The #1 Cracked Gist

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What is the Cracked Gist?

The focus of each Cheat Sheet is called The Gist. Think of the concise humor of the Craptions section crossed with our Pop Culture articles. Your goal here is to summarize everything anyone needs to know about the subject of your cheat sheet in one hilarious paragraph (500 character limit).

A few things to keep in mind:

  1. Don’t feel the need to rip every movie that you write a gist for. It’s perfectly fine to have a positive, passionate opinion about a film. OR: You don't have to love the movie, but you don't have to hate it either. Being negative does not mean you are being funny. We are never dismissive in our pop-culture articles.
  2. Focus on contributing to movies you have seen, and thought about.
  3. Avoid using the first joke that pops into your head. We're not looking for you to summarize the jokes other people would make. We're looking for you to make interesting and unique observations about the subject you're summarizing.
  4. Try to keep swearing to a minimum. Sometimes, well-placed profanity can help a joke land. Most of the time, a swear word makes your joke feel forced.
  5. There's no one correct way to write a Gist. If you can summarize everything we need to know about the movie in 10 words, that can be funny. It can also come off as glib. If you're having a tough time figuring out how to strike that balance, go to the movie section of Cracked, and study up.

Here are some samples that should give you a good idea of the wide variety of Gists that can work:
The Dark Knight
Independence Day

  • +12

Hillary Duff gives an Oscar-winning performance as the Irish-American boxer whose underdog victories against the world's greatest heavyweights brought hope to millions during America's Depress... wait, no, that's not it. Hillary Duff is an unpopular girl who falls for a total hottie at her high school's masquerade ball. Her evil stepmom and stepsisters try to keep her away from him, but thankfully she has Stock Sassy Black Female Character #221 and some guy doing a mediocre Duckie pastiche to help her bag her Prince Charming.

alextannin
Add Your Gist

A Cinderella Story (2004)

Source: TMBDb.org

Information Not Available
Information Not Available
Overview
  • Rating:
    PG (USA)
  • Theatrical Release:
    July 10, 2004
  • Budget:
    $19,000,000
  • Box Office:
    $70,067,909
  • Runtime:
    1 hrs 35 min
  • Produced by:
    Peter Greene Hunt Lowry Dylan Sellers
  • Screenplay by:
Director
Cast
Hilary Duff Samantha "Sam" Montgomery
Chad Michael Murray Austin Ames
Jennifer Coolidge Fiona Montgomery
Regina King Rhonda
Julie Gonzalo Shelby Cummings
Dan Byrd Carter Farrell
Freebase CC-BY
Source: A Cinderella Story on Freebase, licensed under CC-BY
Cracked Gists
500 characters left
  1. Hillary Duff gives an Oscar-winning performance as the Irish-American boxer whose underdog victories against the world's greatest heavyweights brought hope to millions during America's Depress... wait, no, that's not it. Hillary Duff is an unpopular girl who falls for a total hottie at her high school's masquerade ball. Her evil stepmom and stepsisters try to keep her away from him, but thankfully she has Stock Sassy Black Female Character #221 and some guy doing a mediocre Duckie pastiche to help her bag her Prince Charming.

    alextannin
    • +12
  2. Is your teenage daughter disappointingly concerned with the wants and needs of others? Is she respectful and courteous her friends and family? Does she have a good sense of humor? You can cure all this and more by making her watch this saccharine coming-of-age tale about a girl learning that true beauty is on the outside, everyone's attention should be directed toward her at all times, and that all authority figures are selfish idiots. Special bonuses include terrible pop music and a fart joke.

    Jaunty_Chapeau
    • +3

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