We’ve been told our attention spans have shortened. We’ve been told our culture has rotted down to nothing but sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Now, however, we’re being told by legend of the screen and stage, Lauren Bacall.

And if anyone should know, it’s her. The actress, 80, is known for her prolific career ranging back to the 1940s and for her marriage to legendary actor Humphrey Bogart. In an interview with Time magazine, she explained why she disagreed with a journalist who called Nicole Kidman a “legend.”

“A legend involves the past. And I don’t like categories. This one is great, and that one is great. I mean, the word great stands for something,” said Bacall. “When you talk about a great actor, you’re not talking about Tom Cruise.”

Maybe Bacall has a point. Newsweek reports that box-office grosses are down 8 percent over the last year and ticket sales this summer are down 10 percent. Are today’s Hollywood stars able to measure up to the beloved classics that carved an important chunk into American history?

When looking back on classic films like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Casablanca” and “Rebel Without a Cause,” it’s difficult to fathom Tom Cruise being iconized fifty years from now like James Dean is today or comparing Cruise’s “You complete me…” scene with Renee Zellweger in “Jerry Maguire” to the “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow…” scene in “Casablanca.”

Is our generation missing master thespians?

For every good, solid movie an actor does today, they seem to go on to do several completely terrible ones.

Scarlett Johanssen, a young actress who appeared to have the potential to become a true screen legend in her performances in “Ghost World” and “Lost in Translation,” has already begun her fall from grace in this summer’s box office flop, “The Island.” Jake Gyllenhaal wowed audiences in “Donnie Darko”… but then did “Bubbleboy” and “The Day After Tomorrow.” Need I go on?

Perhaps it’s not up to the fledgling talent to carry the industry. Maybe the older actors should be carrying the torch and mastering their craft.

Take this year’s Oscar winners for Best Actor and Best Actress. Jamie Foxx is following up his Oscar triumph for his performance in “Ray” with “Stealth,” a film for which even its preview made me throw up a little in my mouth. And Hilary Swank? We’ve yet to see what’s on deck for this two-time Oscar winner, but the fact she followed up her last win with “The Core,” leads me to believe we should keep our standards pretty low.

Is the declining quality of cinema today the actors’ faults? Instead of Hepburns (both Katherine and Audrey) and Brandos, are we reduced to Spades and Schneiders? Or is there another force contributing to this supposed decline?

Veteran actor Sean Connery, 74, blames today’s studio execs in an interview with the New Zealand Herald, saying he’s “fed up with the idiots … the ever-widening gap between people who know how to make movies and the people who greenlight the movies.”

But why would the people who are supposed to know the business best purposefully make poor products?

Bob Berney, who now owns Picturehouse, told Newsweek, “It’s the problem Hollywood has always had. Everybody wants something new, but they want something new that worked last week or last year.”

Oh, so it’s our fault? Crappy movies are made because we the people have crappy tastes? That’s right, kiddies. Each ticket you buy for