I don't think I mentioned here that I watched the first episodes of The Wire over the weekend, and there is an accent gone hilariously wrong.

McNulty's?

I think there's more than two Brits on cast at The Wire, but McNulty and Stringer Bell are the two I'm sure about.

"free-spirit female who opens up the blocked channels of the male, preferably via sex,"

Ick ick ick. I couldn't even get past that in Garden State, which I otherwise quite enjoyed.

McNulty -- Dominic West -- is the one who gave himself away. I didn't know Stringer Bell was also played by a Brit till Askye told me. Sort of makes McNulty stand out more in my mind, knowing that he's surrounded by fellow countrymen who don't betray their origins with every nasal A.

there have been ones that were perfect (some, so perfect that they stand out and sound fake because of their perfectness). Favorites?

Damien Lewis as Lt. Winters in Band of Brothers. He was supposed to be a Pennsylvanian from the Lancaster county. Although I live in PA, I can't really distinguish the regional accent very well--but to my untrained ears, he sounded pretty American. Wouldn't have known he was a Brit if I hadn't seen him in The Forsyte Saga.

Naomi Watts barely sounds Aussie in her American films, but she's been making Hollywood films for a while.

Not a big fan of Gwyneth Paltrow, but I thought her English accent in Emma passed muster.

I like Toni Collette's facility.

Apparently, Band of Brothers had a lot of Brits playing GIs (I think it was filmed mostly in England).

My favorite accent in that show was by the actor who played Wild Bill Guarnere--watching the documentary with the real men depicted in the miniseries, you find out that he just nailed Gonorrhea's voice, as well as looked just like him.

My favorite accent in that show was by the actor who played Wild Bill Guarnere

Oh, yeah. I loved that portrayal. And the real Bill Guarnere we met during the interviews was adorableness personified--which is a funny thing to say about someone's grandpa and a war veteran, but really, SO CUTE. The actor who played him and Mr. Guarnere apparently bonded very well, which made me go all schmoopy.

"Have You Heard?": ANOTHER Capote biopic--the hell?--in which he plays Perry Smith.

That... is really weird. Why?

I like Toni Collette's facility.

Exactly what I was gonna say. When she started talking in her normal (what? Australian I guess?) accent on the Sixth Sense special features, I was very confused. Especially since she had shaved her head or something by that point. Really didn't look like her character any more.

I think Kate Winslet is generally good as well. At least, she seems pretty American in Eternal Sunshine.

I don't think it'd have ever occurred to me that Christian Bale was speaking out of accent either -- I loved the NPR interview where he explained he did Batman Begins junkets in an American accent, so it wouldn't be distracting.

I loved the NPR interview where he explained he did Batman Begins junkets in an American accent, so it wouldn't be distracting.

I noticed that he did that, but didn't know why. Knowing he was British, I found it kind of creepy, as if he were doing all his interviews in-character.

Okay, enough with the good accents (despite our not yet mentioning Sophie's Choice or the feat of Robert DeNiro speaking all but one of his lines in Italian in The Godfather part 2). Now it is time to list favorite BAD accents.

I'll start. I think Kevin Costner trying to do British was pretty effing funny.