Too Long?

So a few people have mentioned that it might be interesting to discuss long movies. This came because of my earlier post about long songs. Here. Thanks Brooke and Jeff for the suggestion. This post took on a life of it's own, I guess I had more to say on the subject than I initially thought.
I think one of the big questions is what makes a movie too long? There are quite a few movies that are very long that I really like, in fact many are favorites of mine. Then there are movies that are too long and could have been better movies if they were shorter.
So we also have to determine what constitutes a long movie or an average movie. I would say that a 1 hour and 45 minute movie is about average, anything that is over 2 hours I think constitutes a long movie. For me, if the plot can be interesting for over 2 hours, I don't mind sitting through a 2 or 3 hour movie. However if the movie is boring and slows down, a +2 hour movie can be torture. There are also movies that are +2 hours, they aren't necessarily boring, but there could have been scenes cut and not really detracted from the film.
I think in order to tell complicated and interesting stories, a lot of time it takes longer than 2 hours. But it doesn't have to, there are some great short movies too, many of which are some of my favorite animated movies. Toy Story: 1 Hour 21 Minutes, Toy Story 2: 1 Hour 32 Minutes, Finding Nemo: 1 Hour 40 Minutes.
Here are some examples of long movies:
Titanic: Coming in at 3 hours and 14 minutes, it definitely constitutes a long movie. Being the highest grossing film of all time, it's obvious that people enjoyed this long movie. In my opinion Titanic is a great film, it's paced well and I didn't really get bored in it the first few times I had seen it. Now that I have seen it several times, it's actually very difficult for me to watch. I do think that the movie could have been cut a little and it wouldn't have really detracted from the plot or the message. There are a few scenes that could be considered "filler" and don't really need to be included. However even with those scenes cut, I do think it needs to be almost a 3 hour film to tell the story. There is just too much detail there.
King Kong: At 3 hours and 7 minutes, it's another really long movie. I really liked King Kong, I thought it was a brilliant movie. But I have to say that I could have enjoyed it just as much without some of the scenes. Specifically the way too long dinosaur chase scene and the "pit" scene as some have described it. I think King Kong could easily have come in at 2 Hours and 30 Minutes and if the right scenes were cut, I wouldn't have enjoyed it any less. Here is a perfect example of a movie that should have had a "Theatrical Release" and a longer "Extended Release". Then the big fans of the film can get the longer version but for mainstream viewers, the theatrical version would be sufficient.
That leads me to the next movie.
Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King (But really all 3 LOTR films): The theatrical version came in a 3 hours and 21 minutes, the extended DVD was 4 hours and 11 minutes. I really enjoyed both versions of this movie. I didn't think the theatrical version was too long, I thought it was paced well, had good action and kept me interested. In fact it was hard enough to tell the entire story in 3 and a half hours. I was really excited and really enjoyed the extended version as well. However, if a friend hasn't seen it I would show them the theatrical version, I don't think the extended version is for everyone. It's for die hard fans and people who want a little more than just deleted scenes, it's perfect for those reasons.
Braveheart: 2 hours and 57 minutes. This is one of the first long, epic movies that I watched and really enjoyed. I owe Braveheart a lot of credit because it's one of the movies that got me interested in film and it stands as one of my favorites to this day. I wouldn't consider cutting anything out of this film and I don't have a problem watching the almost 3 hour movie.
Gangs of New York: 2 Hours 47 Minutes. A great movie, but does lose some of it's pacing toward the middle of the film.
Pearl Harbor: 3 Hours 3 Minutes. Good movie, but it could have been shorter and I really wouldn't have cared. Too much "love triangle"
Shawshank redemption: 2 Hours 22 Minutes. One of my favorites. The story and mystery keeps you interested through the whole film.
The Godfather: 2 Hours 55 Minutes. Often considered as the best film ever, it's also one of my favorites. I do have to say there are some scenes that could have been cut to help with minor pacing problems. Although I don't have a problem watching this entire film and enjoying all of it.

I know a lot of you want to comment on this, so let me know what you think. Tell me some of your favorite long movies and why they are good even though they are long. List some movies that are long and should have been shorter.