This is really intriguing. As part of its next “Hollywood Legends” event April 5-6, Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills will be for the first time selling some slices of videotaped Hollywood casting history. With all sorts of big names in the mix:

Tapes include Leonardo DiCaprio’s audition for the role of Ponyboy in The Outsiders; Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr., Keanu Reeves and Dermot Mulroney for Backdraft; Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julianne Moore, Helen Hunt and others for roles in Jurassic Park; David Arquette, Adrien Brody, Noah Wylie, Ben Affleck and Lisa Kudrow auditioning with Ellen DeGeneres for Mr. Wrong; Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Dempsey and others for A Beautiful Mind; and more.

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Beyond the general consensus that Julianne Moore was robbed this morning by being passed over in the Best Actress Academy Awards category in favor of Nicole Kidman, we thought we’d peruse the first wave of 2010 Oscar nominations reporting to determine who deserves journalistic kudos. Without further musical-number delay, the five FishbowlLA nominees are:

Best Foreign Language Feature Tidbit / Richard Brody, The New Yorker:

Last night I spoke with a friend who’s an astute longtime Oscar-parser, and he said something fascinatingly cynical about the category of Best Foreign Film: if a movie had a New York release, it’s much less likely to win, because the Academy’s mainly Los Angeles-centered voters want to make their pick without the help of New York critics. He reminded me that the last four winners (The Secret in Their Eyes, Departures, The Counterfeiters, and even The Lives of Others) came out first in Los Angeles for a qualifying run and opened in New York only after the announcement of their nominations. This means that, this year, advantage is to In a Better World and Incendies.

Best Meaningless, Out-of-Left Field Headline / Rick Marshall, MTV.com:

“Iron Man 2 Nabs Only Oscar Nomination of 2010 Comic Book Movies – Should There Have Been More?

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Personally, we always thought “Elsewhere” was a better reporting base than Lalaland for Hollywood-Elsewhere gadfly Jeffrey Wells. Since his recent return to New York City, the items on his blog have tended to encompass places, people, articles and events more in line with his in-your-Oscar-balloon-face personality.

Take this November 18th item, which relays a conversation between Wells and a New-York based publicist about the Best Actress Oscar campaign for The Kids Are All Right. It provides fascinating insight into the petty politics and perceptions of a west coast For Your Consideration blast, on behalf of Focus Features.

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Legendary Italian film producer Dino De Laurentiis died on Wednesday night at his Beverly Hills home. He was 91.

The man who brought us an alien-loving Jane Fonda in a plastic bustier was also a the producer of Academy Award-winning foreign films “La Strada” and “Nights of Cabiria,” both directed by Federico Fellini. His prolific career spanned over six decades and was wildly varied in nature, from early Italian New Wave to big-budget blockbusters. Some of his better known titles include David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” starring Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper, “Three Days of the Condor” with Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway, “Ulysses,” starring Kirk Douglas, and “Hannibal” with Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore.

We also have him to thank for “Conan the Barbarian,” starring our very own Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Thank you, Mr. De Laurentiis.