If I cannot bring you comfort, then at least I bring you hope
December 22, 2019 4:58 AM Subscribe
What to do when one of the biggest music producers in the world joins with one of the biggest movie composers in the world to create the soundtrack for a truly brilliant and bizarre sort of artistic failure of a movie? Have it mentioned here as a joyous and introspective album for the turning of the seasons! Trevor Horn and Hans Zimmer scored Barry Levinson's 1992 movie Toys, and left us with this beautiful document: Cassette Side A: Winter Reveries (Excerpt From Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1), The Closing Of The Year (feat. Wendy & Lisa and Seal) [video, long single version], Ebudae (Enya) , The Happy Worker (Tori Amos), Alsatia's Lullabye (Julia Migenes/Hans Zimmer), Workers, Let Joy And Innocence Prevail (Instrumental) (Pat Metheny)
Cassette Side B: The General (Michael Gambon/Hans Zimmer), The Mirror Song (Thomas Dolby with Robin Williams and Joan Cusack), Battle Introduction (Robin Williams), Welcome To The Pleasuredome (Into Battle Mix) (Frankie Goes To Hollywood), Let Joy And Innocence Prevail (Grace Jones), The Closing Of The Year / Happy Workers
Cassette Side B: The General (Michael Gambon/Hans Zimmer), The Mirror Song (Thomas Dolby with Robin Williams and Joan Cusack), Battle Introduction (Robin Williams), Welcome To The Pleasuredome (Into Battle Mix) (Frankie Goes To Hollywood), Let Joy And Innocence Prevail (Grace Jones), The Closing Of The Year / Happy Workers
This came out when I was diehard into Tori, and is one of the things I experienced almost completely because of that connection. I love this movie despite itself. I’m pretty sure I have the dvd... I should watch it soon and share the weirdness with my unsuspecting husband.
posted by obfuscation at 5:51 AM on December 22, 2019
posted by obfuscation at 5:51 AM on December 22, 2019
I remember watching the movie because "toys" and mork from Ork.... But it was weird. And yet I watched it so many times (basic cable staple as I recall). I actually grew to love it. But haven't watched it in probably 20 years. Maybe I'll watch it this week!! I'd didn't have much appreciation for the soundtrack then so I'm looking forward to listening to all of these on Monday when I should be working!
posted by chasles at 6:05 AM on December 22, 2019
posted by chasles at 6:05 AM on December 22, 2019
The "Happy Workers" song is catchy but without any context the lyrics are kinda creepy.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:13 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:13 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Those lyrics are so blatantly sexual it's not even subtext. Rrrrrrrrr!
posted by notsnot at 6:44 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by notsnot at 6:44 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I have been trying to find sheet music for Closing of the Year (which Does Things to my feels) and it's impossible. Out of print or unavailable or whatever. I want our choir to do it for the next holiday concert and it would be PERFECT but there's just no way it can happen and I'm so sad.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:38 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:38 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Wendy and Lisa recorded an unreleased album with Trevor Horn. They talk about it here (CW: homophobia).
posted by pxe2000 at 10:07 AM on December 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by pxe2000 at 10:07 AM on December 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
Closing of the Year has been a holiday staple since, well, I guess 1992. Such a sweet and melancholy song, and a perfect antidote for a saccharine overdose.
posted by chromecow at 10:20 AM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by chromecow at 10:20 AM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Thanks for reminding me of that Wendy and Lisa interview, pxe2000, which is so great, and in it, they say Prince was "like a fancy lesbian."
posted by larrybob at 11:14 AM on December 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by larrybob at 11:14 AM on December 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Great comment on the YouTube video for The Mirror Song:
"I love this song, and the truth is simple - Thomas Dolby is bloody brilliant (and I'm DEFINITELY not just saying that because a) he sort of allowed me to bury the bodies of my poor deceased dwarf hamsters Amber, Gress, and Emeka kind of in his yard, nor b) because he was so nice to me when we inadvertently ran into each other at the local supermarket half an hour later), but because it's the pure and simple truth. That being said, I actually prefer the version sung by Robin Williams and Joan Cusack in the movie."
