The War of Art
I don't usually write book reviews. I think I have not written one since the grammar school, where it was a compulsory task. But now I have to, because this one really grabbed my interest. It is named The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles and was written by Steven Pressfield.
I got the reference about it from a blog post from Tomás Vergara through his movie The Chase, which was advertised on The Pirate Bay. I read some reviews on amazon and got the book.
As the title says, the aim of the book is to „wake up“ the reader to embrace one's self creativity and hidden potential. It does so in three stages: first, the Resistance, which personifies dark forces of self-sabotage that each of us have inside, and its manifestations are identified. Second, Pressfield teaches about becoming „a pro“ and difference between amateur and professional in the relation with the Resistance. In third, final stage revolves about the idea of Muses and Angels and how they help you with doing the creative work.
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
I felt pretty much moved by the book, identified myself with several situations described and also stared with open mouth on simple ideas and thoughts, that were so simple it had never occurred to me it could be so simple and easy. Unlike numerous books on procrastination, the War of Art does not try to cover it with fabricated systems that should „just“ make you more effective, but goes directly to the cause of problems and curing them – the Resistance and how to fight it.
I read it two times in a three day span and am for sure going to read it again when the ideas sink in more deeply. I recommend it for people, who are open minded and seek inspiration for their artistic/creative development.
Movie: Coraline (3D)
During my stay in Lithuania we went to the cinema to see the film Coraline in 3D. I had not read about the movie much before we went, just a small introduction on introduction on csfd.cz that put the film into Animated / Adventure / Family / Fantasy fairytale genre.
In the first half of the film it was true, but after that everything changed
into very dark and quite scary (amplified by the 3D projection) show 
. The humour is mostly black, the film carries slight
resemblance to the older film from the director Henry Selick, Nightmare Before
Christmas.
I cannot do anything else than recommend this film, especially if you will
go and see it in 3D. Do not worry, it really is not film just for children .
Film: Riget
In this week we saw Danish series The Kingdom (Riget) from a famous director Lars von Trier. Main storyline is about the Kingdom – most technologically advanced hospital in Denmark. After some mysterious events, such as ghost ambulance arriving to hospital every night or strange voices in elevator shaft, the medical personnel begins to realize that not everything can be comprehended purely by science.
We only saw first two episodes (out of eight), but it was enough for me to know that it is one of the best series I have ever seen.
Per Fly’s trilogy
Throughout the week we had a chance to watch three films from a famous Danish director Per Fly:
I liked these films very much. All of them are dramas pointing out problems in Danish society, often in a raw and naturalistic way. Since they are very depressing, it is generally not a good idea to watch them one after another (as we did). But still, I can't do anything else than to recommend them.