside the boundary-pushing oeuvre of Rei Kawakubo, the Tokyo-born founder of the Comme des Garcons ('like the boys') label.
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Bali's best new steakhouse
Bali's best new steakhouse

West Australian

time12 hours ago

  • West Australian

Bali's best new steakhouse

I have reviewed hundreds of restaurants throughout my career . But I still don't consider myself a restaurant critic — just a writer who describes rather than criticises food. Why? Well, first of all, I'm not a chef or restaurateur. I can barely cook, and I don't believe you should judge a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes. Second, I'm too easy to please. Make me a good melted cheese toasty and you'll get the same kudos and gratitude from me as I'd give to a master chef who spent hours reducing the perfect lobster bisque. And thirdly, I don't give a toss about awards, stars and hats, including those given by Michelin guides. Their idea of good food, foie gras, steak tartare, edible flowers, etc., is not my cup of tea. So when I was invited to review Yen Social, the new Bali chapter of Yen Yakiniku, a Japanese steak restaurant in Singapore and Michelin Plate awardee, I was like, 'meh'. But when I was told the invite was for a special event, a seven-course wine pairing dinner in collaboration with Penfolds, my arm was twisted. I'm not the kind of guy who ever turns down a good bottle of red. Yen Social is set in a quiet back lane of Canggu, Bali's most popular restaurant and nightlife hub. The moment you walk into the place you know it's not going to be cheap, with thick marble benchtops, bottles of wine costing thousands of dollars adorning the walls, well-coiffed customers and two dozen staff members yelling 'Irasshai mase' — welcome — at you in Japanese. It was followed by an orgy of meat and wine: an Angus tenderloin with garlic butter sauce, Australian wagyu ribeye and Australian wagyu short rib with a clear barbecue sauce, among other cuts, with each dish matched with different Penfolds blends that culminated in a couple of glasses of Bin 389. This drop is known as baby or poor man's Grange because it costs about $100 or more at your local bottle shop compared to $600 or more for Grange Hermitage. There was also silky fried rice cooked in wagyu beef fat and a spectacular dessert: flaming tiramisu served in a chocolate Easter egg. After dinner, I had a chat with the general manager, a Frenchman called Marius, and asked him if this was the best Japanese restaurant in Bali. His reply surprised me. 'No,' he said. 'We don't do sushi, we don't do sashimi and we don't do ramen. Several places in Bali do sushi as good as the best Japanese restaurants in Paris or Tokyo. What we are,' he continued, 'is the best steak restaurant in Bali. No other place that I know of goes to the lengths that we do when selecting and ageing premium beef.' That's the hard sell. All I can say is that it was bloody delicious. Plus one more thing. Remember when I said dinner at Yen Social would cost you an arm and a leg? Well, our meal, seven courses paired with seven glasses of wine, cost $108 per person, including GST and a 10 per cent service charge that substitutes a tip. Tell me of one restaurant in Australia where you can get a meal like that for that money and I'll eat my hat and write a food review on it, too. For bookings, see @ on Instagram. Ian Neubauer was a guest of Yen Social. They have not influenced, or read this story before publication

Sad truth behind F1 Movie's haunting real-life crash: ‘Is this me?'
Sad truth behind F1 Movie's haunting real-life crash: ‘Is this me?'

Perth Now

time14 hours ago

  • Perth Now

Sad truth behind F1 Movie's haunting real-life crash: ‘Is this me?'

