The New York Times recently reported on the phenomenon of Los Angeles paparazzi inventing their own photo ops by crashing their cars into those of their celebrity targets. “Ms. [Cameron] Diaz recalled walking in the street with Mr. [Justin] Timberlake and a friend and his dog about two years ago, when a photographer in a Toyota [...]

From the Capri Films website: TITLE: HIGH-RISE (Feature Film – in Development) SYNOPSIS: From J.G. Ballard, the author of the best sellers, COCAINE NIGHTS and EMPIRE OF THE SUN, comes an unsettling and unforgettable tale of life in a modern tower block running out of control. The tower’s affluent...

Ballard-referencing article on the gentrification/renaissance of high rises.

From Metro, July 25-Aug 2 2005. Silicon Alleys: Machine Love by Gary Singh “THERE’S NO BETTER way to celebrate the inaugural San Jose Grand Prix Champ Car race than to quote legendary British author J.G. Ballard. You see, his 1973 novel Crash is so delightfully vulgar that David Cronenberg just had to finally make a film out of [...]

From the Londonist, July 18, 2005: “We only just got around to seeing Peter Watkins’ Punishment Park – we figured we’ve waited for 35 years… what’s another week or so matter. Now we’re kicking ourselves for not getting along to the ICA sooner so we could recommend this to you guys earlier. We caught the very [...]

JG Ballard, the author of Crash and Empire Of The Sun, said the demand for female fiction was in complete contrast to the 1960s when men were the main buyers of novels. excerpted from the Telegraph, 24/7/05. JG BALLARD SAYS: “I think 30 years ago, men were the main buyers of novels because they had the [...]

Real beach reading: don’t be shamed by the pundits into packing an inscrutable doorstop. Geordie Greig suggests holiday books you’ll actually finish. From the Times Online, July 30 2005. “To forget where you are on holiday, and that is what a good book does, J. G. Ballard spins you off into hellish destruction and war in [...]

From the Guardian, Saturday June 25, 2005 CSI … as characterless as life It has no car chases, no shoot-outs, no emotions. So what makes Crime Scene Investigation so utterly compelling? The answer, writes JG Ballard, goes to the heart of our most basic fears. JG BALLARD: “Television today is an ageing theme park, which we visit out [...]

Excerpted from the Guardian, July 23 2005. JG Ballard used to skip class to watch Michael Powell’s extravagant, unsettling postwar movies. They taught him all he needed to know about the art of storytelling… JG BALLARD SAYS: “Films, like memories, seem to re-shoot themselves over the years, reflecting our latest needs and obsessions. In many cases they [...]