Profile

Batman: The first movie that made me say, "I want to do that for the rest of my life."
Tim Burton: Director of Batman, and a big factor in my style.
Evil Dead: The movie that showed that a group friends, a camera, and a vision could do wonders. Inspired me and cohort Brandon Thorne to become amateur filmmakers.
Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell: Two of the friends who made Evil Dead; Raimi wrote and directed, and Campbell starred. I aspire to be like a lot of people, but Sam and Bruce are practically at the top.
Memento: The movie that led me to decide to be a writer. I will not rest until I write a movie that makes people talk the same way the audience around me did after Memento.
Christopher Nolan: The writer/director of Memento, and director of the awesome remake of Insomnia. Obviously my hero. Not to mention, he directed Batman Begins. Doesn't get much cooler than that.
Robert Rodriguez: Overall, one of my biggest inspirations. He made short films as a kid, and just kept doing it until he made El Marachi while in Mexico on summer vacation from UT. Some people from Miramax saw it, loved it, and gave him the money to make Desperado. And he's been making feature films since. He does most of the work (writing, shooting, directing, editing, etc.) himself, which I highly admire (I also have the same tendency). He seems like an awesome, down-to-Earth kind of guy, and if I make it into Hollywood, I hope I can be like him and stay like myself.
Quentin Tarantino: I love every single one of his movies. Video-clerk-turned-hip-writer/director. Pretty much who I'm aiming to be.
David Fincher: Director. I love this guy's style, and se7en and Fight Club will always be in my top ten.
Charlie Kaufman: Writer. His scripts are quirky, original, and awesome. Adaptation is the most original, insane screenplay ever.
David Hayter: Writer. He helped write X-Men, that's awesome. And he's the voice of Solid Snake, thereby making him The Coolest Guy Ever.
Sam Mendes: Director. Made American Beauty and Road to Perdition, both of which rank highly on my "top movies" list.
Alan Ball: Writer. Wrote American Beauty and came up with Six Feet Under. He can sometimes be a bit overhanded with the melodrama, but overall he's an incredible writer that I admire.
Joss Whedon: Writer/Director. Worked on Alien: Resurrection, Toy Story, and of course, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But I'm a fan of Whedon thanks to his TV series Firefly. I love Westerns. I also like sci-fi. So, naturally, I'm a sucker for a sci-fi Western.
Conrad L. Hall, A.S.C.: Cinematographer. Shot Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, as well as American Beauty and Road to Perdition. One of the most well respected and insanely talented cinematographers to ever work in Hollywood. A heavy inspiration for my thesis.
Roger Deakins, A.S.C.: Shot most of the Coen brothers' feature films, as well as Thirteen Days and Jarhead, one of the most visually striking films I've seen in recent years.
Vittorio Storaro, A.I.C.-A.S.C: Shot Apocalypse Now and has his own series of color gels. Another highly respected cinematographer in the industry.
Thomas Del Ruth, A.S.C.: Shot many seasons of The West Wing, as well being an AC for Conrad Hall, A.S.C.

I'm probably forgetting some people. I'll add them in later.

Tool: Awesome music, and they manage to make art with their videos and album covers, instead of commercialistic crap.
Bad Religion: Punk rock's finest. They were around in the 80's when it was still new, and they're still at it today. That's true hardcore. And when your singer has a PhD, it makes for some awesome and insightful lyrics.
A Perfect Circle: Awesome, melodic rock. Maynard James Keenan, singer for Tool, also sings for APC.
Rage Against The Machine: Tom Morello is one of the best guitarists EVER.
System Of A Down: Metal for the new millenium. Awesome music, and the guys aren't afraid to stick to their beliefs and views. Their debut is still their finest work.

Stephen King: The guy can tell a story. It may not be classic literature, but it's fun to read, and that counts a lot in my book.
Tom Clancy: I've got a thing for espionage and spy stuff.
Comics/Graphic Novels: Whatever you choose to call them, I like to read them.
Random Literature: I do try to familiarize myself with the classics. Crime and Punishment, Lolita, and 1984 are among my all-time favorites.

Six Feet Under: From Alan Ball, writer of American Beauty. Focusing on the screwed-up lives of a family that happens to own a mortuary, this was probably the one television series I was the most emotionally invested in. From beginning to end, every aspect of the show captivated me. Extremely well written, well directed, well acted...the whole nine yards.
24: One of the coolest shows ever.
Lost: For something that avoids telling its audience anything of importance, a lot of people sure do love this show. I'm one of them.
Alias: Not as cool as it used to be.
Carnivàle: Awesome storyline about the battle between Good and Evil interweaved with the dustbowl era Midwest.
Deadwood: Ian McShane plays the best antagonist in the history of television.
Firefly: Only Joss Whedon could make a sci-fi/western show cool, and only Fox could be dumb enough to cancel it.
The West Wing: Since politics is so depressing in the real world, it's nice to follow well written fake politics. Aaron Sorkin is a great writer...
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: ...and his new show is to entertainment what West Wing was to politics. Fantastic.

My friends. Where would I be without these wonderful people...I owe them everything, no joke.
Video games. They are fun and awesome, and I have far too many to catch up on.
Cherry Coke. Best soda ever.
The 80's. Yes, it was tacky as hell. But, in moderation, the 80's entertain me.
Wasting time. Nothing says "freedom" like the ability to spend many hours doing things of little to no consequence.
Watching people. Not in a sick way or anything. I just like observing people and seeing what they do. Blame the writer in me.
The city. People everywhere...stuff to do around every corner...life's not fun unless I'm in a nice, big city. I used to live in L.A. and I can't wait to go back.
Stand-up comedy. Laughter really is the best medicine. Among my favorite performers are George Carlin, Lewis Black, Dane Cook, and Mitch Hedberg (R.I.P. you funny bastard...I never did see you on stage).
A nice, juciy, well-seasoned steak. Few things can match the jubilation of eating professionally prepared animal flesh.
Apple products. Those things are beautiful. I love my Gateway laptop for day-to-day stuff, but when I want to edit video, create special effects, or otherwise artistically express myself through digital form, my MacBook wins. And my iPod is a sexy little thang.