Can everyone guess where I am right now, and what I'm doing? I'm very thankful that the New Orleans airport has free wireless available while I wait for an airplane crew to show up for my flight, so I can return to sunny Austin. In the meantime, I have a laptop and Internet access and a stack of DVDs to watch. I am prepared. I can watch movies indefinitely if necessary, especially if I can get Hulu or Netflix's Watch Instantly cranked up.

I have a few suggestions for packing / purchasing / (legally) downloading movies to watch on your laptop or other device in an airport or on a plane. Pick at least one or two movies that are old familiar favorites. Sometimes when you're stuck in a terminal with poor food choices, a "comfort movie" can be your very best friend. In addition, I find it difficult to listen clearly to movies on an airplane or even in a noisy terminal (you don't want the sound too loud, so you can hear updates on your flight's delay), so it's best to pick something where you already know what's going on and don't need to catch every last nuance of dialogue. Big goofy action films and physical comedies have an advantage over talkier films where you have to pay attention.

In compiling this list of specific recommendations, I tried to avoid the overwhelmingly obvious choices for watching movies in airports -- personally, I don't want to watch disaster films at times like this, or even spoofs of disaster films like that timeless comedy Airplane. The Terminal and Snakes on a Plane also a little too close for comfort. I thought instead of lighter fare, with scenes that emphasized the fantasy world of airline travel, good or bad, and the magic of escapism. Next time, I'm tucking a few of these in my laptop bag myself.

They have no actors, screenwriter, or director attached, but a group of producers has already figured out the budget for their planned remake of a 1973 prison drama: $90 million. The original film, Papillon, starred Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman as criminals trying to escape from Devil's Island, a French penal colony located in South America.

According to Variety, Spanish production company Atlantia Canarias recently closed a deal for the rights to the autobiography of Henri Charriere, whose best-selling book served as the basis for Papillon. The company has teamed up with veteran Los Angeles-based producers Branko Lustig (Gladiator, American Gangster) and John J. Kelly (Into the Wild, The Black Dahlia). Most of the financing has already been arranged through a Canary Islands tax investment vehicle, whereby taxpayers "earmark part of their payments for film and TV investment."

It's been several years since I've seen Papillon, but it felt very low-key and, frankly, drab and unexciting. Writing in 1973, Roger Ebert wasn't very impressed: "You know something has gone wrong when you want the hero to escape simply so that the movie can be over." The original film had an estimated budget of $12 million. Considering the remake's budget, I imagine the producers have set aside a good portion of that for two big male stars, and probably a star director.

Does this remake stir any interest? Who could put on the prison clothes worn by Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman?

IFC Films has acquired yet another hot Cannes title. British director Steve McQueen's Hunger has impressed a number of critics, including our own Kim Voynar, who called it "a brilliant portrayal of a tragic moment in human history." The short article on the acquisition by Anne Thompson in Variety does not reveal what distribution plans IFC may have in mind.

Michael Fassbender portrays Bobby Sands, an IRA volunteer who led a long hunger strike in 1981 while he was imprisoned on gun charges by British authorities. (More information is available at Wikipedia or the search engine of your choice.) The case stirred up a considerable amount of controversy; I remember visiting New York City at the time and being besieged by daily headlines in the Post and Daily News screaming about one side or the other.

Kim notes that the film doesn't "address the circumstances that led to these men being incarcerated" but commented in response to a reader: "I don't believe we achieve greater humanity by sinking to crass brutality in our treatment of others, regardless of how they might have wronged us ... Nonetheless, I tried to keep the focus of my review on its artistic merits, and in that respect, it's a brilliant film." I hope IFC makes Hunger as widely available as possible -- it sounds like an incredibly timely subject.

Hunger, by British artist and director Steve McQueen and Irish writer Enda Walsh, is a graphically violent, deeply brooding film about IRA volunteer Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender), who led a hunger strike in 1981 aimed at improving conditions for IRA prisoners and regaining their status as political prisoners. Sands had been convicted of handgun possession and sentenced to fourteen years in prison. At the time, IRA prisoners were held together in one of several "H-Blocks," and began their protest with a "Blanket and No-Wash Protest" beginning in 1976.

The demands of the Irish prisoners during the hunger strikes seem, in retrospect, to be relatively minor: they sought to be recognized as political prisoners (prisoners of war), and as such to not be forced to wear prison uniforms, to not be forced to have work duty, to freely associate with other prisoners, and to be entitled to a weekly visit, parcel and letter.

Back in June, I wrote about a request made by Barbara McQueen Brunsvold, the widow of Steve McQueen. She had stated that if there's ever to be a biopic about her late husband, then Daniel Craig should be cast in the lead role. At the time, I figured Craig was a good enough fit, but I also thought such a film was unnecessary and would probably not be produced.

As it turns out, there is now a movie about McQueen in the works. But it comes from another one of the actor's wives, his first. According to a story on Variety, Neile McQueen Toffel, who was married to McQueen from 1956 to 1972 (when she was known as actress Neile Adams), just sold the rights to her book My Husband, My Friend to producer Kevin Kasha, who is a senior VP at New Line Home Entertainment. Despite the division in which Kasha works, it hasn't been revealed whether or not the McQueen film will be a direct-to-video release.

