Cutthroat Island
Netflix Streaming
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Renny Harlin
Starring Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Maury Chaykin
Carolco and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Originally Released: December 22, 1995

Being the week upon which Talk Like A Pirate Day falls, I opted to look at a pirate flick for this week’s Netflix Review. So, grab your cutlass, affix your patch and wooden legs – we’re headed for Cutthroat Island.

Directed by Renny Harlin, Cutthroat Island is a movie that was made too early for its time, cursed by the financial woes from a dying studio. But despite its weaknesses, the movie does capture the fun element most remembered in some of the old Errol Flynn classics, and has matured into a movie that audiences can enjoy without taking it too seriously.

The plot follows a notorious wanted female pirate named Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) who finds a treasure map tattooed on the scalp of her dead father. The map is one third of the full piece, with one in the hands of Adams’ uncle, and another in the grubby evil mitts of antagonist Dawg Brown (Frank Langella). Taking command of her father’s ship and crew, and taking doctor and linguist William Shaw (Matthew Modine) on board, she leads a crusade to find the treasure of Cutthroat Island. It develops into a race against time as Brown chases Adams down, across the treacherous waters of the Caribbean.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Directed by Rob Marshall
Starring Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, and Ian McShane
Release Date: May 20, 2011

It’s hard to believe that On Stranger Tides is the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie to come out in less than a decade. But Disney has found a cash-cow and it’s obvious the two big stars are still having fun with their roles, so the series marches on. But by the fourth film, most ongoing series have run out of material and the second and third Pirate films were showing big signs of burnout. On Stranger Tides needed to be a new beginning as much as it needed to be a sequel, and in many ways it succeeds.

Picking up an unknown amount of time after the end of the third film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides finds the few returning characters in very different situations than we left them. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) has long been without a ship, having lost the Black Pearl to Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) at the end of the last film. Barbossa, it turns out, is working for the British Navy, having also lost the Pearl, along with his right leg, in a battle with the most feared pirate in the world: Blackbeard (Ian McShane). Their paths cross once again after Spanish explorers find evidence of the Fountain of Youth. Joined by Angelica (Penélope Cruz), a mysterious woman with a history with both Jack and Blackbeard, everyone sets off in search of the fountain.

See the image above? How would you like a chance to win that t-shirt? Well, now you can, as Geeks of Doom is teaming up with Gryphony for a Twitter contest where we’ll be giving 2 lucky winners one of this shirt!

To enter for a chance to win, retweet the following text on Twitter:

See full contest rules and deadline here below, along with details about the shirt.

About the Shirt

The shirt, called The Epic Battle Ends by artist zerobriant, comes in red in men’s and women’s sizes from small – x-large. Valued at $16.

The historic dispute between Ninjas, Robots, Zombies and Pirates will come to an end. With one single blow from a little blue man.

The t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel today mashes up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with pirates in “Pizza or Death.”

The tee, by artist Andy Hunt, is on sale at RIPT only for today, Tuesday, November 30, 2010 until tomorrow at 1AM EST.

The t-shirt is available in both men’s and women’s sizes for $10. Kids sizes are $15; Onesies are $18. You can also get the design on a Hoodie for $38 (in Men/Unisex sizes).

The shirt’s image takes the likeness of Raphael, one of the four Ninja Turtles, along with his weapon of choice, the twin sai, and makes them into a skull and crossbones pirate theme. Raphael’s red ninja mask flows behind the skull and twin sai image, and the words “Pizza or Death” are around it. If you’re a TMNT fan, then you understand the importance of pizza.