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

  • +3

When he inherits a vineyard in France from dear old Uncle Henry, all Max Skinner wants to do is sell it as quickly as possible and get back to his regular life of being a successful city trader and miserable introvert. Instead, stuff intervenes to keep him hanging around the lovely old chateau, and before he knows it he's forgetting how to be lonely and alienated and having his grapes ripened by a local cafe owner, played by the tres belle Marion Cotillard. Connoisseurs may find this offering overly sweet with a slight bouquet of horse manure.

grahamrix
Add Your Gist

A Good Year (2006)

Source: TMBDb.org

Information Not Available

Consensus: A Good Year is a fine example of a top-notch director and actor out of their elements, in a sappy romantic comedy lacking in charm and humor.

Overview
  • Rating:
    PG-13 (USA)
  • Theatrical Release:
    September 09, 2006
  • Budget:
    Not Available
  • Box Office:
    Not Available
  • Runtime:
    1 hrs 54 min
  • Produced by:
    Ridley Scott
  • Screenplay by:
    Marc Klein
Director
Ridley Scott
Cast
Russell Crowe Max Skinner
Albert Finney Uncle Henry
Marion Cotillard Fanny Chenal
Abbie Cornish Christie Roberts
Tom Hollander Charlie Willis
Freebase CC-BY
Source: A Good Year on Freebase, licensed under CC-BY
Cracked Gists
500 characters left
  1. When he inherits a vineyard in France from dear old Uncle Henry, all Max Skinner wants to do is sell it as quickly as possible and get back to his regular life of being a successful city trader and miserable introvert. Instead, stuff intervenes to keep him hanging around the lovely old chateau, and before he knows it he's forgetting how to be lonely and alienated and having his grapes ripened by a local cafe owner, played by the tres belle Marion Cotillard. Connoisseurs may find this offering overly sweet with a slight bouquet of horse manure.

    grahamrix
    • +3
  2. Star Russell Crowe teams up with director Ridley Scott to make a movie without any explosions, battles, swordfighting, gunfighting, or any action at all. What the fuck? Seriously - this is the same team that made Gladiator!

    Furious D
    • +3
  3. Ridley Scott's extremely sarcastic film, about a wealthy non-nonsense banker who's only able to finally get in touch with with himself, and what truly matters, on a wealthy French estate

    PitterPatterson
    • +1

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