A perfect example of this for me would be Kevin Smith. I loved Clerks, Mallrats & Chasing Amy. I liked Dogma. I hated Jersey Girl and Clerks 2, and he's just gotten worse from there in my eyes. Red State was okay, but at this point, I have fallen out of love with his work.

Recently, I listened to a podcast that posed this question. Who are the directors you no longer love when you used to?

John Carpenter
Wes Craven
Brian De Palma (although I gave up on him a LONG time ago)
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Zemeckis (his last great movie was in 1988)
Ivan Reitman

Pretty much every Gen X hero I loved when I was younger, now have a hard time taking it in. Tarantino, PT Anderson, Fincher, Aronofsky. Now that I'm older their work is totally meaningless. it is usually just empty nihilism, shock and 'cool'. It seems that generation of directors have had no life experiences, they are just drawing from older movies.

Right now, just Kevin Smith. He's an egotist beyond repair.

Seems people have a higher tolerance for the more Vanguard/artsy kind of stuff when they're younger/college aged. I only say this because I'm one of them. Though I will say I still enjoy the films of all the directors you mentioned.

My list:

Oliver Stone- His most recent fare is totally indistinguishable from that of any hired gun director

John Carpenter-This irks me, as I've actually had a conversation with this guy.

Steven Spielberg-I still admire his overall body of work, but he really has started to go through the motions.

Kevin Smith- Liked everything up to and including Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Since then he has come across as trying to be relevant.

i wouldn't say i've "fallen out of love with" because i still enjoy their earlier work immensely but i guess i'd have to go with dario argento john carpenter and brian depalma. but really almost any 80's horror director.

20 years ago, I declared (somewhere, pre-internet), that the three greatest contemporary Hollywood directors were:

Martin Scorsese (just coming off of GOODFELLAS)
Oliver Stone (...JFK)
Spike Lee (...JUNGLE FEVER)

By 1999, after BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, and SUMMER OF SAM, I was no longer singing their praises. And it's just gotten worse.

I used to be a huge fan of Walter Hill. But the last film of his I heartily embraced was GERONIMO: AN AMERICAN LEGEND, 1993, 19 years ago!

Tarantino lost favor with me after DEATHPROOF, but regained it with INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.

John Woo lost favor with me after WINDTALKERS (2002), but kind of regained it with RED CLIFF (2009)--the North American cut.

Hayao Miyazaki's last great film was PRINCESS MONONOKE, 1997, 15 years ago. Nothing he's done since has come close.

Ridley Scott. I am praying that Prometheus marks a true return to form for the man. I want the Ridley that used to make classics back. Not the inferior Ridley that makes mamby pamby tripe like Gladiator, American Gangster and Black Hawk Down.

Oliver Stone: I loved Platoon, Wall Street, Born 4th July and The Doors, and then he started going off the deep end with JFK and I haven't like any of his movies since.

George Lucas: I don't need to explain as that has been debated ad-nauseum.

Fixed.

I realize it's not all necessarily his fault (money problems, studio interference, etc.), but Terry Gilliam comes to mind.

I also have to agree about John Carpenter and Dario Argento.

George lucas

First name that came to mind. Although I think Gladiator and Black Hawk Down are ok. Recent output has been totally forgettable.

You're both right. Stone went off the deep end historically with JFK but cinematically I think it's his best film. It's brilliant both in spite of and because of its lunacy.

I am mesmerized by the film even though I don't believe a word of it.

Yeah, the ones I mentioned I'll still see their stuff but I don't nearly think they are on the level the critics are giving them. I think their films are aimed more toward the masses.

Then I discover works by Pasolini, or Greenaway, or Bergman. It is hard to take these american 90s 'auteurs' seriously after seeing work that has real insight and experience, and risk behind it.

M. Night Shyamalan- I liked everything up until The Village because I figured out the twist before I saw it though I still enjoy watching it, Lady In The Water I really like but The Happening and The Last Airbender were just awful and I got bored watching them.

Black Hawk Down is a really good movie, and Nixon is a masterpiece or very nearly one.

Spielberg is the correct answer to this question.

Interesting that no one said Tim Burton yet. He is dead to me.

Spielberg certainly doesn't belong in this discussion IMO. He has made many of his best films in the past decade (Minority Report, Munich, A.I. War Horse)

The biggest Downfall of a director is Robert Zemeckis who has made some of the decades worst (and worst looking) movies (Xmas Carol, Polar Express, )

I also use to love the work of Kevin Smith but He hasnt done anything close to rivaling Dogma since that film's release.

Forgot about M. Night. Totally agreed his last good movie was The Village, IMO. But he needed to stop making EVERY movie have a twist at the end as that sort of defined his career.

Spielberg -- moreso a case of me growing up and my tastes changing
Malick -- all is forgiven if his next movie is amazing

oh shit how could i forget...although i did like SWEENEY TODD

This is what I thought of.

Wes Anderson... liked Bottle Rocket, loved Rushmore, and REALLY loved Royal Tenenbaums. But then came Steve Zissou which was just utter nonsense. Haven't seen a thing he's done since.

Spielberg made his best film in 2005 (Munich), so he gets a pass.