>but I've never seen evidence of such (though I'm sure it's
>out there somewhere).
>A big difference too is that those who make movies (studios,
>not directors) use running time as a tool AGAINST the
>filmmaker. That type of thinking was unheard of before the
>'80s.

Studio chiefs had more power in the past than they do now and they would cut films down like crazy. The reason you might hear more about it now is because directors have a bit more power to fight back, especially now when they go to the blogosphere. But studios have ALWAYS tried to cut movies down. This is by no means a new phenomenon.

And while the study is very flawed, IMDB looked at the top 50 films of every decade and the later films are all longer.

http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/07/16/by-the-numbers-the-length-of-feature-films/

----
NBA MOCK DRAFT #1 - https://thecourierclass.com/whole-shebang/2017/5/18/2017-nba-mock-draft-1-just-lotto-and-lotta-trades