New Sam Mendes iPhone 4 ad says the future is now, now now!

In the future, we'll all have video phones where you can see your loved ones in real time ... oh, wait. It is the future.

Actually, the future has been with us for some time. You can already see callers on video chats, webinars and while Skype-ing. But there's nothing like a shiny new Apple gadget, backed by a savvy marketing campaign that plays heavily on the heartstrings, to make you feel as if you're crossing the Rubicon into a future that is now.

Thanks to the new "Face Time" ad by movie director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road), Apple effectively gets to "own" this seemingly new communications space the way Kodak, maker of cameras and film, once laid claim to photos-as-depository-of-memories with their Kodak Moment campaigns.

Smart move. Does it work?