>>on another note I know City of God was ineligible for Best
>>Foreign Film but was it eligible for Best Picture
>
>Why was it ineligible?

swipe:

City of God, a searing, documentary-like examination of a group of brutal street kids in a Brazilian housing project, had a brief release in Seattle in early 2003. It was Brazil's officially submitted film in the foreign-language category for last year's Oscars but did not make the final five.

Though "City of God" is ineligible this year in the foreign-language category, it was eligible in other categories due to its American release in 2003.