James Woods responds to Armie Hammer, Amber Tamblyn following Twitter dustup

Luca Guadagnino's festival hit Call Me By Your Name -- a gay romantic drama starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet in the story of a graduate student who falls in love with his professor's underage son -- has received rave reviews (currently 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and Oscar buzz, all ahead of its Nov. 24 release.

On Monday, however, the film kicked off a Twitter firestorm that saw James Woods, Hammer and Amber Tamblyn get caught up in an online feud of sorts that included accusations of questionable behavior as well as lying. But to understand the full digital back-and-forth, it's best to start at the beginning.

On Sunday evening, gay website Towleroad tweeted out a link to its coverage of an Entertainment Weekly post featuring Hammer reading five minutes of the Andre Aciman novel on which the film is based for a new audio book. The link prompted conservative gay author Chad Felix Green to reply to the tweet with a criticism of the film's subject matter. He posted: "24 year old man. 17 year old boy. Stop." (Underage gay sex is something Green has written about in the past; as a HuffPost contributor, he published What Happens When Men Have Sex with Teenage Boys in February of this year.)

See the full exchange below:

Later that night, Woods noticed Green's tweet and chimed in on the film, writing, "As they quietly chip away the last barriers of decency. #NAMBLA" The hashtag refers to the controversial North American Man/Boy Love Association, which is a pedophilia advocacy organization. (The age of consent in California is 18; in Italy where the film is set, it is 14.)

Monday morning, Hammer, 31, responded to Woods' tweet by condemning the actor for dating younger women, writing, "Didn't you date a 19 year old when you were 60.......?'

According to multiple reports, Woods started dating his current girlfriend Kristen Bauguess, in 2013 when she was 20 years old and he was 66 years old. (Woods turned 70 on April 18.) Before Bauguess, he was in a relationship with a woman named Ashley Madison, whom he reportedly started dating when he was 60 and she was either 19 or 20 years old.

Later Monday, Tamblyn, 34, entered the conversation by accusing Woods of hitting on her when she was just a teenager. “James Woods tried to pick me and my friend up at a restaurant once,” the actress wrote on Twitter. “He wanted to take us to Vegas. ‘I’m 16’ I said. ‘Even better’ he said."

See photos of James Woods and his 19-year-old ex-girlfriend:

Woods, a prolific Twitter user, did not immediately respond to either Hammer or Tamblyn's accusations but he did go on a bit of a Twitter bender, responding to more than a handful of his 851,000 followers. "If somebody has something of value to say, I always love to engage in a dialogue," he wrote, before answering questions about politics, Family Guy and accusing New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow of blocking him. He then faced the day's controversies.

At first, he made light of Tamblyn's comments, responding to Twitter user Jenn Ward who wrote, "I met you once when you were in Shreveport, La. You stopped by my window in a hospital and asked for directions. Made.My.Day." Woods responded with, "I'm so glad. Did I offer to take you to Vegas?"

A few tweets later, he accused Tamblyn of lying. User Amanda Kendall linked the movie's subject and Tamblyn's accusation by asking Woods a question about the morality and legalities of underage relationships: "What makes a 24yo/17yo gay relationship inherently indecent but skeevy old guys trying to pick up a pair of 16 year old girls is okay?"

Woods response? "The first is illegal. The second is a lie."

There's more.

Woods then replied to another Twitter user who called him brave and asked him how much "crap" he got "for voicing the truth about Armie's new movie?" In his reply, he noted that he was aware of the day's digital feud but that he didn't care much. And he complimented Hammer.

"Somebody told me the libs are yelping. Troll traffic is up. I don't pay any attention really. I like Armie Hammer as an actor though. A lot," Woods posted Monday night. "Okay, now I want all my little trolls to put on their onesies and go to bed! Final word on this: I don't give a shit what liberals think."

See photos of Armie Hammer: