Dr. Morbius (Bill Weber) RIP

Oh fuck. We only ever really interacted in the midst of general film sparring, but he was an institution. This news is so awful. RIP man, and love to all of you who knew him well.

“I’m going to honor his memory by trying my best to move further to the left as I age. Not joking. If we all try to be a little more Morbius we can start to fill in a little bit of the gap that’s left today.“

Hell fucking yeah man. I really only interacted with him on the politics threads but he was such a vital presence. He gave no quarter and sometimes that was frustrating but goddamn it makes me cry to think how beautiful this world could be if everyone was half that fierce

he had so many opportunities to introduce jon williams to the pavement, and yet

― mookieproof, Wednesday, October 21, 2020 10:34 PM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

missed connections...

his delightfully Morbsian wordplay

lol fair

Ah I was thinking about you, Morbs. Wondered where’d you gone to since you’d been so quiet on here. May they show no kiddie garbage where you are now and may the seats always be comfortable - but only just enough to keep you from dozing during those film marathons. Rest In Peace, Doc.

I never met him IRL but he was a distinctive presence on this board and I’ll miss him.

the man was truly one of a kind. moreso than even his opinions or personality, what i will remember most about bill is that he was a walking history book. it's not an exaggeration to say that a piece of new york died today as well. it will surprise no one who knows either him or me that he was constantly incredulous over me not knowing basically anything about much of the pop culture that made him who he was -- our conversations were classes for me, punctuated by impressions of bygone actors whose lines he would recall from memory and with recite relish. many ppl know he once dabbled in stand up comedy -- he was in his own way a performer at heart. he soaked up such an incredible amount of new york culture that you cannot access online -- mets games from the 60s, richard pryor stand up sets from the 70s, yo la tengo hannukah shows, WMFU call in shows, leather parties... i'm barely scratching the surface. his memory of these things was so clear. and he never let up, even as he got sick and the world became cruel to him. i was decades younger than him, much healthier, and he made me feel like i was wasting my life in this city. he would drag me to mets games, to movies, even when it was obvious that simply climbing the concourse stairs at citi field was taking its toll. there simply isn't very many people like him left in new york. there are many things killing this city, but people like bill are taking history with them, and we will never get it back.

his appetite for introducing ppl to things was just voracious. i believe the last time we saw each other was earlier this year when he took me to see gregg araki's "totally fucked up" at moma. loved it, still think about the movie often, and it's something i never would have done otherwise. lord knows how many times he had seen it, how easy it would have been to not ride the subway an hour into manhattan on a cold weeknight. i got there late (typical), and since bill proudly refused to own a cell phone, i wasn't sure if he had actually made it. even as the lights went up, i thought maybe i would just be left to walk out alone into the night. but of course, that was never the case. a hand shot up and waved at me.

i will miss his companionship, i will miss knowing i was even a small part of what made him want to criss cross brooklyn queens and manhattan, and i will miss learning from him. he had an incredible run given the cards he was dealt, and yet it's still far too soon. he was a legend to everyone who knew him. rest in peace morbs <3

For all his vinegar, he rarely took things personally, which, from what I knew about him, confounded him about The Kids with their Cancel Culture. Lord knows you can ctrl-F a million threads in which we pound each other to sauce yet not once did he hold a grudge.

― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, October 21, 2020 10:37 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

ha i remember really getting into with him on here once then he said something to the effect of i know you dont really mean it just like i dont and we both clocked out like the loony tunes wolf and sheep dog

Oh man. Never met him but at times felt like I’d become him in 20 years or so, what with the shared love of the Mekons, Yo La Tengo, Bob and Ray, etc. He always seemed like an essentially kind person and it’s very nice to see that so widely confirmed. It’s so sad, makes me wish I had lived in NYC, I feel like I would have inevitably met him even if I never posted here.

thanks for that post, jordan

Yes thanks jordan

I just found out and am so sorry to hear this. While I never got the chance to meet him I know others who did and they all spoke so highly of him. Reading through these posts it’s clear that so many people loved him. Rest In Peace Dr M.

Jordan, very well said. Bill's enthusiasm about classic film and his truly encyclopedic knowledge of so many things were an education for me too.

That was really lovely Jordan

and we both clocked out like the loony tunes wolf and sheep dog

― lag∞n, Wednesday, October 21, 2020 10:44 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

also i love this image and it's such a perfect metaphor for his online persona

ha i remember really getting into with him on here once then he said something to the effect of i know you dont really mean it just like i dont and we both clocked out like the loony tunes wolf and sheep dog

― lag∞n,

love this

I am loving these remembrances so much. Much love to all.

he soaked up such an incredible amount of new york culture that you cannot access online -- mets games from the 60s, richard pryor stand up sets from the 70s, yo la tengo hannukah shows, WMFU call in shows, leather parties... i'm barely scratching the surface

otm

my last time hanging with Bill was with j0rdan in the summer of 2019 after a wedding, sex, and a couple of post-wedding hangouts. I tried to get all cocky with him and he said, "Soto, don't boast about your Halston tea dance."

Ha that’s amazing,

of course it took a few minutes to figure out who Halston was

ahahahaha

I still laugh every time I remember him referring to the MoMA theater as “God’s waiting room”

j0rd thx for sharing those memories <3

hen I saw him that last time , he asked if I’d seen The Love Parade, Ernest Lubitsch’s 1930 musical starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. I hadn’t. He scoffed — not because he had something on me, but because he knew I could do better.

