Dr. Morbius (Bill Weber) RIP

He may have recognized that as part of his schtick, and gradually ran with it?

He was furious at me in 2012 (in private FB msgs) when he was tempbanned but it was all water under the bridge within a few months. His willingness to let it all fall away (and to regather it as needed) gave me a bit of insight. Crabby or not, inconsistent or not, I'll miss him as long as I post here.

What Morbs/Bill was going for:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJOn9DFeINo
How he often came across:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MULMbqQ9LJ8

RIP fellow Mets fans & WFMU lover. This place won't be the same....

I always loved Morbs "leaving" a thread forever aka 12 hours

ya lol

45 minutes morelike

A brimful of Morbius.

Sunday morning in Australia. I was hoping that was a suitable amount of syrup and end up glad I bought another bottle.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jtymkwcs4h3x13n/IMG_8457.jpg?raw=1

xp lol yeah for real.

although we had irl mutuals i never got to meet him in person, to my great regret now. so while i never got to experience the irl sweetness that made his online persona click into place for so for many people, the longtime consistency of his character on ILX sort of ended up serving that function for me. Early in my posting career (an amount of years ago i dont even want to count rn) he threw some nasty stuff at me that really hurt my feelings, but as the years went on and I got a sense of the way he operated it took the sting out of it - called a worthless shithead for saying something nice about a movie he didnt like? morbs being morbs man, he's forgotten it already, so should you. I'm not sure how much I ever totally understood how sincere or in-character his posting style was or wasn't, but the fact that it was so consistent that you could set your watch to it made me understand that it was never really about 'me' - the guy liked what he liked, hated what he didnt, and if you understood that and still got into it with him, well, thats on you. He put himself out there and the rest was your move.

Pancakes and Lubitsch not a bad idea for a sunday tradition.

:) Ed

although we had irl mutuals
This is always interesting, how it works.

RIP Morbs. I had drinks with him once in Park Slope and can say he's a much more charming presence irl. ILX won't be the same without him

really happy to see you post here Extended Mix

He was almost always angry at the right things and for the right reasons, even his relentless hate-on for Obama, the most effective liberal (well, center-left) president of my lifetime. I never met him in person, and read his abrasiveness the wrong way plenty of times, but more often than not his rage was cleansing. I’m going to miss his presence here terribly.

"i have a confession to make to you, baron: you are a CROOK!": the ERNST LUBITSCH poll

I just wrote 2,500 words about Bill and I'm tapping out before I add links and more quotes. I'll post when it's up on Monday. Obviously won't mean anything next to Alfred's or anyone else's, but he really was my cinematic North Star the last five+ years. And the figure I invoke is Ben Johnson's Sam the Lion, and his final speech to the boys once they've taken advantage of Billy: direct, forthright, unsparing, never mincing words and using even fewer, indignant and disappointed about things that mattered. We have this archive on ILX, but I'm not sure I'll ever go through another end-of-year movie roundup without wondering what he would've thought about this or that movie, whether by a new filmmaker or one he liked (or loathed). Not something that can be quantified or predicted. He's had more of an influence on me than most, and Alfred is sooooo otm that one of his great attributes was NOT using "good" or "great" very often. Because when he did, I took notice.

making a half-past midnight offering to the avatars of NYC countercultural comedy

https://i.imgur.com/2tMMbTm.jpg

I do not usually have this amount of maple syrup https://i.imgur.com/W01NkXe.jpg

Never met him (or anyone else here) in real life, never interacted that much (other than a stretch where I’d fp every Nixon/Perrin tweet) but it’s always sad and endearing to see people memorializing someone they knew and loved / respected.

Fuck cancer - a former colleague, a former colleague’s husband, a good friend’s wife, and my dog have all died this year from it. Pointless and stupid and brutal.

We often make pancakes on the weekends, but I don't usually partake. Made an exception this morning. I'm not slurping down the leftover syrup, though. (Sorry Morbs.)

https://i.imgur.com/FVMJsZt.jpg

spaced out and forgot to take my picture but did join the pancake session.

re: Morbs walking out of threads: it plays better if you imagine him knowing that some variation on "i'm out" was the catchphrase for his vaudeville comedy character

https://i.imgur.com/GzAEYpL.jpg

I don't understand pancakes, so I'm glad my and Morbs' differences persist.

what’s to understand? carb & maple syrup delivery system

Eating dessert for breakfast.

I don't understand waffles, blintzes, or French toast either. I do like jam!

I made my kids French toast and took a little slug of syrup myself in Morbs' memory.

xpost What about donuts, scones and muffins?

https://accordionuprising.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/6b11f26b9c7e0e5e63ce24edccd589b4.jpg

dessert for breakfast is one of my top 5 reaons for living

shortly i will be making buttermilk pancakes for breakfast to honor the great Morbs

What about donuts, scones and muffins?

― Josh in Chicago,

No go on donuts or muffins. I might have a scone with coffee at night.

https://imgur.com/gallery/lEIDrkL
Pancakes Sunday. Real maple syrup only ever.

I am bad at ilx now
https://imgur.com/gallery/lEIDrkL

i made pancakes for dessert last night, just because i was craving pancakes and hadn't made them in ages. didn't realize i was paying tribute!

Pancakes for Morbs <3

https://imgur.com/gallery/SL8O17h

https://scontent.fphl1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p180x540/122791707_10158573219684000_7584295452374846400_o.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=Xg-ePArvTw8AX-SbjeW&_nc_ht=scontent.fphl1-2.fna&tp=6&oh=0ffbaf3655c98e2d5116e65ebef6d159&oe=5FBC31B6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BNOfL2ArR4

In the meantime, this week's The Silent Comedy Watch Party (URL above) will feature Buster Keaton's The Haunted House (1921). I'm sure Morbs had already seen it, but it should be a good show.

https://i.imgur.com/EtMg50i.jpg

RIP Morbs, I owe a lot to him.

didn't have pancakes today but am about to watch a film that he gave 5 stars to on letterboxd (that list is here: https://letterboxd.com/wjweber/films/diary/rated/5/)

thanks for that link!

that's a brilliant list and I'm glad he considered City Of Sadness a ***** movie.

indeed, thanks for posting that! several people have noted how rare it was for bill to call something good. that list is something of a stand-in, although i'm sure he never intended for it to be definitive or comprehensive or anything. but it's a little glimpse, at least. <3

handy to sort it by the year of the film, too, for a chronological view

Great list...and to think, I always thought we had somewhat opposite tastes. Nope-- I love every film I've seen on that list. I do remember speaking with him in person about Andrei Rublev, one of my favorite films.

i think i annoyed him a bit while watching it with him, because i kept muttering "damn...that's beautiful" and stuff like that

"sick icon", "wait until the iconoclasts get a load of this" etc

All those pancake pictures made me think Dan Lacey had returned.

all things in time

I keep trying to remember some scene in the Little Rascals in which they make some crazy homebrew pancakes. I can hear the line, I am sure he would have been familiar with it.