Hey bubbatom, I thought streep did about the only good Aussie accent I have heard. It would be interesting to hear what other Aussies think. I wonder if being a Queenslander influences this as there are some subtle differences in accents in different states.

Oh, i just saw a bit of The Big Easy, and Dennis Quaid's attempt at the New Orleans accent is pretty bad. And he kind of goes in and out of it, lol.

Take off, yah?

That's just about it, ya hoser.

The worst Canadian accent I ever heard was in a radio drama from the forties - I think Bulldog Drummond, but I might be mistaken. They obviously had no idea what a Canadian sounded like, so they just went with a vaguely Australianish accent (all those colonists sound alike) and a bunch of French words thrown in at random.

Is there anybody out there that DOES do a proper accent in movies?

There was a guy who was supposed to be an Aussie in the first series of MASH. I think him and the guy in The Great Escape win worst of all time.

I just watched a clip of Meryl in Evil Angels but I kept my eyes shut to concentrate on the accent. I though she nailed it really. I was surprised because my recollections from when the movie was released was that it was dreadful but maybe I was distracted by the visuals and the emotions of the time.


Last year I was on a cruise and a couple of the entertainment crew were Canadians and I think both from Nova Scotia. They would say "about" more like "aboat", and "out" was "oat". I picked it up straight away but later when one of them was talking about accents (and trying to understand "Strine") she explained that for Nova Scotians it's more "oat" than "out".

Like George48, I'd be interested to know who does a good accent (other than the above mentioned Meryl Streep). Most of my exposure to accents other than those in the US, is from movies or television programs. Somebody point me in the direction of good English, Irish, Australian, etc. accents.

HEAR,HEAR!

This commercial is almost 6 years old but it seems appropriate to link it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRI-A3vakVg

I think that commercial is older than that because this Aussie ad paid homage to it (ok.. copied it) and was shown leading up to the 2000 Olympics. It still brings a tear to my eye at times, especially the lines "I fight wars, but never start wars. I would rather make peace."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZGSqxw8qKA

It probably is. I was going by the date it was uploaded to YouTube.

I'm never seen the Australian one - love it.

I want to know what the Americans think of Hugh Laurie's accent in House?

I don't watch House closely, but in the one or two episodes I saw, I thought Hugh Laurie came off as American rather well. Although, I may be biased because I'm far more familiar watching him as Bertie Wooster.

I was going to nominate Canadian Michael J. Fox for his convincing American accent in Family Ties, Spin City, Back to the Future, etc., but then I remembered his attempted Irish accent as a McFly ancestor in Back to the Future III- not that I'm qualified to critique it.

By the way, as a self-correction, her name is Cobie Smulders, not Smuthers. Sorry "aboot" that Cobie!

I agree- it was fun showing my son how different he was in "Blackadder."