Alrighty, let's hear the reasoning behind that Picture/Director split.

Well to begin with, I've never been in line with the thinking that the Best Picture of the year HAS to be considered the best directed.

But as this case goes, I feel that Wells and Coppola put forth the greatest directorial achievements in movie history. What Coppola went through personally, what he bput into that film, it just gives him the edge in my opinion.

Best Music - Original Song?

Easy. It's "My Heart will go on", Celine Dion, Titanic

Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York for Best Supporting Actor. All I can say is WOW. Just an incredible performance.

Saying they have to have been nominated in that category originally because otherwise I'll be more inclined to pick favorites than making a purely critical judgement:

Best Picture:
Lawrence of Arabia
Best Director:
Billy Wilder - the Apartment
Best Actor:
Gregory Peck - To Kill a Mockingbird
Best Actress:
Katherine Hepburn - A Lion in Winter
Best Supporting Actor:
Donald Crisp - How Green was My Valley
Best Supporting Actress (tie):
Kim Hunter - a Streetcar Named Desire
Kate Hudson - Almost Famous
Original Screenplay:
Casablanca
Adapted Screenplay
The Godfather
Animated Feature: Spirited Away (holds true for the 'nominated' rule in effect or not)
Cinematography:
Empire of the Sun
Editing:
flashy - Citizen Kane
classic - the Great Escape
storytelling - Empire of the Sun
unnominated - Last Tango in Paris
forgotten - Mrs. Miniver
Yeah I'm an editor, so sue me, this was the hardest category.
Costume Design:
The Lord of the Rings
Makeup:
Terminator 2
Art Direction:
Cleopatra
Original Score:
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Original Song:
Beauty and the Beast - Beauty and the Beast
Sound Effects Editing (tie):
Return of the Jedi
Sound Mixing:
Saving Private Ryan
Visual Effects:
Jurassic Park

It's astonishing that a movie from 1993 appears to still be a consensus choice for Best Visual Effects. And I totally agree, JP was groundbreaking and nothing has looked quite as real ever since.

I would think the original Star Wars would have to be in the running, too, considering what that film did for effects.

Nice choices all around. It's almost impossible to be wrong when you're choosing from among the greatest films/performances of all time.

You forgot Best Foreign Language Film... which IMHO would be Kurosawa's Ikiru.

Metropolis

God, I could make ten lists like this one and I'd still overlook some great movies.... but I find myself agreeing with some of your choices. For me, the hardest part was choosing just one actor for each category. I had to "cheat" on Supporting Actress.

Best Picture: "2001 - A Space Odissey"
Best Director: Orson Welles, "Citizen Kane"
Best Actor: Al Pacino, "The Godfather, Part II"
Best Actress: Jodie Foster, "The Silence of the Lambs"
Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, "21 Grams"
Best Supporting Actress: Ellen Burstyn, "Requiem for a Dream"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "Lawrence of Arabia"
Best Original Screenplay: "Network"
Best Foreign Language Film: "Ikiru"
Best Art Direction: "Blade Runner"
Best Cinematography: "Apocalypse Now"
Best Costume Design: "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy"
Best Film Editing: "JFK"
Best Makeup: "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy"
Best Music - Original Score: "Once Upon a Time in America"
Best Music - Original Song: Knockin' On Heaven's Door, "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid"
Best Visual Effects: "Titanic"
Best Animated Feature: "Finding Nemo"

I left out the sound categories because I really don't know what makes great sound mixing and sound editing.

I'd actually go the other way on the Apocalypse/Kane split (the former is what I usually pick as my favorite, the latter the indisputable "best"). While Coppola certainly put his life on the line for Apocalypse, he's not the sole, overriding reason for its success. Without Storaro's photography, the source material, the perfs by Duvall & Brando, Milius' strange perspective, the Michael Herr narration...too many cooks.

With Kane, you certainly have a huge, innovative contribution from Gregg Toland, but I still think Welles is the architect in a much more overt way. The performances, many great in their own way, do not carry the film. The screenplay, while unique and entertaining, does not carry the film. It is the placement of the camera to tell the story, and the energy present in every frame.

The acting awards are a bit more difficult, especially in the supporting categories, which are hard to picture as "dominant". For leads I would say Brando in Last Tango in Paris, as I don't think anyone has opened their veins to that extent before or since. Actress is either Binoche in Blue or Blanchett in Heaven.

Original creenplay would probably go to Mankiewicz for All About Eve, and Minghella for The English Patient (anyone who's read the book will know how difficult this task was).

I'd actually go the other way on the Apocalypse/Kane split (the former is what I usually pick as my favorite, the latter the indisputable "best"). While Coppola certainly put his life on the line for Apocalypse, he's not the sole, overriding reason for its success. Without Storaro's photography, the source material, the perfs by Duvall & Brando, Milius' strange perspective, the Michael Herr narration...too many cooks.

With Kane, you certainly have a huge, innovative contribution from Gregg Toland, but I still think Welles is the architect in a much more overt way. The performances, many great in their own way, do not carry the film. The screenplay, while unique and entertaining, does not carry the film. It is the placement of the camera to tell the story, and the energy present in every frame.

The acting awards are a bit more difficult, especially in the supporting categories, which are hard to picture as "dominant". For leads I would say Brando in Last Tango in Paris, as I don't think anyone has opened their veins to that extent before or since. Actress is either Binoche in Blue or Blanchett in Heaven.

Original Screenplay would either go to Kieslowski & Piesiewicz's Three Colors (a bit of a cheat, maybe) or Wilder & Brackett for Sunset Blvd, depending on my mood, and for Adapted it's definitely Minghella for The English Patient (anyone who's read the book will know how difficult this task was).

I won't argue with Storaro for Apocalypse, though you could easily make a case for his work on The Last Emperor or 1900. As for editing, while I appreciate the mishmash of media stocks in JFK, I'm still going to give the edge to Thelma Schoonmaker for Raging Bull.

Score for Morricone, but I could never decide between The Mission, Once Upon a Time in the West (or America), Days of Heaven, etc.

Jules & Jim and Spirited Away for Foreign Language and Animated.

Last one I'll comment on is Visual Effects. While I understand the love for Jurassic Park, I still believe that The Phantom Menace was the biggest breakthrough for effects, and didn't just center around one element like dinosaurs. The sets, the props, the extras, supporting characters... the first live action film to have that much CGI content. If the voice of Jar Jar hadn't been voiced by (or in that way by) Ahmed Best, we wouldn't be having a discussion on it. No way you convince me that the admittedly ultra-realistic T-Rex & raptor are greater achievements than the pod race, Coruscant, and the BELIEVABLE, however annoying, creations of Jar Jar & Watto.