Was it really necessary to  open the show with all 10  Best Actor and Best Actress nominees up on the stage — leading off with likely winners Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock? And then follow that with a number by erstwhile Tony and Emmy host Neil Patrick Harris? Lame opening dialogue between Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin seems better suited to a Kiwanis convention, except for Martin’s crack that like Gabourey Sidibe, “in our first movies we were both born a poor black child.” And exactly how does expanding the Best Picture field to 10 result in an Best Supporting Actor nomination for Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”?