It’s officially a war of words … over war. Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee, two of Hollywood’s most revered filmmakers, have launched into an insult-laden, tit-for-tat debate on whether the former should have included black actors in his recent World War II films. After Eastwood told Lee to “shut his face” this week, the “Malcolm X” director followed up on Friday by calling him an “angry old man.”

Spike Lee is in Cannes to promote his Italy-set war film “Miracle at St. Anna,” but he couldn’t resist taking a few swipes at some fellow directors, including Joel and Ethan Coen and Clint Eastwood. Speaking about death in his World War II period drama, Lee said that, unlike the Coens, he was respectful in the way he portrayed death.

Filmmaker Spike Lee has linked up with Nokia to direct a movie made with cell phone footage from everyday people in what he calls the democratization of film. The film by Nokia Productions will consist of three acts. An “assignment” for each act will be announced online and people will then have four weeks to produce their submission.

The anti-George W. Bush rhetoric that has been a near-constant refrain at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival reached a crescendo Friday when Spike Lee sat down to discuss his epic documentary on hurricane Katrina.