Thursday, November 25, 2010

Bloody 'Ell!

Steady on, I don't remember DVD saying "Bloody 'ell" in Mary Poppins!

Indie Movies Online Com, November 25, 2010, Top five terrible movie accents by Paul Martin

Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins (1964)

Awight, guv'nor, 'ow the bloody 'ell are ya? Yes, if there's one accent that the majority of folks seem to labour under the collective delusion that they are capable of brilliantly imitating then it is the stereotypical cockney twang of old Lahndan taaawn. This is despite the fact that the vast majority of experiments in this sphere come off sounding as cluelessly inaccurate as the voice employed by Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

Although in defence of the faltering efforts of every cockney imitator who isn't Van Dyke, they are most often simply trying to score a cheap laugh from their mates. They are not anchoring a Disney blockbuster in the pivotal role of a lovable chimney-sweep. Were they doing that then you would perhaps expect them to indulge in some exhaustive research. Listening to genuine Londoners speaking and analysing the nuances that shape those distinctive tones. Not roll out a theoretical East End patter which suggests cockneys are not real, live breathing human beings, but rather creatures of antediluvian myth, with uninformed speculation being the sole recourse as to recreating how they might possibly have sounded.

It Would Be Tacky...

It would be tacky to make a passing reference, but not tacky to make a passing reference to making a passing reference.

heyuguys.com, November 25, 2010, "London Boulevard Review" by Emily Breen.

You will doubtless hear numerous accounts and re-enactments of Colin’s comedy cockney accent this week. It would be cruel of me to dwell on it further here and tacky to make even passing reference to Dick Van Dyke. So I shan’t. I will, however, point out that Ben Chaplin’s accent is equally preposterous and just as worthy of the world’s derision. And as for Mr Winstone…

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Football Player Can't Do a London Accent

The Independent, November 22, 2010, "Ancelotti 'just a technician' as Bowyer adds to Chelsea's woes" by Phil Shaw.

Johnson, a £5m snip from Cardiff, believes he merits a chance. "He says 'What've I gotta do, gaffer?'," McLeish said in the worst London accent since Dick van Dyke went cockney in Mary Poppins.

Friday, November 19, 2010

DVD's Accent: Hated by the Daily Mail

So now, as you read a book, when you hear a cockney accent as you imagine how a character sounds, if that accent is poorly done, it's Dick Van Dyke's fault.

Daily Mail, November 18 2010, "OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK" by Amber Pearson.

THE SILVER LOCKET BY MARGARET JAMES (Choc Lit £7.99)

...But Rose has other ideas, and the war ­provides the perfect opportunity for escape when she runs away to London to train as a nurse. It brings her into contact with a ­different life, not to mention some cor-blimey Cockneys (think Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins).


Thursday, November 11, 2010

"THE British Accent"?

As if there were only one.

USA Today, November 10, 2010, "Today's Pop Five: Cory A.'s 'dying is fine' songs"

Mt. Desolation, State of Our Affairs -- If Dick Van Dyke can slaughter the British accent Mary Poppins freestyle, I think it only fair the Brits do what they want with country music.

Dick Van Dyke is secretly Aquaman

DVD has been telling a story about when he went surfing and was rescued by porpoises. It was just a matter of time until someone made a joke about his accent...

From Twitter this AM:

@MJMcKean Michael McKean http://bit.ly/bVxGIy Great story. Incidentally, each of those heroic porpoises could do a better Cockney accent than Mr. Van Dyke.