Almost everything in the blockbuster F1 movie is fictional, but the protagonist's spine-chilling origin story really happened exactly as depicted on screen. Brad Pitt's character Sonny Hayes is haunted by a high-speed crash which initially cost him his Formula One dream, but for the man who survived that crash in real life, there would be no Hollywood ending. In 1990, Martin Donnelly was a promising British racing driver with the Lotus Formula One team, but a suspension failure in a practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix sent him hurtling into the Armco barrier at around 257km/h. The aftermath is one of the most horrifying scenes ever witnessed in motorsport. Donnelly says he has no memory of the crash, but he told CNN Sports that his car effectively became a bobsled without any steering or braking control prior to the moment of impact. 'The carbon fibre tub shattered like a car bomb, and I went with the energy,' he said. 'I got thrown out by about 60 metres and travelled through the air and along the ground like a rag doll.' Donnelly remained strapped to his seat, coming to rest awkwardly in the middle of the track. As cars navigated their way past him and through the field of debris, the marshals in Jerez waited for the arrival of doctor Sid Watkins, but the assumption was that Donnelly was already dead. When Watkins flipped open the visor of his helmet, Donnelly's face had turned blue. He was unconscious having swallowed his tongue, had broken many of his bones — including both of his legs — and his internal organs had been so traumatised that he would be clinging to life on a respirator and kidney dialysis for weeks. Martin Donnelly was lucky to escape with his life, let alone his legs. Credit: Getty After being helicoptered to hospital in Seville, a priest was summoned to read him his last rites. Donnelly was lucky to escape with his life and both of his legs, and although he was subsequently able to resume his motor racing career, he never returned to Formula One as a driver. At least, not in real life. Over three decades later, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and the other producers of the movie perused F1 archives to find the crash upon which to base Hayes' narrative arc, a decision that was quickly made once they viewed Donnelly's dramatic incident in Jerez. Hamilton made the call to seek permission, blindsiding Donnelly one Saturday night at home. 'I thought it was going to be one of those cold calls for central heating or double-glazed windows,' he recalled. 'I was quite aggressive ... it's not every day you receive a call from a seven-time world champion!' When asked what had made him so good as a young racing driver, Donnelly joked with CNN Sports: 'Well it wasn't my good looks, that's for sure.' So, he could scarcely have imagined that one of Hollywood's biggest heartthrobs would end up playing a character based on his life experience in a movie. Donnelly said it was surreal to find himself filming in a garage at Brands Hatch, with Pitt asking for advice on where to stand and how to enter the car. ''Hey Brad, if I were you, just stand at the back of the car, walk around it, touch it, just ask the car to be good to you today, pray that you're going to be both quick and safe',' he recalled saying. Martin Donnelly with Brad Pitt during production of the F1 movie. Credit: CNN Donnelly said that he never dwelled upon the inherent dangers of high-speed racing. 'If you have something in the back of your mind about having an accident, you're not driving that car at 100 per cent, you're at 99 per cent,' he explained. 'In my mind, (accidents) happened to other drivers, not me.' Nevertheless, as he described telling Pitt to climb from the left-hand side of the car, he accepted that he has always been a superstitious driver. 'My daughter once did a feature on me at school and said, 'Dad, can you write down all the superstitions you have,' and there were two A4 pages of it. She says, 'Oh my god, dad, you need some help!'' In assisting with the production of the movie, Donnelly was forced to relive the most traumatic experience of his life, experiencing it for the first time in the third person. The director recreated the crash and filmed it repeatedly, prompting him to wonder: 'Is this what I'm known for?' 'I watched them get a mannequin in yellow overalls and a helmet fly out of this car 15 times and all these cameras are taking pictures,' Donnelly said. 'And then it would drop and be dragged along the ground. For me, that was a reality check because I've never seen it happen.' Donnelly said that footage was never used in the final edit, perhaps because nothing could match the intensity of the original television recording, which he said he didn't know would be used until he saw the movie in the cinema. While he said that he feels 'honoured and privileged that Brad Pitt chose my accident and my life to document', the 61-year-old admitted that the whole thing is bittersweet; his crash came at a cost. 'This is what I've been reenacted for,' he lamented. 'And my friends at the time — Damon Hill, Jonny Herbert, Eddie Irvine, David Coulthard have all gone on to be very successful and very rich. Why wasn't I given a chance to have that? Because when they were my teammates, I kicked their asses!' But then he stops himself, recalling the fate of one of F1's greatest ever drivers Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian famously walked to the site of Donnelly's accident at Jerez and watched as the rescue teams fought to revive him on the track. Senna was close to Donnelly and clearly affected by his friend's clash in 1990. Credit: Getty/CNN They were close, and Senna offered anything he could do to help with his recovery. Four years later, Senna himself was involved in a devastating crash at the San Marino Grand Prix, and he was not so lucky. 'I do believe that I could easily have become a world champion but then I come back to reality. I'm still talking to you,' he said. 'My friend Senna is dead. He had all the millions in his back pocket, three-time world champion, but who's he going to share it with? 'His death on May 1st, 1994, was the final nail in the coffin for me to say, 'Hey Martin, look around you, you're in the paddock, you're still involved with the sport that you love. You've got no right to complain'.'

Sad truth behind Martin Donnelly's haunting real-life crash depicted in F1 Movie: ‘Is this what I'm known for?'
Sad truth behind Martin Donnelly's haunting real-life crash depicted in F1 Movie: ‘Is this what I'm known for?'

7NEWS

time17 hours ago

  • 7NEWS

Sad truth behind Martin Donnelly's haunting real-life crash depicted in F1 Movie: ‘Is this what I'm known for?'

