Interesting thoughts. Thank you for commenting.

I'd say the Witch King/Gandalf's staff business and the Mouth of Sauron scenes are both inadmissible, as they are only present in the longer cut, as opposed to the superior cinema cut. I agree they are both pointless (especially the latter, given the reshaping of the story's structure onscreen, rendering it redundant). The only thing I'd have added back in to the longer cut is the Faramir/Eowyn romance.

It frustrated me they didn't make explicit that Denethor had been using a palantir (hinted at, but it should have been shown, as it would then explain his madness properly).

To be clear, I don't think the films - particularly the third film - are unflawed. But they are great cinema.