I should’ve watched it by now.

*when

I'm glad I got to read his film takes on FB these last few years

RIP to a true iconoclast with a good heart

Lol

lovely post j0rd <3

I'm so sorry to hear this, and Kevin thanks for posting the news. Morbs was one of my favorite ilx personalities, including all his endless arguments and snark. When I lived in NYC we hung out a few times and saw movies and had drinks, and he was a great conversationalist and a deeply interested person. Smart and funny and much more warm-hearted than he liked to pretend. And as others have said, an old-school New Yorker through and through. A fine mind and a better person and we'll all miss him.

I wish I'd taken him up and made some plans.

fuckin killing me how many times morbs and i threatened to meet up at a screening on this board and we never fuckin did it

quoted from the revived Morbs poll thread bc its too perfectly Morbsian not to share:

i'd tell you to go fuck yourself, but you wouldn't have a good time.

― playwright Greg Marlowe, secretly in love with Mary (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, July 24, 2013 9:36 PM (5 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

via his sister just now:

It is with great sadness that I share the news of Bill's passing today. He faced Multiple Myeloma bravely for 8 years; the last 5 months were very difficult. Gary, Christy and I want to thank all of you for your support - the money you so generously gave helped Bill feel some independence and get things he really needed that were not covered by insurance. He was able to live a little, enjoying some good food, films, books and music and getting outdoors to our yard for some evening fresh air. Bill's unique point of view on life gave all who knew him reason to smile; a wry smile, but a smile nonetheless! He will be greatly missed, fondly remembered, and always loved.

I opened the politics thread and started reading, with increasing dread, posts about Morbs. I never met him, but like many of you, found myself butting heads with him from time to time. Over the years it became clear that there was a lot more heart in that fighter's instinct than I had first understood. He liked to throw bombs, but he did it because he truly cared, and wasn't going to let you forget that.

:(

I'm so sorry to his family and all of his close IRL friends -- Bill was the best. He was brilliant and hilarious, and I'll never forget him. I feel lucky to have drunk beers and gone to baseball games with him. RIP Dr Morbius.

I never fully appreciated until the remembrances shared itt how the tenor and style of posts made on here can give you a sliver of insight into the actual people who make them - if only a sliver.

Oh man! I never met him, but he was definitely one of the greatest presences for me on the board other than the people I have met, like someone I really had a distinct mental image of without knowing him in person. A witty curmudgeon with a heart of gold is how he came across to me. Very sorry for Kevin's and everyone's loss

i didn't know bill irl but i loved morbs. reading him in movie threads was one of the things that drew me to ilx. when i was 17 and trying to understand what i liked and didn't i looked up to him as someone who could figure that out without the use of dogma. once he called a post i made "perceptive" and i'm still proud of it. (same goes for when he called me an "obama lackey".) he was almost always otm, including about spielberg and american politics. even online it was clear he was full of love for what he loved. i wish i coulda gone to a movie with him and yall who did are really lucky. rip.

rip to the good doc, always a distinct and welcome presence even (especially) when he was being a crank. will miss him in the baseball threads and everywhere else.

Aw man

RIP

I have heard time and time again before this day even started the same thing: "Oh, you wanna know something about Morbius? He's like the nicest guy IRL. I know!"

Armed with that info, and I dunno, projecting Paul Lynde behind each of his bloodthirsty posts, it all came together for me too. Something else that I realized was, you know what? This guy is right a lot more times than he's wrong.

From one of the few last remaining chickenshit hillbillies posting on this rotten message board, I echo what the rest of you are saying tonight. We lost a real one.

https://i.imgur.com/4yQWKvy.jpg

i take my big-dicked swagger in and out of the clinic, pp

― the increasing costive borborygmi (Dr Morbius), Friday, June 5, 2015 2:18 PM

RIP Morbs and if there's a god I hope he lets you pop back to fuck with Quentin Tarantino a few times.

adding to the thanks pile for J0rdan's post

Something else that I realized was, you know what? This guy is right a lot more times than he's wrong.

― pplains, Wednesday, October 21, 2020 11:40 PM (thirty-seven seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

one of the funny things about the ongoing degradation of our world is how its proven the cranks right

oh shit. Yeah, i'd see him in the politics threads here and there and did not recognize him as the same person I'd met many times IRL. There is/was a contingent of ILXors who'd come to my little DJ nights now and again and he was often there and always a total sweetheart, though last time I ran into him was a coincidence when we both ended up at Jupiter Disco where a common friend was DJing a happy hour. He was always a total sweetheart and seemed quite cheerful to have a beer and hang out.

Bill was a mensch and the most passionate devotee of baseball and film I'll ever know. He gave our kid a talking Mr. Magoo doll that caused him to develop a Jim Backus impression basically the moment he learned to speak. Love you Bill. https://t.co/O6EcYrfcFu

— 'Weird Alex' Pareene (@pareene) October 22, 2020

Do you guys know who took that picture?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Paley

all i can think about right now are all the times morbs would reach out to see if i wanted to catch a movie and me turning him down because of, i don't know, some bullshit . i hate this. rest in peace, bill.