Almost everything in the blockbuster F1 movie is fictional, but the protagonist's spine-chilling origin story really happened exactly as depicted on screen. Brad Pitt's character Sonny Hayes is haunted by a high-speed crash which initially cost him his Formula One dream, but for the man who survived that crash in real life, there would be no Hollywood ending. In 1990, Martin Donnelly was a promising British racing driver with the Lotus Formula One team, but a suspension failure in a practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix sent him hurtling into the Armco barrier at around 257km/h. The aftermath is one of the most horrifying scenes ever witnessed in motorsport. Donnelly says he has no memory of the crash, but he told CNN Sports that his car effectively became a bobsled without any steering or braking control prior to the moment of impact. 'The carbon fibre tub shattered like a car bomb, and I went with the energy,' he said. 'I got thrown out by about 60 metres and travelled through the air and along the ground like a rag doll.' Donnelly remained strapped to his seat, coming to rest awkwardly in the middle of the track. As cars navigated their way past him and through the field of debris, the marshals in Jerez waited for the arrival of doctor Sid Watkins, but the assumption was that Donnelly was already dead. When Watkins flipped open the visor of his helmet, Donnelly's face had turned blue. He was unconscious having swallowed his tongue, had broken many of his bones — including both of his legs — and his internal organs had been so traumatised that he would be clinging to life on a respirator and kidney dialysis for weeks. After being helicoptered to hospital in Seville, a priest was summoned to read him his last rites. Donnelly was lucky to escape with his life and both of his legs, and although he was subsequently able to resume his motor racing career, he never returned to Formula One as a driver. At least, not in real life. Over three decades later, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and the other producers of the movie perused F1 archives to find the crash upon which to base Hayes' narrative arc, a decision that was quickly made once they viewed Donnelly's dramatic incident in Jerez. Hamilton made the call to seek permission, blindsiding Donnelly one Saturday night at home. 'I thought it was going to be one of those cold calls for central heating or double-glazed windows,' he recalled. 'I was quite aggressive ... it's not every day you receive a call from a seven-time world champion!' When asked what had made him so good as a young racing driver, Donnelly joked with CNN Sports: 'Well it wasn't my good looks, that's for sure.' So, he could scarcely have imagined that one of Hollywood's biggest heartthrobs would end up playing a character based on his life experience in a movie. Donnelly said it was surreal to find himself filming in a garage at Brands Hatch, with Pitt asking for advice on where to stand and how to enter the car. ''Hey Brad, if I were you, just stand at the back of the car, walk around it, touch it, just ask the car to be good to you today, pray that you're going to be both quick and safe',' he recalled saying. Donnelly said that he never dwelled upon the inherent dangers of high-speed racing. 'If you have something in the back of your mind about having an accident, you're not driving that car at 100 per cent, you're at 99 per cent,' he explained. 'In my mind, (accidents) happened to other drivers, not me.' Nevertheless, as he described telling Pitt to climb from the left-hand side of the car, he accepted that he has always been a superstitious driver. 'My daughter once did a feature on me at school and said, 'Dad, can you write down all the superstitions you have,' and there were two A4 pages of it. She says, 'Oh my god, dad, you need some help!'' In assisting with the production of the movie, Donnelly was forced to relive the most traumatic experience of his life, experiencing it for the first time in the third person. The director recreated the crash and filmed it repeatedly, prompting him to wonder: 'Is this what I'm known for?' 'I watched them get a mannequin in yellow overalls and a helmet fly out of this car 15 times and all these cameras are taking pictures,' Donnelly said. 'And then it would drop and be dragged along the ground. For me, that was a reality check because I've never seen it happen.' Donnelly said that footage was never used in the final edit, perhaps because nothing could match the intensity of the original television recording, which he said he didn't know would be used until he saw the movie in the cinema. While he said that he feels 'honoured and privileged that Brad Pitt chose my accident and my life to document', the 61-year-old admitted that the whole thing is bittersweet; his crash came at a cost. 'This is what I've been reenacted for,' he lamented. 'And my friends at the time — Damon Hill, Jonny Herbert, Eddie Irvine, David Coulthard have all gone on to be very successful and very rich. Why wasn't I given a chance to have that? Because when they were my teammates, I kicked their asses!' But then he stops himself, recalling the fate of one of F1's greatest ever drivers Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian famously walked to the site of Donnelly's accident at Jerez and watched as the rescue teams fought to revive him on the track. They were close, and Senna offered anything he could do to help with his recovery. Four years later, Senna himself was involved in a devastating crash at the San Marino Grand Prix, and he was not so lucky. 'I do believe that I could easily have become a world champion but then I come back to reality. I'm still talking to you,' he said. 'My friend Senna is dead. He had all the millions in his back pocket, three-time world champion, but who's he going to share it with? 'His death on May 1st, 1994, was the final nail in the coffin for me to say, 'Hey Martin, look around you, you're in the paddock, you're still involved with the sport that you love. You've got no right to complain'.'

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