Seth Rogen, Michael Moore ignite 'Sniper' debate

Kelly Lawler | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption 'American Sniper' gets dissed by two filmmakers While 'American Sniper' has been a hit with audiences, its subject matter is causing controversy among some in Hollywood for its perceived pro-war message.

Clint Eastwood's American Sniper is continuing to make waves across Hollywood.

While the film has been a hit with audiences — with a record-setting debut at the box office, and A-plus CinemaScore rating — its subject matter is causing controversy among some in Hollywood for its perceived pro-war message.

Seth Rogen, whose latest film caused its fair share of controversy, tweeted about Sniper:

Rogen is referring to the fake film that showed up in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, about a German sniper killing Allied soldiers from a clock tower, essentially comparing Eastwood's film to Nazi propaganda.

Later, Rogen clarified his tweet.

Director Michael Moore, who famously criticized the Iraq War in his 2003 Oscar acceptance speech, also took to Twitter to express his views, calling snipers "cowards".

Although on Monday he claimed his tweets weren't in reference to the film, saying that he never tweeted one word about the film or Chris Kyle specifically. Moore then linked to a lengthy Facebook post where he explained why he was tweeting about snipers in the first place, and criticized the media for drawing connection to the Clint Eastwood movie:

Lots of talk about snipers this weekend (the holiday weekend of a great man, killed by a sniper), so I thought I'd weigh in with what I was raised to believe about snipers. ... But Deadline Hollwood and the Hollywood Reporter turned that into stories about how I don't like Clint Eastwood's new film, "American Sniper." I didn't say a word about "American Sniper" in my tweets.

He then went on to say quite a few words about the film:

So here's what I think about "American Sniper": Awesome performance from Bradley Cooper. One of the best of the year. Great editing. Costumes, hair, makeup superb! Oh... and too bad Clint (Eastwood) gets Vietnam and Iraq confused in his storytelling. And that he has his characters calling Iraqis "savages" throughout the film. But there is also anti-war sentiment expressed in the movie. And there's a touching ending as the main character is remembered after being gunned down by a fellow American vet with PTSD who was given a gun at a gun range back home in Texas -- and then used it to kill the man who called himself the 'America Sniper'.

Soon after his first tweets were sent, Moore' did attract ire from big names, including Newt Gingrich and Rob Lowe:

Sniper is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the most lethal sharpshooter in history. The film nabbed six Oscar nominations last week, including best picture and best actor for Bradley Cooper.