10 Exact Moments Awesome Movie Directors Stopped Trying

10. Selling Out To Apple - Brian De Palma

From the mid '70s through to the mid '90s, Brian De Palma enjoyed a hot streak of quality pictures, including Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, Scarface, The Untouchables, Carlito's Way, and Mission: Impossible.

And though he hasn't released a single critically acclaimed feature since 1996's Tom Cruise-starring actioner, there have at least been evident flecks of artistry in movies like Snake Eyes and The Black Dahlia, suggesting that with the right script he still had something to offer.

But then Passion happened.

Despite De Palma's esteem, this 2012 erotic thriller - starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace no less - was sent straight-to-video in most territories, and largely served as a soulless homage to the more red-blooded vehicles of the director's past.

But it's the movie's opening shot which confirms the legendary director's descent from auteur to hack-for-hire, with De Palma's name splashed on the screen in front of an hilariously blatant product placement for an Apple laptop.

It's as literal a visual representation of a director "selling out" as you're ever going to get, and sadly his single film since, the atrocious thriller Domino, only confirmed how thoroughly he's lost it.