A Little Too Much Creative License

Here's the new print ad for Oscar nominee "The Aviator," appearing in newspapers this weekend.

OK, I haven't seen the movie yet. I've heard it takes some creative license with Howard Hughes -- not depicting him as crazy enough, etc.

But -- and you can tell me if I'm wrong -- I'm assuming it doesn't include a storyline in which Hughes outfits the Spruce Goose into a time machine and travels to 2005 Los Angeles.

Yet that's the only way I can explain this ad. Why else would you take a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio as 1930s-era Hughes, and stick him in front of the 2005 L.A. skyline?

For the record, Hughes died in 1976 -- long before the Library Tower (er, the U.S. Bank Tower), the tall, circular skyscraper you see behind Leo -- was built.

Meanwhile, speaking of Hughes, from the Wikipedia, my favorite story about the eccentric billionaire:

Hughes took a liking to Baskin Robbins banana-nut ice cream, and his aides were horror-stricken when they learned that Baskin-Robbins had eliminated the flavor. They made a special order of 350 gallons—the largest amount the company could provide—and had it shipped from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. A few days after the order arrived, Hughes announced he'd tired of banana-nut and only wanted vanilla ice cream. For years afterwards, Hughes' aides gave free gallons of banana-nut ice cream to their friends and family.