Dr. Morbius (Bill Weber) RIP

He was the last ILXor I saw IRL, right before lockdown. He’s probably the one I saw most.

This sucks so much!!!

Oh man, this is sad. I met him twice: once in Chicago in 2007 and once in NYC in 2010. But I think of him foremost as a reliable (and ever-cantankerous) presence here. I'll miss seeing his name.

We butted heads plenty over the years and he could drive me absolutely up the goddamn fuckin wall, but the guy seriously knew his shit, unlike 99% of humans out there, including myself. It was always clear that he deeply loved the things that he loved, including this place. Even when he was being poisonous I could always tell it was fundamentally bc he was mad the world wasnt a better place. I will always remember him.

This sucks.

R.I.P., good Doctor.

As I was just texting to Flappy: "I didn't always agree with him but always loved seeing what he'd say about whatever, and was always curious about his life. He was a major part of the firmament and will be missed."

love morbs, this is terrible, RIP

I've learned more about film from this man, who I never met, than almost anyone else in my life. He was the #1 reason why I posted here. I can't believe I'll never get to meet him or talk about John Ford or Fassbinder again. Posts of his are burned in my brain. Fuck this

KJB, thanks for bringing the news here, and please tell Cathy how infuriated by & appreciated Bill was, by so many who knew, met, or conversed with him.

Even when he was being poisonous I could always tell it was fundamentally bc he was mad the world wasnt a better place. I will always remember him.

this is very otm. I never spotted him being mad about something not worth being mad about.

Well, damn.

Whenever I show someone the movie They All Laughed, I always paraphrase one of Morbs' posts about it: "Watched the first 20 minutes of They All Laughed. I didn't."

I called him a cynic to his face and he said "Fuck you" and laughed. He knew. He was a sentimentalist. He was pissed off the world wasn't as good as he wanted it to be.

i finally met morbs irl in february, at a reading arranged by ilx's own jbr, and he was exactly as much of a sweetheart in person as described, even though he introduced himself to me on the defensive (as, iirc, "the hated dr. morbius"). i thought of that night fondly and often over these past few months

man, this sucks

just saw JBR's post

only met the guy for 10 minutes, in line for 77BOADRUM, but he's an intrinsic voice in my online life & every one of his posts made total sense after that 10 minutes

RIP

& love to all of us here

Bill more than any ilx0r I have ever met was someone who once you met him you were like “ohhhhh now I get it” and then all of his posts made sense

RIP Dr Morbius

I never spotted him being mad about something not worth being mad about.

Very much so.

(And wb, deems.)

(This kind of underlines how much I need to meet all of you in person, finally - something I thought about often in the few years leading up to this awful year. More intense after these past 6-7 months.)

Only met him once IRL and he was, in fact, as affable a guy as you could ever hope to meet for hours of beers and chatting. I admired how easily he navigated the world, meeting up with ILXors at various ports of call. And I similarly appreciated how he navigated ILX in his singular way. I will miss him a lot.

:( man that’s just awful. Rest In Peace Doc.

oh no :( RIP morbz

Aw, man. Pouring one out.

Peace and healing to those who knew and loved him.

Respect to the man and his memory.

I can’t add anything that hasn’t already been said. An intelligent and opinionated poster I always enjoyed hearing from.RIP, Morbs.

Damn, I’m sorry to hear this.

The more time passed the more I found myself understanding his cynicism about politics and appreciating what he'd seen. Will miss him being here.

was this him?

https://www.metacritic.com/critic/bill-weber

yes

"On average, this critic grades 3.5 points lower than other critics" lol

“ On average, this critic grades 3.5 points lower than other critics”

Yes.

Omg ha ahahahaaa!

Spent a lot of today talking about a different friend who passed tragically after touching many lives, and feeling that familiar sense of shame over not saying it to them (more) while they were around to hear it. In that spirit, FYI: all of you here, in this place, are important to me.

The positive reviews still outnumber the negative and middling ones tho.

Yeah, it was

Lol xps

I haven't posted in approximately 37 years but I wanted to express my extreme sadness and condolences to those who were friends with him. I am happy and honored he came to my wedding last year despite his extreme illness and I am devastated that this year took away my opportunities to see him. I didn't know I wouldn't have another chance to go watch the Kentucky Derby with him - he was such a caring person and I'll miss him forever. RIP.

It should be said: he was a helluva writer.

”On average, this critic grades 3.5 points lower than other critics" lol

He was probably one of my best-known ilxors, I have lost track of how many times we have hung out and if he wasn’t present at my very first ilx hangout (2007? 2008?) it was very soon after. I loved how he was like basically doing a stand up routine 24/7, he was so full of wit and commentary and humor, so observational, so much fun to be around, so full of warmth and kindness towards those who deserved it and an incredibly righteous anger to those who did not. I loved how unwavering he was and how steadfast he was in his worldview, and I truly admired how left-leaning he was for someone his age. He was really, really, really super, I loved him a lot and I’m gutted I’ll never get to have drinks with him at Julius again.

Omg ha ahahahaaa!

:D

Bill more than any ilx0r I have ever met was someone who once you met him you were like “ohhhhh now I get it” and then all of his posts made sense

I4n trailed this effect at my first American FAP, saying something like "once you see the twinkle in his eye IRL, you can never take his threats of murder seriously again." Stevie has summed it up even more perfectly.

Yeah, that was an excellent summary steve

Until you met him, you realized not so much that his ILX persona was "bluster" but that the bluster was his way of forcing me not to take shit for granted, whether Assayas films or life.

<3

Will miss his withering contempt in general, but especially for people that don't appreciate Spielberg.

"I loved how he was like basically doing a stand up routine 24/7, he was so full of wit and commentary and humor, so observational, so much fun to be around, so full of warmth and kindness towards those who deserved it and an incredibly righteous anger to those who did not. I loved how unwavering he was and how steadfast he was in his worldview, and I truly admired how left-leaning he was for someone his age. He was really, really, really super, I loved him a lot and I’m gutted"

loved reading this Stevie

Bill more than any ilx0r I have ever met was someone who once you met him you were like “ohhhhh now I get it” and then all of his posts made sense

this is incredibly otm; i feel like it’s somehow damning with faint praise to talk about what a nice guy he was IRL, but he was a really nice guy IRL!

aww, Dan M thank you for finding that. it's perfect.

i've been typing and erasing and typing and erasing and... idk... no matter how clearly he told us this was coming, there's a part of me that truly believed he'd survive us all through sheer cussedness and bc there was still so much more to drink in.

such a generous spirit, deeply written into the walls of this place... wishing peace and comfort to his loved ones and better days for us all.

The best way to honor Morbs without schmaltz? Fucking watch an early '30s John Ford film tonight.

and give Dennis Perrin tweets a few clicks

Well, shit.

yeah i could never get seriously mad at his posts here after meeting him. we met up again in boston in 2015 and had a couple beers on a sunday afternoon and he was the same old bill, attending baseball stats conferences and catching up with friends. i guess in the back of my mind i thought we would hang out again someday but isn't that how it always is.

and watch a lubitsch movie

When we finally arranged to watch a movie in Manhattan a decade ago and he wanted to nail down meeting details, I said, "You talk as if you don' own a cell phone."

"I don't," he said.