Joe Morgenstern in The Wall Street Journal: When Ingrid Bergman asks Sam to sing that deathless song in Casablanca, the lyrics reassure her that the fundamental things still apply. But in the movies, as everywhere else, some of them don't. Traditional superstar power is in steep decline, thanks to salaries that have spiraled out of control, to star vehicles that have become -- along with some of their stars -- repetitive or grotesque, and most of all to changing tastes.

Movies have changed profoundly since the days of Bergman and Bogart -- or Paul Newman. They've changed even more since the days when a film starring Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, Cameron Diaz, Bruce Willis or Tom Cruise was automatically a major event. Will Smith remains a huge draw, the exception to the rule, and Johnny Depp was certainly the animating spirit of three phenomenally profitable pirate extravaganzas. Yet Hollywood glamour is in a lowered state, and young audiences don't much care, even though the full extent of their indifference is still being masked by the white noise of celebrity chatter. Kids are just as likely to turn out for a heavily promoted horror flick, the latest comedy from Judd Apatow's laugh factory or another iteration of the National Treasure franchise. (Or adorable doggies: Beverly Hills Chihuahua won last weekend's box office over Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe in Body Of Lies.) Meanwhile, grown-ups -- people old enough to sit through a two-hour feature without an uncontrollable urge to text, phone or Twitter -- tell me all too often that most new movies leave them so cold they've stopped going out to theaters.

Drawing: Ensemble performances and star turns, by Drew Friedman for the Wall Street Journal. Top row (from left to right): Russell Crowe of American Gangster and L.A. Confidential, Tom Cruise in Magnolia, and Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich. Middle row (from left to right): Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski, Julia Roberts and George Clooney of Ocean's Eleven, and Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There. Front row (from left to right): Meryl Streep in A Prairie Home Companion, Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, and Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

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