posted by larrybob at 11:22 AM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
"I love this song, and the truth is simple - Thomas Dolby is bloody brilliant (and I'm DEFINITELY not just saying that because a) he sort of allowed me to bury the bodies of my poor deceased dwarf hamsters Amber, Gress, and Emeka kind of in his yard, nor b) because he was so nice to me when we inadvertently ran into each other at the local supermarket half an hour later), but because it's the pure and simple truth. That being said, I actually prefer the version sung by Robin Williams and Joan Cusack in the movie."
posted by larrybob at 11:22 AM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
TIL that The Mirror Song was written by Thomas Dolby, not David Byrne like I'd always assumed. Huh.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:40 AM on December 22, 2019
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:40 AM on December 22, 2019
I've still got the original soundtrack, ripped from the CD I bought the first year I had a CD player, shortly after the film was in theaters. It's great. Even the obvious stylistic ripoff songs are so true to form they're often better than the originals.
But, also, I claim the film was actually very good. Sure, it's goofy and requires suspension of disbelief. But it's full of brilliant detail and a lot more interesting than 95% of films and 98% of musical theater. I loved it as a young teenager in theaters and, unlike almost everything else I loved at that time, it still holds up really well.
I'll never understand the criterion serious people use to decide which batshit crazy nonsense qualifies as art and which doesn't. Self-awareness and a sense of humor seem to be a significant disqualifier. Sure, it's mime. But, it's self-aware mime with beautiful design and cinematography, brilliant comedic performances, and the precision of a Hitchcock masterpiece. It isn't perfect by any means. But, it is perfectly realized. It's the best version of Toys that could ever be made, which isn't something you can say for very many films.
That Mrs. Doubtfire made 19 times as much at the box office the following year is the most depressing thing I've learned today.
posted by eotvos at 2:05 PM on December 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
But, also, I claim the film was actually very good. Sure, it's goofy and requires suspension of disbelief. But it's full of brilliant detail and a lot more interesting than 95% of films and 98% of musical theater. I loved it as a young teenager in theaters and, unlike almost everything else I loved at that time, it still holds up really well.
I'll never understand the criterion serious people use to decide which batshit crazy nonsense qualifies as art and which doesn't. Self-awareness and a sense of humor seem to be a significant disqualifier. Sure, it's mime. But, it's self-aware mime with beautiful design and cinematography, brilliant comedic performances, and the precision of a Hitchcock masterpiece. It isn't perfect by any means. But, it is perfectly realized. It's the best version of Toys that could ever be made, which isn't something you can say for very many films.
That Mrs. Doubtfire made 19 times as much at the box office the following year is the most depressing thing I've learned today.
posted by eotvos at 2:05 PM on December 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
It's the best version of Toys that could ever be made, which isn't something you can say for very many films.
I'm going to disagree and say the entire end "battle" is really clumsily filmed and that Levinson didn't seem to have any real solid way to depict what he was wanting to show and he ended up taking weird shortcuts to make the tension rather than actively working to make the battle feel somehow consequential.
I unabashedly love Toys the film and I think its message is one that needs to be repeated over and over, that much of what we take as Military Might is really just men playing with fancy toys. And maybe we should just have permission to have joy and whimsy and to play with toys in adult life and not focus on toys that hurt others.
But that final act is a total mess.
posted by hippybear at 2:25 PM on December 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm going to disagree and say the entire end "battle" is really clumsily filmed and that Levinson didn't seem to have any real solid way to depict what he was wanting to show and he ended up taking weird shortcuts to make the tension rather than actively working to make the battle feel somehow consequential.
I unabashedly love Toys the film and I think its message is one that needs to be repeated over and over, that much of what we take as Military Might is really just men playing with fancy toys. And maybe we should just have permission to have joy and whimsy and to play with toys in adult life and not focus on toys that hurt others.
But that final act is a total mess.
posted by hippybear at 2:25 PM on December 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
I love this soundtrack - songs from it still pop up in my shuffle play.
posted by rmd1023 at 2:28 PM on December 22, 2019
posted by rmd1023 at 2:28 PM on December 22, 2019
My intro to LL Cool J... (I also saw this as a teen and enjoyed it...)
posted by Tandem Affinity at 3:01 PM on December 22, 2019
posted by Tandem Affinity at 3:01 PM on December 22, 2019
It's an unusual but charming movie that I like a great deal, especially the soundtrack - Closing of the Year with the children's chorus. Thank you so much for posting this; it sparks joy.
posted by theora55 at 4:13 PM on December 22, 2019
posted by theora55 at 4:13 PM on December 22, 2019
I always felt that Happy Workers is intentionally creepy. You may say that hey, Toys isn't that deep, to which I will say yes it is.
