New York Post - 13.03.2020

New York Post, Friday, March 13, 2020

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Justin Hartley and Sylvia Grace Crim have

their random wooden crate to keep them

safe from the snipers.

What’s up, doc?

My pet needs

holistic help

It’s high times for holistic medicine. Just

ask Gwyneth Paltrow, whose com-

pany and its Netflix show, “The Goop

Lab,” is raking in viewers and dollars.

But what about your pets? Rene-

gade veterinarian Dr. Marty Goldstein

has argued for decades that dogs and

cats can benefit from alternative

treatments such as acupuncture,

nutritional supplements, changes in

diet and vitamin infusions. Now, with

the release of the documentary “The

Dog Doc,” Goldstein says the world

may finally be catching up with him.

“It’s one of the big joys in my life,”

says Goldstein, 73. “I lectured at my

alma mater, Cornell, in the last year,

and the receptiveness of the students

was incredible... I thought I would

never see the acceptance of this

within my lifetime.”

The vet says a lecture he gave in the

’70s was met with widespread skepti-

cism. Times, he says, are changing.

The documentary follows the

tie-dye-sporting Goldstein around his

practice, the Smith Ridge Veterinary

Center in South Salem, NY. He and his

staff see pets whose owners are often

exhausted from trips to other vets for

chronic illnesses and cancers that

seem insurmountable. These are the

patients Goldstein has built his repu-

tation on treating. One of his favorites

is Mulligan, a sheepdog with acute

kidney disease who’d been estimated

to have, at most, a couple of months

to live. After Goldstein made changes

to the dog’s diet and prescribed

homeopathic supplements, “Mulligan

went on to live three incredible years,”

says Goldstein, who also includes

conventional methods in his practice.

In the film, his wife, who also works

at the clinic, reads aloud from one

blog denouncing his methods as

quackery. But they laugh it off.

“You know,” he says, “I think the No.

1 disease on this planet is seriousness.”

— Sara Stewart

Smooch-close to

this pooch, Dr.

Marty Goldstein

says pets need

alternative

medicine.

Misses the target

By Johnny OleksinskI

T

HERE simply aren’t enough syno-

nyms for “loathsome” to do the new

movie “The Hunt” justice. Perhaps if

we expand into other languages.

C’est détestable! È ripugnante!

Take the phone texting conversation the

so-called satire begins with: “Did you see

what our ratf - - ker-in-chief just did?” says

one person.

“At least the hunt’s coming up,” replies

another. “Nothing better than going to the

manor and shooting a dozen deplorables.”

You might find yourself thinking,

“Wasn’t this dumb movie canceled last

year after social media eviscerated the

trailer?” Yes, but fool-er heads prevailed,

and it’s now receiving a wide release. Let’s

just say it’s not only the CDC telling you to

stay home this weekend.

Soon, 12 dirty people awake in a forest,

gagged and confused about where they

are. They were drugged at their Staten

Island, Wyoming and Orlando homes and

plopped here.

The group finds a wooden crate in a

nearby field. They pry it open to discover

a pig and a small armory — and then the

killing spree begins. Unseen snipers start

taking them out one by one, as the group

scrambles to survive. They include big

stars — Ike Barinholtz, Emma Roberts,

Betty Gilpin — some of whom don’t make

it through their first scene.

Two-time Emmy nominee Gilpin

(“GLOW”) is slumming it in “The Hunt.”

We learn this carnage is called “Manor-

gate,” an event whispered about on far-

right conspiracy Web sites in which the

“elites” murder their ideological (and

socioeconomic) opposites for sport.

While that premise is a tad nauseating, a

finer, funnier film could’ve turned it into a

dystopian cautionary tale, or a blistering

takedown of our national rift. “The Hunt”

is neither of those things. It is ugly, divi-

sive, useless garbage without an ounce of

wit, intellect or even camp.

Crystal (Gilpin), a femme fatale whose

killer instinct is only explained by her sup-

port of the Second Amendment, escapes to

a roadside convenience store. However, we

quickly learn it’s yet another cleverly dis-

guised shooting range.

Says one of the killers: “For the record,

climate change... it is real!” before throw-

ing a deadly gas bomb. Another weapon-

wielding elite in a later scene declares,

“Ava DuVernay just liked one of my posts!”

I suppose some might argue that this is

equal-opportunity mudslinging, a la

“South Park.” To them I say, “South Park”

is funny!

From then on, the secrets revealed about

Manorgate, and its leader, Athena (two-

time Oscar winner Hilary Swank, who

hopefully got lost on the wrong studio

lot), are uninspired, and we never root for

any of the crudely crafted characters on

either side of the aisle. For gore fans, di-

rector Craig Zobel’s violence sequences

are generic.

Written by Nick Cuse of “The Leftovers”

and Damon Lindelof of “Lost,” “The Hunt”

should be infinitely better — a politically

prescient spin on the bloody Japanese

classic “Battle Royale.” But it’s a film that

exists solely to provoke. Driving that

point home, its poster is covered in mean

press quotes from when its release was

first postponed.

I hope I’ve provided it with a few more.

Movie Review

The Hunt

Zero stars

Running time: 90 minutes. Rated R (strong bloody

violence and language throughout). Now playing.

Controversial flick

goes for laughs as an

equal-opportunity

offender, but is just

plain offensive

Two-

time Emmy

nominee Betty Gilpin

— who plays a femme

fatale with an unexplained

killer instinct — can’t save

“The Hunt,” which should

never have been given a

wide release.