Sean Connery's accent is so much his own, though, and quite different from Billy's. Whatever reaction I have to Connery's (and they are all good), it doesn't make me squee!

I loved the bit about the Gondorian helmet, where Billy says, "You'll notice I take that helmet off a lot, because, you know [looks at camera] it was right for the scene." Great comic sense.

And after watching the horsey bit, I am convinced that Viggo is a kook, but that the world needs more kooks just like him.

And after watching the horsey bit, I am convinced that Viggo is a kook, but that the world needs more kooks just like him.

Yeah, that's my take. Also, he inspires tremendous loyalty and affection which you have to respect.

he inspires tremendous loyalty and affection which you have to respect.

Nah, you don't have to. I've seen some nasty pieces of work that can do that too. Not that I even remotely think Viggo is a bad person. He seems to be nobility made flesh.

Just that adoration doesn't have an intrinsic good or evil setting. It depends on who, and how, and to what end.

Nah, you don't have to.

Okay, you don't have to. But in this instance, I don't think he's using his kooky charisma for evil.

I've loved every Scot I've ever met. Or heard. Period. I'm free-lovin' that way.

erm, not in the carnal sense of love...cahuugh

And I ita with ita's notion of the pedestal toppling in behind the scenes dvd details. And yet? I love every last droplet of info I can squeeze from them.

My defense from having movies completely ruined for me was quiting the behind the scenes stuff after being an extra in one film. I realized then that paradise often ceases to be paradise if you live there.

He seems to be nobility made flesh.

Just that adoration doesn't have an intrinsic good or evil setting. It depends on who, and how, and to what end.

Yes and yes.

After nearly gagging over the opportunity to work with Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers/Watergate guy for the young among us), I developed a fairly thick crust around his quirk/intention. LOVE his work, not so much his ego.

Noble outcomes? Can't help but adore them.

eta: and as previously stated, the horsey stuff nearly did me in allergy-wise. Not sure why that kind of kindness is so deliciously painful.

Sean Connery's accent is so much his own, though, and quite different from Billy's. Whatever reaction I have to Connery's (and they are all good), it doesn't make me squee!

Connery's from Edinburgh, and Billy's a Glaswegian. East coast/west coast -- big difference.

Connery's from Edinburgh, and Billy's a Glaswegian. East coast/west coast -- big difference.

Do the accents in the British Isles sound as different from each other to the natives as they do to us (and by us, I mean me)? Because for a country the size of a mid-level U.S. state, the accents seem to vary for more extremely than in the U.S.

Yes, perhaps even more so.

One of my high school teachers was from Northern Ireland. He claimed he could usually tell where someone else came from within the six counties to within about three miles.

Because for a country the size of a mid-level U.S. state, the accents seem to vary for more extremely than in the U.S.

Well, yeah. Country = old+small. When north america was still a wilderness, most of the population of Britain was required by law to live where they lived and stay there. The USA is by definition a country of people who moved around.

Yes, perhaps even more so.

Definitely.

One of my high school teachers was from Northern Ireland. He claimed he could usually tell where someone else came from within the six counties to within about three miles.

This isn't that unusual in Britain. Remember the My Fair Lady bit about identifying what neighbourhood in London someone was from, by their accent? Not hyperbole. My father, not an educated, or linguistically-oriented man, can say fairly accurately where someone is from in Britain from a brief conversation, and he hasn't lived there for 30 years.

The film hobbits having such differing accents, particularly Billy, Dom and the two americans was a source of amusement that I had to file under suspension of disbelief.