Nevertheless Nicolas Cage has been cast alongside Jay Baruchel in an attempt to excite us next Summer. Judging by the trailer all substance seems to have been thoroughly flushed from the film. Let us hope this video is not indicative of what we can expect in August 2010.

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First up is that of the battle of the charging units: Messless versus Powermat. Who will come out the victor? How will the “wired” Messless stand up to the “wireless” Powermat? How floppy is an iPhone when docked into a Messless? Well these and many more questions will be answered…probably.

If you don’t know what a Powermat is then I suggest you take a gander at this link. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? “Wireless” charging: fantastic…except for the fact that the cellular phone or gadget needs to be in physical contact with the device! In fact calling the Powermat wireless is much like me referring to a plug and socket’s relationship as wireless…It just isn’t! However don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, as we were also sold “mobile” phones and “portable” televisions in the 80’s which were utter fabrications as well!

Let’s ignore the science bit shall we? Assuming you know what a Powermat is (or have watched the very helpful YouTube link I provided) you don’t much care how it works. The facts are these: both the Messless and the Powermat are multi-charging devices. They are basically a cool alternative to one of those multi-plug dooberys that you buy from Argos. But instead of being £14.99 they are a cool £79.99 (for the Powermat) and 69 Euros /£62 ish (for the Messless). What is almost a brutally unfunny kick in the ghoulies is the fact that these companies expect you to pay for extras!

If you have an iPhone or Blackberry you would be an utter loon if you didn’t take up the wireless sleeve / jacket / case option (costing up to another £35). So for your £79.99 (for the Powermat) you can expect a useless bit of art to slap on your desk and pretend you meant for it just to sit there! All in all the Powermat would have cost you a couple of pence shy of £100. One hundred pounds for a charging unit? I know we love our iPhones but surely not enough to spend nearly one third of our hard earned money out on them again (not after that cool D3O case that was on Dragon’s Den).

I wouldn’t mind this financial insult if the Powermat was actually wireless! Here I am in possession of a serious bit of kit (a HTC-HD2) and the best that can be offered is that of a “Powercube” that wirelessly connects my phone to the board – except for the fact that it is connected by A WIRE! Don’t get me wrong, I am just as excited by this technology as the next man but I refuse to be insulted by a company who is holding back the good stuff until they’ve managed to convince the world’s cellular manufacturers to include a receiver on each of their products.

When all is said and done though, there is a satisfying magnetic force keeping the charging device in place and the power savings are obvious along with the fact that if you do have the right phone, you will feel so cool when you slap your device down on the unit and it charges (not a euphemism). Excellent stuff. It’s just a shame that it has to take up so much space on the desk!

I was advised a few days ago that I may not want to compare the Messless to the Powermat as the latter is an induction charging unit allowing it to be “wireless”. I love the way that everyone throws the “W” word around as if it means anything. The Powermat is wireless but still requires contact; in fact the only way that you can get away with no wires is when you have one of the correct phones! To an end user, the Messless and the Powermat are much of a muchness. In fact the Messless is so much more. Firstly it charges so many more items right out of the box. With 6 interchangeable adapters you can charge a hefty range of devices. Unfortunately, true to form my HD2 requires a micro-usb connector and that costs an extra £9. However ignoring the fact that you could lose money faster than HBOS by buying extra adapters, the Messless is almost a wonder to behold. A colleague of mine recently mentioned that she couldn’t see the purpose in the device as it simply charges… “and not even wirelessly, like the Powermat”. After a bit of a telling off I informed them that they were not only looking at a useful and necessary appliance but also art! This inverted hat sits on your desk and as the day progresses you add different shaped devices that sit in all manner of ways (thanks to the obscure location of connectors). If you don’t know what I mean, then I suggest you place a Blackberry, a PSP a HD2 and an iPod on it…and after then, if you don’t know what I mean then you really shouldn’t be watching that Saatchi programme on Beeb 1!

One of my biggest concerns with the Messless was that of wobbliness. I was convinced that mammoth phones (as they seem to be going that way) would feel a little unstable as they were fitted to the device. Surprisingly though, this was not the case as my HD2 sat in the unit with a comforting clunk! I’m not entirely sure of how long the connectors will last (all interchangeable with a push-down system) but after rigorous shaking and abuse the device still held all of my gadgets well (and that is not a euphemism).

I can only truly think of two things that bother me about the Messless. Firstly the price of the unit: it is shame that it does not have a lower RRP. If this unit was at the £49.99 mark I’d be rushing to buy it. Unfortunately the fact that it sits nearly £20 more than that figure and a micro USB connector isn’t included by default, I am tempted to be a little more careful with my money.

So who won? Where should your money go for a charging device this Christmas? No doubt you are very sold on the idea of “wireless charging” and it is an upsetting fact that we are not quite there yet (largely due to the fact that the Powermat group wants us to buy their don’t-do-much-first-generation-products before their technology is integrated into handheld devices at the manufacturing level). I’ll admit to completely losing faith in an item that doesn’t support arguably one of the most popular phones on the market (HTC-HD2). The very fact that I had to borrow my friend’s iPhone to completely test out the “wirelessness” of the device angered me from the beginning.

