6. David Gordon Green (George Washington)
Few directors have had such a bizarre career trajectory as David Gordon Green, but there's no mistaking that his George Washington is a landmark debut feature, haunting, poetic and emotionally resonant for sure. He followed this with three solid features which nevertheless couldn't quite reach the same highs - All the Real Girls, Undertow and Snow Angels - before going the full-out Hollywood route with the amusing if uneven comedy Pineapple Express. It's here that things get really bad, though; his next film, Your Highness, was a woefully inept comic misfire, attempting to parody the fantasy genre yet completely wasting its ripe premise. He followed this with the Jonah Hill-starring The Sitter, a completely forgettable comedy that demonstrates virtually none of the directorial flair of Green's auspicious debut. The early word on his next film, Prince Avalanche, is strong indeed, so I'm looking forward to seeing for myself...