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

  • +1

A firm goes bankrupt trying to defend a small town. Nobody cares except the badass lawyer that took them down in court. Special Guest Star: Tony Soprano.

Groucho2010
Add Your Gist

A Civil Action (1998)

Source: TMBDb.org

Information Not Available

Consensus: Intelligent and unconventional.

Overview
  • Rating:
    PG-13 (USA)
  • Theatrical Release:
    December 25, 1998
  • Budget:
    Not Available
  • Box Office:
    Not Available
  • Runtime:
    2 hrs 5 min
  • Produced by:
    Scott Rudin Robert Redford
  • Screenplay by:
    Steven Zaillian
Director
Steven Zaillian
Cast
John Travolta Jan Schlichtmann
Robert Duvall Jerome Facher
Tony Shalhoub Kevin Conway
Kathleen Quinlan Anne Anderson
John Lithgow Judge Walter J. Skinner
Freebase CC-BY
Source: A Civil Action on Freebase, licensed under CC-BY
Cracked Gists
500 characters left
  1. A firm goes bankrupt trying to defend a small town. Nobody cares except the badass lawyer that took them down in court. Special Guest Star: Tony Soprano.

    Groucho2010
    • +1
  2. Erin Brockovich without boobs.

    Gishface
    • +1

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