RIP mark f

Dear @sarah f, my sincere condolences to you and your family.

I just happened to reach out to Daniel M today about how excited I was for PTA's new film. He immediately responded by telling me about your dad's passing. I checked and last year Mark had congratulated me for my MoFo anniversary with a GIF from a PTA film (There Will Be Blood), even though I visit this site way too scarcely these days, due to life and a career having severely limited my time for movie watching. It shows what a thoughtful person Mark was, how he didn't forget friends from the past and how important he was in building and upholding the great sense of community that distinguishes this small place on the internet from so many others.

I first visited this site about ten years ago. Mark was already a household name here, but his attitude towards me was immediately welcoming and helpful. As was his attitude towards everyone of good will. In search of new films to watch, I made sure to always scroll through Mark's posts in the Movie Tab thread, where he rated and commented on the incredible amount of films he had watched during the previous few days. I can't even begin to recall how many films I've discovered and ultimately watched because of Mark's posts and recommendations throughout the years. He also made sure to frequently leave a reply whenever I posted my own thoughts about a film he cared (or did not care) about. It was always useful to know whether I was right or not.

It's kind of popular these days to complain about the bad influences that digitization and the internet bring forth. But I think it's just beautiful that a 50-something (later 60-something) year old man from L.A. was able to share his wisdom and cinematic knowledge through this forum and greatly influenced this 20-something year old Belgian's path of cinematic discovery. And I know there are many MoFos like me around the world.

I'm grateful I was able to get to know Mark a little bit through this forum. May he rest in peace.

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

My sincere condolences to you and your family, Sarah. Mark was a wonderful person and a true champion of the cinema. All cinema! I'll certainly miss him, his voice, and his passion for movies here on the forums.

Rest in peace, Mark.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

My condolences to Mark and his family. Mark was one of the most knowledgeable buffs on this site and there times I would seek out movies merely to see if I could find a movie that he had never seen. Of course, I failed miserably. He had already seen everything I've ever reviewed but almost always agreed with everything I wrote. Gracious to a fault and I always got excited when anything I wrote got a rep from him. RIP.

Oh gosh

As everyone has said, Mark was such a big part of this forum. So knowledgeable about film but also and more importantly someone who just loved movies. As a forum member he was always interesting, always kind, someone who made this place a community. It won't be quite the same without him.

Sorry for your loss, Sarah.

RIP Mark

Was checking through old files again...

Anyone remember the MoFies?

The last one held was for 2017.
We did start one for 2018, but it fell through.

But, those old files of mine show that Mark F was the last person to receive one, and it was this category.

I have a feeling he may well have won this category all the years we were running this thing too. Sums it up perfectly I think.

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So sorry for your loss, you and your family are in my thoughts

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~In the event of a Zombie Uprising, remember to sever the head or destroy the brain!~

Just found this out and I'm so sorry to hear! Man, he was a nice guy with great taste and love for movies. He always was very personable and easy to talk to. Sincere condolences to his family.

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

Damn, sorry for your loss. RIP mark f.

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mark was kind of the heart and soul of this forum for awhile and always nice to me

Sorry for you loss Sarah to you and your family

I've been out on a bit of a forum-posting hiatus since reading about mark f's passing. I never really had direct conversations with him outside of the casual thread nods and generic replies but, as others have commented far better than I ever could, mark f was a bit of a keystone for this forum group. I always saw his Gizmo avatar as a mascot of sorts and it just branded the place for me with that cute lil year long santa hat.

Anyway. I've made two attempts at posting here. The first was a few days into the news. My reply was crap and meandering. I deleted it. About a week later, words came to mind in a more coherent string and I put in a better effort. Apparently, there is a command key combination one can use to close a browser tab window. I discovered that combination about three paragraphs in. Since, I've been lost as to what to say, how brief it should be, or whatever, so I bargained with myself to hold off on posting until I've paid my respects here.

To the family, I am truly sorry for your loss. I cannot even begin to imagine the emotions you must be going through. Thank you for taking the time to share with the MOFO community. To the MOFO crew, I wish I had chatted more directly with him. I am grateful that many of you have that history to look back on and I regret my missed opportunity to engage and learn more from him, here. It was pretty obvious early on in my newbie membership just how prolific his movie knowledge was. I am in awe of that and in all of his movie watch list posts, rating and briefly commenting on a few of the daily views. I'm going to miss his Birthday/Anniversary posts to active users each day and the many RIP posts of celebrity losses. He took on a responsibility here making sure we all felt part of the community in that respect. I mean, things we generally take for granted, possibly never really noticing until something stops. I was really happy to see a user make the first formal bday post, taking the reins so to speak. Thanks for that. And for another user making a formal shout for mark f the day of. Really sweet gestures there, all.