At nearly 40 years of age, Daniel Craig may be too old to play the McQueen of the 50s and 60s. He does look damn good for his age, though, so hopefully Kasha will take him into consideration. Of course, somebody could still pick up the rights to Brunsvold's book, Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, which mostly consists of photographs, and we can have dueling biopics, a la Capote vs. Infamous. Either way, Craig needs to be thought of. However, if the 007 actor can't play McQueen, perhaps he could one day star in a remake of one of McQueen's movies -- seems they'll all get redone sooner or later.

So far, of McQueen's pics, there's been new versions of The Thomas Crown Affair, The Blob and The Getaway and there's confirmed or rumored plans to redo The Topkapi Affair, Bullitt and The Blob again. McQueen is far from forgotten or obsolete, though. Currently there's a heist film in development called Yucatan, which is based on notes and storyboards by the actor. Also, someone paid $2.3 million for his 1963 Ferrari last week.

I'm not sure how much we need a biopic about Steve McQueen, who was arguably the coolest movie star ever, but that isn't stopping the actor's widow from suggesting the person to play him. Barbara McQueen Brunsvold, who was McQueen's third wife and who was only married to him for less than a year before he died, wants Daniel Craig to portray the Bullitt star if there's ever a movie about him. She recently co-authored a book of photographs of her and McQueen's three-and-a-half years together, titled Steve McQueen: The Last Mile. Whether she hopes to sell the rights to her story is unclear. McQueen, who died of cancer in 1980 (well, technically of two heart attacks following surgery), has been the subject of many books, including one by his first wife, actress Neile Adams, called My Husband, My Friend: A Memoir, and one by actress Barbara Leigh called The King, McQueen and the Love Machine: My Secret Life with Elvis Presley, Steve McQueen and the Smiling Cobra, either of which is probably more detailed about the time periods in which Craig would most suitably appear.

Though Craig doesn't look too much like McQueen, I have to agree that he may be the closest thing possible; plus, he's almost as cool. Brunsvold states that Craig, "kinda has that swagger, the good looks -- if I wasn't married I'd date him." The only other actor who might be be able to pull it off is Colin Farrell, who supposedly idolizes McQueen and credits him as his greatest influence. Anyway, because this isn't a real project just yet, there isn't much point in giving the suggestions much thought. But here's an uninteresting and useless bit of trivia, at least: McQueen starred in the original version of The Thomas Crown Affair, which was remade with Pierce Brosnan in the lead. Brosnan and Craig have both played James Bond.

[via Fark.com]

I posted earlier today on Joystiq that a new TV commercial for the role-playing game World of Warcraft hit the airwaves on Monday, which of course means it hit YouTube about .0815 seconds later. I'm waiting for the day that things come out on YouTube before they reach TV or the big screen. YouTube will become self-aware and telepathic and rule the world one day. You think Terminator was just a movie? SkyNet is YouTube, silly rabbit.

Oh, look ... we've veered back on-topic. This commercial features footage from Office Space with everyone's favorite cubicle-slacker Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) playing WoW while Bill Lundbergh (Gary Cole) tries to talk to him about TPS reports. Originally in the scene, Peter was playing Tetris, but they've stuck this footage in pretty seamlessly. Look how they've even littered his desk with the Warcraft box and game discs.

The ad works here because Office Space isn't generally considered a "classic", but how long until companies really screw up something that Cinemaniacs will cry sacrilege over? Come to think of it, it's already happened several times. We've had Gene Kelly selling Volkswagens, Steve McQueen pushing Mustangs, and Elton John plugging Diet Coke with Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Louis Armstrong. The recent Gap commercial starring Audrey Hepburn was funky and fun, but I found myself wondering what she'd think about it. It's hard to imagine that she would be thrilled. Will Apple use Citizen Kane to sell iPods? Matthew Broderick hawking new computers in WarGames? Okay, that last one probably wouldn't really bother me, but when does it end? At what point is too much just too much?


Check out these ads after the jump and let us know what you think.

Sam Peckinpah would have been 81 today, had he not died of a stroke in 1984. Imagine the films he could have made if he were still alive ... or started making until he lost funding or grew too irritated with studios. Imagine the trouble he could have made.

I did not see a Sam Peckinpah movie until a few years ago, because I had heard they were all bloody and violent and misogynistic. So my first Peckinpah movie was Junior Bonner, the 1972 film that's considered the director's only non-violent, non-gory movie. Besides, I could not resist a film in which Robert Preston and Ida Lupino played Steve McQueen's parents. I was not disappointed: Junior Bonner is a lovely, wistful movie about the rodeo, and family, and the destructive effect of "progress" on a small Arizona town. McQueen is in his element as a fading rodeo cowboy, and Preston is charming as always.

The Wild Bunch is now one of my favorite movies ever, but I recommend Junior Bonner as a great "small" film, as well as a good introduction to Peckinpah if you're hesitant to watch his films. It's also a good way to fall helplessly for Steve McQueen ... you've been warned.