[_mulder_]

I wonder why long movies are consistently rated higher? My guess would be for two reasons. The first being audience selection. Long films are (IMO) more likely to attract, and retain for the entire length, an audience with a prior interest in the film, and therefore more likely to be an audience who know beforehand if the movie is generally good or not.

Secondly, psychology will come into play. The more time an audience invests in a film, the more likely they are to seek a positive reward for their time so they don't feel like they have got a bad deal[1]. Thus, they're more likely to rate the film higher than it perhaps otherwise would be. I also believe this holds true for 'art house' films that are difficult to follow and perhaps less enjoyable than a more mainstream film. Audiences will rate them higher to reassure themselves that they haven't just wasted 2 hours watching something boring that they don't understand.

Some links for further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrational_escalation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-purchase_rationalization