I don't think this hits all that should be, but it's what I have. I miss you, buddy. You and your goofy, "bright light!" dancing, santa hat wearing, keyboard playing Gizmo avatar. It's just not the same without your Gizmo sitting in the Who's Online? frame. As a I proof this (a bit, not too seriously so please forgive the errors), I notice that my Spotify has randomly pulled a track that feels weirdly appropriate in the moment. Hm. Let me clarify! I do not mean to project any theme or meaning overlap. I have no idea what this music is, or for, but the sound of it just feels right to my mood. So in respect, I'll post this song up here. I will now imagine mark f following up to school me on this film, the director's meaning and a link to additional samples from the score.

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"My Dionne Warwick understanding of your dream indicates that you are ambivalent on how you want life to eventually screw you." - Joel

"Ever try to forcibly pin down a house cat? It's not easy." - Captain Steel

"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear

That's a hell of a post, Yinny. Thanks for that. We all miss Mark around here, and also, we have missed you in your absence!

Please stick around!

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I'll second this - mark was unique and will forever be missed and so are you Yin, I really hope you feel able to start being your amusing self again soon

lol, guys. thanks, but no need for any of that. I'm still here lurking as a part time Wish batman. things have been pretty crazy for a while. still trying to settle things in a bit in general. but I'm not going anywhere. as noted, a lot of the pause was to put my respects here in this thread, first. now I can refocus harassing Wylde and his shadow goat army

I just remembered Mark had his own Movie Tab. Here it is:

mark f's Movie Tab III

I think it was his own review thread. Well worth taking a look.

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San Franciscan lesbian dwarves and their tomato orgies.

Never heatd or knew of this until now. Only ever had a few interations with Mark and deeply sorry to learn of this. Thoughts and condolences go out to his family and friends. May he rest in eternal peace.

I've been on this forum for longer than this account age, but people don't know, some might suspect, and for that reason I was reluctant to write in this thread, I'm not here constantly, not really a part of the community, but mark f alongside with matt72582 are two cats I liked to follow in here, so I'll say something to be recorded in this mural.

I hope his passion for movies, and the feedback he received in this community, made his physical condition less impactful, but everyone knew he was about giving, more than he was about receiving, and that's what makes a good person, that's what builds futures people would like to live in. I just hope this community as a whole, as given him something he could cherish, and made his path, with the hand that was dealt to him, a little less difficult.

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I took a long break from the forum and unfortunately just saw this. I’m so sorry to read this. Getting teary going through it all. I’ve been a member of this forum off & on for over a decade. I wish I had communicated with him more, but I’m glad that I got to express to him how much he meant to me/us a year or two ago; letting him know he was the foremost expert on movies I’ve ever known of, but more importantly that I always admired how much class and wisdom he had. Not just about movies, but important little life insights were sometimes sprinkled throughout his posts, and his perspective, attitude, and way of carrying himself online will always be something I look up to. When I feel myself getting upset in communication, I sometimes think about how Mark would carry himself and it makes me want to be a better person. He gave this place so much heart & soul. RIP King.

@sarah f I’m so sorry for your loss. Your tribute post was beautiful. He seemed like one of the people that would truly want to celebrate all the good that came from him being here. I still remember how proud and excited he was when he got to post one of your student films on here over 10 years ago, sending many of us long PMs about it lol. Still seems like the most enthused I’ve ever seen him post on here. As sagacious as he was online, I can only imagine how inspiring he was in person.

I'll make it short because I don't feel I knew mark well enough, but I just knew today of this and it was very shocking. He was so recognizable and his love for movies was contagious and inspiring, truly one of the users I most liked to read and see through his posts. My long hiatus made me completely miss the news and kind of have the emotional realization that on the internet I can't take any connection for granted, and any good and cool person I find there should be cherished. Even if it's just on an indirect or parasocial level.

Sorry for your loss, Sarah. I hope you are doing okay and thanks a lot for taking the time back then to make this thread and explain the whole situation.

Thought I should mention that as of today, it's been one year.

RIP Mark.