Fucking Grand Theft Auto. Oh, and writing and books and comics and stuff.
Ghandi, Batman, Spider-man, Brass Monkey, Dorothy Parker, Flannery O'Connor, Paul Auster, Steve McQueen, Job, Haruki Murakami, Jesus H. Christ, and Mack Mutha Fuckin Bolan...!
Futureheads, Grandaddy, Umdongskulen, Mighty Voices of Wonder, Slowreader, Grand National, Darondo, Betty Lavette, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Gnarls Barkley, Beirut, Thee More Shallows, Of Montreal, Jimi Hendrix, Radiohead, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Can, Les Georges Leningrad, Zumpano, Al Green, Gotye, MF Doom, New Buffalo, Junior Parker, The Reigning Sound, The Oblivians, Outkast, Tyco Party, Dr. Dog, Ray Charles, Betty Davis, King Floyd, Enon, Mugison, Bo Diddley, Wolf Parade, The Double, The Unicorns, Donny Hathaway, Death From Above 1979, Lightning Bolt, Monkey Joe, Pinback, The Minders, Prince Paul, Band of Horses, Persephone's Bees, The Besnard Lakes, The Redwalls, A Tribe Called Quest, John Lee Hooker, Janis Joplin, Canned Heat, Dusty Springfield, Steppenwolf, Neil Young, Sly and the Family Stone, The King Khan and BBQ Show, Mixmaster Mike, Dan the Automator, Kool Keith, Wesley Willis, D'Angelo, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Ghostface Killah, The Gravediggaz, Clinic, Chuck Berry, James Brown, MC Paul Barman, Midlake, Kid Koala, Prince Paul, Eric B. and Rakim, The Avalanches, Son House, Blind Willie Mctell, Blind Willy Johnson, Kelley Stoltz, Liars, Les Paul, The Long Winters, Benjy Ferree, Love is All, Handsome Boy Modeling School, The Lovely Feathers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Los Straightjackets, Deadbolt, Leaders of the New School, Talking Heads, T Rex, Stevie Wonder, Jurassic 5, Blackalicious, Souls of Mischief, The Hieroglyphics, The Temptations, The Spinners, The Isely Brothers, Bill Deal and the Rondells, Pharcyde, Otis Redding, Big Mama Thornton, Cake, Bumblebeez81, Beulah, Frog Eyes, Sunset Rubdown, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Frank Black and the Catholics, The Pixies, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? , Skip James, The Silvertones, Jimmy Cliff, Slaves, Quasi, Portishead, Black Sabbath, Amy Winehouse, Bill Withers, Frankie Lyman, Etta James, The Shins, The Beastie Boys, David Bowie, Velvet Underground, The Roots, Daniel Johnston, Shuggie Otis, Coachwhips, Hasil Adkins, The Dirtbombs, Tap Tap...
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, China Town, Kwaidan, Boiling Point, The Last Tycoon, Fireworks, F For Fake, The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi, The Third Man, Ugetsu, The Godfather (and II), The Departed, Battle Royale, Kill Bill, Enter The Dragon, The Matrix Trilogy, The Stuff, Brick, The Illusionist, The Departed, The Prestige, The Last King of Scotland, The Haunting (not the newer, shittier one--the old one), The Wiz, Bullitt, Barton Fink, The Great Escape, The Unforgiven, Papillon, Miller's Crossing, The Last Man on Earth, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Spirited Away, Clockers, Hamlet (The Kenneth Branagh one), The Royal Tannenbaums, Orpheus, Incident at Loch Ness, Ali, M, Julian Donkey Boy, Once Upon a Time in the West, In the Line of Fire, Primer, The Stranger, Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Collateral, Sonatine, Count Yorga, Vampire, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Quiet American, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, They Came Back, Homicide: The Movie, The Man Who Wasn't There, Pale Rider, North By Northwest, Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, Once Upon a Time in America, Fists of Legend, Dead Man, Dagon, Cool Hand Luke, Men of Respect, The 25th Hour, The Reanimator, Rushmore, Troll, Time Bandits, The Innocents, Crooklyn, Wisconsin Death Trip, Citizen Kane, Testament of Orpheus, Intacto, Dead Birds, Broken Flowers, Tombs of the Blind Dead, The Spanish Prisoner, Bad Santa, Bonnie and Clyde, Angel Heart, Thieves' Highway, Zombi II, The Sword of Doom, The Hustler, Alphaville, Burnt Offerings, Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior, The Color of Money, This is Spinal Tap, Princess Mononoke, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, Five Easy Pieces, The Shining, The Big Lebowski, Ninja Night Thunder Fox, Inside Man, so, so many.
Thief, The Sopranos, The Wire, Some Adult Swim, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report.
The New York Trilogy, In The Country of Lost Things, The Music of Chance, Moon Palace, and The Book of Illusions, all by Paul Auster. Move Under Ground, by Nick Mamatas. The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner. As I Lay Dying, by the same. The Windup Bird Chronicle, A Wild Sheep Chase, and Dance, Dance, Dance, and Kafka on the Shore, all by Haruki Murakami; King Rat, by China Mieville. There Are Doors, The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories, The Wizard, The Knight, and Peace, all by Gene Wolfe; Fight Club, by Chuck Pahlaniuk; Beluthahatchie and Other Stories, by Andy Duncan; The Physiognomy, Memoranda, and The Beyond, all by Jeffrey Ford (Best damn secondary-world fantasy trilogy I've read in--hell, pretty much forever.) Move Under Ground, by Nick Mamatas. Beggars in Spain, by Nancy Kress; Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, Alice in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass, by Louis Caroll; Treasure Island, by R. L. Stephenson; The Two Sams, by Glen Hirshberg; Peace, The Knight, The Wizard, Innocents Aboard, and The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories, all by Gene Wolfe--pretty much anything Flannery O'Connor ever wrote. Same with Dorothy Parker, John Crowley, Liz Hand, M. John Harrison (especially his horror.) Haunted, by Joyce Carol Oates. Black Water and Black Water 2, Edited by Alberto Manguel. Every volume of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. There. Scratched the surface, I guess. I read a lot of things at the same time.
See the above, but as far as obvious answers: Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Sam Cooke--and above all, my grandmother. She was a saint...