For my money I’d grab hold of the Messless. The fact is, it is unlikely to be superseded three months from now and it can charge a huge range of devices straight out of the box. Hey, even if you have no need for a multi-charging station on your desk, then think of it as the cheapest artwork you’re ever likely to buy!

Messless Rating: 4 out of 5

Powermat Rating: 2 out of 5

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We’ll get to see the continuation of the tale (in May of 2010) and we can only hope that Jon Favreau shows as much passion for this project as he did for the original. I for one, am hopeful.

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Anyway, here is the trailer you have all been waiting for….well I have at least.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is based on a video game and before you move quickly on, I suggest you take a gander below as the trailer is actually pretty good. Prince of Persia: The Sands of time is released in the Summer of 2010 (May) and co-stars Ben Kingsley and Gemma Arterton.

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Starring big names such as George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges and Ewan McGregor, The Men Who Stare at Goats truly looks like the one to look out for this year.

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Being back to the fray for the 21st century we will get to seem them on the big screen and being played (mostly) by some very capable actors: Liam Neeson as Hannibal, Sharlto Copey as Howling Mad Murdock, Bradley Cooper as Face and finally Quentin Jackson as B.A. Baracus! Apart from the casting of Mr Baracus, it looks as if they are really trying! This may actually be worth a watch! Released in July of 2010.

Here is their first official group shot. Also be sure to click here where Movieweb have posted EW’s featurette.

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Click here and you’ll be transported to the survey. Winner will be announced on January 1st 2010 and they will get the opportunity to choose their favourite colour iPod Nano along with a text engraving of their choice for that personal touch!

Good Luck!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Gary Green (of Camden) who has won an orange iPod Nano. Admittedly not my favourite choice of colour but nevertheless it will be winging its way to you within the next few weeks.

Look out for further competitions on the site

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Synopsis:

By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfil his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn’t alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.

Critique:

I am angry at Pixar and it is not for the reason you may think! Up was released in May of this year to a highly anticipated crowd. We British however sat quietly in the queue (as usual); politely hoping that the distribution network would hurry the hell up already. We waited and waited and whilst the world saw countless positive reviews of their amazing new film we continued to wait. As the summer has progressed into a meaningless string of letdowns after letdowns (such as Inglourious Basterds and Jennifer’s Body) and the odd surprising film (Bandslam) we have subsequently forgotten all about the gem that was Up.

I can only imagine that Up (in the UK) will not receive anywhere near the revenue it deserves at the Box Office due to a badly timed released. An autumn semester release is what you’d expect for the latest in the Saw series or another quite awful “parody” film. It is not the time of year to release the 2009 Disney / Pixar collaboration.

You may be wondering why I am spending half of this review moaning about release dates and the answer is simple. It is because if you were even slightly interested in Up then you would have read other reviews by now and probably have gone to see it. In fact I imagine for the greatly impatient amongst us, they would have considered downloading the film. This is a great shame as Up needs to be appreciated in the cinema (much like Wall-e). However if given the option to watch it in 3D or 2D, I would opt for two dimensions as 3D doesn’t add anything to the film.

Beginning in a way that you’d think would alienate half of the audience, Up manages to reduce us all to tears within the first 8 minutes. In fact if you are unsure if your partner is actually that emotionless, I suggest you take them to see this film and if they are not welling up in the allotted 8 minutes then they really are much more likely to be an emotionless deviant. If you have a heart (and even an ounce of empathy) then it will be broken in support of the main character Carl (aptly played by Edward Asner).

Accompanying vocals are provided by Christopher Plummer (making a welcome high profile comeback in recent years) Jordan Nagai as the ever-annoying but still amusing Russell and not forgetting Bob Peterson as the unforgettable Dug. Each of these voices are perfectly cast and contribute to the fine-tuned perfection that we all expect from Pixar.

From the heartfelt beginnings to the absolutely hilarious scenes with a talking dog named Dug and the bad guy with his Smurf-sounding lead Doberman, Up takes you on a ride worth travelling.

I’ll be honest and admit to not expecting much from Up. The teaser trailer was a little vague and the fact that they had a boy scout and old man as main characters did nothing to sell the film. Perhaps it was because Pixar has consistently churned out memorable, profitable and highly entertaining films from their first to their most recent. There is not one bad apple of the bunch. I was expecting a lull in their output and was pleasantly proved wrong. Up is a triumph. If you have not watched it and have no intention of doing so then I feel sorry for you… I really do.

Conclusion:

Who would have thought that Pixar’s tenth film was to be better than all of its quite brilliant predecessors? How far can Pixar raise the bar? Why haven’t you gone to see this yet? Take the children, yourself, your neighbour and even your worst enemy to Up and if you are not all crying within the first 8 minutes and laughing uncontrollably at the squirrel-obsessed dogs then you have no right to call yourself human.

Up is a truly emotional ride which will entertain children and the elderly alike (along with the other 80% of the population. Go and see it!

Rating: 5 out of 5

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