| Influences | MUSIC: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Northern Soul, Punk, The Rolling Stones, U2, The Velvet Underground, Prince, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, White Stripes, Public Enemy, The MC5, Bruce Springsteen, Amy Winehouse, The Raveonettes, The Doors, Violent Femmes, The Ramones, The Clash, The Bee Gees, Frank Sinatra, Gnaarls Barkley, The Minutemen, Queen, Tom Jones, Patti Smith, The Killers, The Beastie Boys, Nick Cave, Arcade Fire, Michael Jackson (before he starred in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes), Gwen Stefani, Smokey Robinson, Madonna, KISS, Marvin Gaye, The Cramps, Stevie Wonder, Rockabilly, Gene Vincent, The Sex Pistols, Clyde McPhatter, Nirvana, The Shirelles, the Beach Boys, George Michael, The Jackson Five, T-Rex, David Bowie, Sweet, Erasure, Chuck Berry, Sufjan Stevens, John Legend, Hank Williams, Generation X, Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta, Bon Jovi, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Kravitz, Duran Duran, Link Wray, Dusty Springfield, Delirious?, Motown, Ray Charles, Van Halen, New York Dolls, ABBA, The Supremes, ELO, Sam Phillips, Woody Guthrie, AC/DC, 80s Music, and Steve Taylor. And the Partridge Family. Seriously. (Wanna frakkin' make somethin' of it?) FAVE MOVIES: On the Waterfront, Batman Begins, Annie Hall, Suspiria, Superman: the Movie, Ben Hur, West Side Story, Tender Mercies, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Naked Kiss, American Graffitti, La Jetee, Mean Streets, Rocky, Tokyo Drifter, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Night of the Hunter, Pulp Fiction, Jailhouse Rock, The French Connection, Harry Potter series, A Man and a Woman, Ninotchka, My Man Godfrey, Breathless, Guys and Dolls, Saturday Night Fever, Star Wars, La Dolce Vita, James Bond (particularly Goldfinger, From Russia with Love, Octopussy, Goldeneye, and the recent Casino Royale), Casablanca, The 400 Blows, Diner, Danger Diabolik, The Manchurian Candidate, Citizen Kane, Night of the Living Dead, Kiss Me Deadly, A Hard Days Night, Has Success Spoiled Rock Hunter?, King Kong, The Seven Samurai, Dr. Strangeglove, The Killing, Flaming Star, The Matrix, Viva Las Vegas, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Passion of the Christ, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Big Sleep, How the West Was Won, Eyes Without a Face, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Lady from Shanghai, Breakfast at Tiffany's, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bridgette Jones' Diary, North by Northwest, The Road Warrior, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Grease, Spider-Man 1 & 2, X-Men 2, Shane, The Searchers, Signs, Ball of Fire, The Godfather, The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Kill Bill, Vol. 1, Chinatown, Planet of the Apes, Bound For Glory, The Incredibles, To Sir With Love, His Girl Friday, and It's a Wonderful Life. FAVE TELEVISION: Smallville, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, 24, Ugly Betty, Star Trek (Original series), The Office, My Name is Earl, Lost, Flight of the Conchords, The Prisoner, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Johnny Quest (original series), Justice League Unlimited (and all the DC Universe cartoons), Johnny Bravo, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, The Avengers, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Simpsons, The Twilight Zone (1960s), Dog the Bounty Hunter, and TCM (Turner Classic Movies). FAVE BOOKS: The Bible (King James translation), Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts by Steve Turner, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, Ghost World by Daniel Clowes, The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon,The Book of the Millennium by Vishal Mangalwadi, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan series, anything by C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Shakespeare, John Milton, Flannery O'Connor, Madeleine L'Engle, Harlan Ellison, Anne Rice (especially Memnoch the Devil and Christ the Lord), Ray Bradbury, Robert E. Howard, G.K. Chesterton, H.P.Lovecraft, Charles Dickens, Frank Miller, Alan Moore and my buddies Jim Krueger and Doug TenNapel. MY HEROES: Jesus (otherwise known as Yeshua if you're a Messianic Jew, Jay-Zoos if you're from the South, or Hay-Soos if you're down wit' La Raza), Elvis, Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, St. Francis of Asissi, Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain Kirk, Bruce Springsteen, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Flannery O'Connor, Indiana Jones, James Bond, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Bono, Johnny Cash, Alex Ross, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Marlon Brando, Martin Scorsese, St. Augustine, King David, Frank Miller, George Perez, Mel Gibson, Leonardo Da Vinci, James Dean, Ronald Reagan AND Bill Clinton, Martin Luther King, and of course, my parents. |
