A new poster of The Duchess has appeared online, exclusive to ComingSoon.net.There's a snip of it to the right, and if you click on the lovely Keira Knightley, you'll be taken to the blindingly enormous version.

It's a stunning poster, although I think they could have lightened up on the airbrushing, as Knightley looks appallingly plastic. The dress, however, excuses all sorts of Photoshop sins. You know how I love my lush costumes, and The Duchess promises to have loads of gorgeous, frothy items. (One of my favorite sites, The Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes, has a whole page devoted to it already. I want that fox hunting outfit for my own, but I'm not sure what to do with it since I don't hunt foxes. Or ride horses.)

But that's the big question about the film, isn't it? Will the movie actually say something relevant about Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire? She was quite the figure in her own time; as the official press release notes, she was a leader of the progressive Whig Party, and an active political campaigner in an era when women couldn't even vote. The comparisons to her descendant, Princess Diana, are apt -- but both women would probably agree that such remarks are a bit glib. The movie marketing, however, is trading on that fact very heavily. I remain excited, but historical dramas can only go one of two ways: wonderful or awful. There's no in-between.

The Duchess opens September 19th, 2008.

It's been a long time since we saw the first trailer for The Duchess, an historical period piece starring Keira Knightley as the real-life 18th century Georgina Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. But the film opens in September, so it's time to start the onslaught of more trailers and clips. First, we have one from the UK (via Empire), which is a little longer than that first U.S. version. One thing that's added in is a nice shot of Knightley's bum.

Another addition is a strange title card connecting Georgina to Princess Diana. It's true that the two ladies were related, though somewhat distantly (Diana was descended from Georgina's brother, George, who doesn't seem to be portrayed in the film), and I guess they were both celebrated as fashion icons. But I have to agree with Empire that pushing the connection "might be considered more than a little crass."

Also, I'm not sure I understand the title card that says "History Repeats Itself." Does it mean that portraying historical events on film is a repeat of those events? Because, to me, it seems more a confirmation of my feeling that we've already seen this movie a million times before.

The Duchess also stars Ralph Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling and will open in the States on September 19.

Actor James Cromwell, who is doing press over in London for his role in Becoming Jane -- which won't open here for many more months -- has given a wide-ranging interview to the Telegraph, and had some interesting things to say. He talks candidly about his role as Prince Philip in The Queen, and about his perceptions of the film in general, and how it was received in the U.K. He also accuses screenwriter Peter Morgan of having a strong bias against Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the royal family, and claims that 'a lot ' of The Queen was ultimately cut because it was so strongly anti-royal. Cromwell also says that most of the people working on the film held, to his surprise, similar views. "I was very surprised that the overwhelming majority of the people on the set -- how can I put this -- loathed Diana," he says. "Diana to them is the worst kind of English person you could possibly be."

Cromwell also says that most of his performance as Philip in the film had to be dubbed, with re-looping on every line, because he couldn't get the accent straight. "Oh, Jesus, I worked my ass on it. My problem was that you cannot make a mistake when you are playing Philip in one sound, because if you do, the reality goes out the window." Other topics covered in the interview include Cromwell's role in Becoming Jane, the television show 24, which he says he has "real problems" with, and his political views. He claims to know that America's last two elections were rigged, and says he can't handle living here anymore.

According to Bottlegreen Drinks Co., the most beautiful British woman of all-time is Gone with the Wind star Vivien Leigh. Okay, I imagine you American readers are now wondering, "What is Bottlegreen Drinks Co. and what do they have to do with the movies?" Unfortunately, I can't really give any answers. I'd never heard of Bottlegreen before this news, either, and a quick glance at their website doesn't have me going, "ooooooh, they make _____." As for their expertise on surveys about British celebrity, I can't find a thing.

Nonetheless, the company apparently polled 1,000 men and women, and Leigh, who died nearly forty years ago, topped the list of British beauties. And what about the most handsome British man, you ask? Well, that would be Cary Grant, whose popularity still astounds me (even though he's grown on me, if only because he appears in so many great films), particularly in the looks department (that hair and butt-chin are awful!). If women aren't ignoring his voice when they claim the attraction, then I give up trying to figure out what women want. Unfortunately, the reports of this news don't include a full list of the male runners-up. As for the other nine ladies who followed in the top ten, you can check them out after the jump.

Prior to writing this post, I'd never heard of German director Christoph Schlingensief. From what I can gather, however, he's incredibly political and willfully controversial in his films, statements, art and forays into theater. In terms of film, Schlingensief seems best-known for his Germany Trilogy, which consists of 100 Years of Adolf Hitler (about Hitler's last hours), The German Chainsaw Massacre (about "a few East-German people who cross the border to visit West Germany and get slaughtered by a psychopathic family with non-running chainsaws") and Terror 2000 ("about the 1970's Red Army Faction terror in Germany"). As grim as these films sound, they're apparently not to be taken seriously, whatever that means. It's also unclear if anyone saw them -- Schlingensief doesn't seem like the kind of guy who plays multiplexes.

If all goes well with his new film, however, his name may become familiar to a lot more people outside of Germany: Schlingensief told a local tabloid earlier this week that he's already shot some footage for a film about the last hour of Princess Di's life. Diana will be played by Jenny Elvers-Elbertzhagen, who was cast because "she presents a projection surface for longings. She resembles Diana as both of them seem to be within reach, but never are." Which, really, is a pretty cool concept.

I would imagine that any Germans remotely interested in the arts have very strong feelings about this guy -- please feel free to share them in the comments, because the rest of us need to get a better idea of what he's all about.

Though the New York Film Festival doesn't open until the very end of September, the opening film is already in line, and it's a doozy. First of all, its title -- The Queen -- is just vague enough to be intriguing: The movie could be about anyone from, like, Isabel of Spain to Liberace. So there's some built-in suspense there. Second, it's directed by Stephen Frears, who has spent the last two decades making small, damn good pictures (My Beautiful Laundrette, Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters, Dirty Pretty Things -- and yes, I'm pretending Mary Reilly never happened). Third, the film is set within England's royal family immediately after the death of Princess Diana, which could potentially be incredibly interesting. Finally and most importantly, it stars Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II. Actually, just that would sell me -- Mirren is a staggeringly talented actress who gets more interesting and more impressive as she gets older.

Anyway. The film will make its US debut at the festival on September 29, and will be released in the US by Miramax in October.