Why are films so long nowadays?

All the films in contention for awards this year seem to have long runtimes. 

• Lincoln -150 mins 
• Zero Dark Thirty - 157 mins 
• Les Misérables - 160 mins
• The Master - 143 mins
• Django Unchained -165 mins  
• The Hobbit - 170 mins 

It seems that many awards contenders this year have bought into the idea that long runtimes gives the film a certain 'worthiness', like previous Oscar winners such as Lawrence of Arabia which ran at 227 mins. But are these running times justified?

We're in an age where the box set is a norm. From series such as Homeland, Breaking Bad and Boardwalk Empire to comedies such as The Thick of It and Curb Your Enthusiasm, audiences nowadays will happily watch hours of TV.

Do audiences take account of runtimes when they want to see a film? It's certainly one of the first questions critics consider – and there's no doubt that films with a duration of 85-95 minutes are greeted with a grin of appreciation even before they've begun. But you do get a sense with all these long films that they could also go on indefinitely. As TV shows look to extend their seasons, so too now movies are looking for franchise and seem wary of drawing to a close.

Sourced and edited from: guardian.co.uk/film