This and Repo Man are my favourite movie/soundtrack combos, which I'm sure says way more about me than about them.
posted by inexorably_forward at 4:20 PM on December 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
This and Repo Man are my favourite movie/soundtrack combos, which I'm sure says way more about me than about them.
posted by inexorably_forward at 4:20 PM on December 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
The "Happy Workers" song is catchy but without any context the lyrics are kinda creepy.Industrial AF! Unspoiled (i.e. without yet listening to the song) those lyrics read very Die Krupps-y/satirical German Industrial work songs generally. As an added bonus I'm mentally singing that pre-chorus along to that bit out of Front 242's Headhunter too.
Pump the water, build the pressure, push the piston, press the button,
Pump the water, build the pressure, push the piston, press the button!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 4:24 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
OK, having now heard and loved the song and being just unfamiliar enough with all hereafter named, I would have almost pegged that as some weird latter-day Sabres Of Paradise remix of a Kate Bush song rather than Tori Amos. Great stuff!
(I need to listen to more stuff by all of the above)
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 4:37 PM on December 22, 2019
(I need to listen to more stuff by all of the above)
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 4:37 PM on December 22, 2019
I thought I was the only one who liked Toys! Though I agree that the last act is a mess.
Closing of the Year is the first song on my main Christmas playlist.
posted by litlnemo at 9:16 PM on December 22, 2019
Closing of the Year is the first song on my main Christmas playlist.
posted by litlnemo at 9:16 PM on December 22, 2019
The response to “can’t you take a joke?” is one of the more profound lines in cinema, considering the character and actor.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:24 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:24 AM on December 23, 2019
I was barely familiar with "Toys" before this post. Now I have to see it and listen to the soundtrack about a billion times. Does anyone know where the movie can be screened?
posted by DrAstroZoom at 8:07 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by DrAstroZoom at 8:07 AM on December 23, 2019
I just checked Netflix and Amazon Prime, and it's not available on either of those. I'm not sure where it is available. Maybe you'll have to purchase a DVD?
posted by hippybear at 9:38 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by hippybear at 9:38 AM on December 23, 2019
This conversation reminded me the film exists and convinced me to introduce my spouse to it yesterday. . . only to find that it doesn't seem to exist except by ordering plastic in the mail. I'm surprised. It seems like the perfect candidate for streaming services: genuinely good and under-valued.
posted by eotvos at 11:58 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by eotvos at 11:58 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
I loved this film, but i haven’t seen it years. I have even more affection for the soundtrack, and would really love to listen to it right now, but we’re visiting family and my CD is far from me — and, apparently, this soundtrack is super hard to stream. It’s not on Apple Music or Amazon Music. Apple iTunes doesn’t have it for download & purchase. Nor does Amazon, though they will sell me a CD.
It appears that it’s in some sort of rights hole. :(
OTOH, we did just get a brand new giant-ass TV right before we left for the holiday, and I’m assembling a list of films to watch on it (Dunkirk, Ad Astra, Black Panther, Fury Road). I think Toys needs to be on that list.
posted by uberchet at 9:13 AM on December 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
It appears that it’s in some sort of rights hole. :(
OTOH, we did just get a brand new giant-ass TV right before we left for the holiday, and I’m assembling a list of films to watch on it (Dunkirk, Ad Astra, Black Panther, Fury Road). I think Toys needs to be on that list.
posted by uberchet at 9:13 AM on December 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you find Toys on a streaming service or premium channel, please talk about where it is here. Because right now, it seems to be only available on physical media.
posted by hippybear at 4:53 PM on December 24, 2019
posted by hippybear at 4:53 PM on December 24, 2019
I found it in the (ahem) digital media collection on a friend's server and watched it via Plex. Still a good movie but definitely promoted wrong when it was new. (It's not a kids' movie, and it's not the kind of Christmas family movie people expected.) It's still visually gorgeous, even almost 30 years later.
posted by litlnemo at 6:33 AM on December 26, 2019
posted by litlnemo at 6:33 AM on December 26, 2019
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