I know movies. that's about it.
ben franklin
Bob Dylan, Cursive, Bright Eyes, Oingo Boingo, WHY?, the Decembrists, the Good Life, Neutral Milk Hotel, Stars, Tegan and Sara, Okkervil River, Postal Service, the Beatles, Radiohead, Flaming Lips, Placebo, King Duke, the Fiery Furnaces, the Polyphonic Spree, Smashing Pumpkins, Dresden Dolls, Tenacious D, Cat Power, Cat Stevens, Sufjan Stevens, The Pillows, Tom Waits, Our Lady Peace, Liz Phair, The Who, Sigur Ros, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the White Stripes, the Notwist.
Borat. Lord of the Rings, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Me and You and Everyone We Nnow, Nightmare Before Christmas, The Squid and the Whale, Kicking and Screaming (not the will ferrel one), Gummo, Happiness, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Storytelling, Fight Club, The Truman Show, Thumbsucker, Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, Twelve Monkeys, Spun, Evil Dead Trilogy, Back to the Future Trilogy, Original Star Wars Trilogy, Indiana Jones Trilogy, V for Vendetta, Batman Begins, Serenity, Barry Lyndon, 2001: A Space Odessy, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, Dr. Strangelove, Barton Fink, Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Man Who Wasn't There, O' Brother Where Art Thou, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I Heart Huckabees, Flirting with Disaster, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Unbreakable, Pi, Dursu Usala, Yojimbo, Sanjiro, The Great Race, Sin City, Jurassic Park, Jaws, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Ghostbusters, Ghost World, Lost in Translation, Amelie, Chasing Amy, Blade Runner, Taxi Driver, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, and The Iron Giant which makes me cry every single time.
arrested development, the venture brothers, the simpsons, daily show, curb your enthusiasm, chapelle's show, ali G, spaced, the office, fooly cooly, cowboy bebop, mystery science theater 3000, home movies, the tick, invader zim, pee-wee's playhouse, daria, stella, south park, robot chicken, and the short lived freaks and geeks, cupid, action, and my so-called life.
anything by Noam Chomsky and Herman Hesse. Sarah Vowell is good. so is the Tao Te Ching. LOTR. Kafka. dante's inferno. catcher in the rye. I need to read more.
Heroes are an absurd concept, setting people up for disappointment upon the realization that their hero is either flawed or a fraud, so I'll say Batman.