Spike Lee is calling out a bad call from the Academy more than 30 years later: The auteur, along with most cinephiles, is convinced that Denzel Washington was snubbed for the Best Actor Oscar for “ Malcolm X .” Al Pacino instead won over Washington for “Scent of a Woman.”

At a Cannes press conference for his new film "Highest 2 Lowest" on Tuesday, Spike Lee reflected on his five collaborations with Denzel Washington - and said he should have won the best actor Oscar in 1993 over Al Pacino.

Spike Lee believes that Denzel Washington deserved his flowers from the Academy Awards for 1993 biopic Malcolm X. Washington portrayed the civil rights activist and Muslim minister in the Lee-directed film,