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

  • +6

Aston Kutcher and Amanda Peet have a lot of sex over a period of six years, then realise that, you know what this might mean something.

Archaeology Dalek
Add Your Gist

A Lot Like Love (2005)

Source: TMBDb.org

Information Not Available

Consensus: A tiresome rom-com.

Overview
  • Rating:
    PG-13 (USA)
  • Theatrical Release:
    April 21, 2005
  • Budget:
    $30,000,000
  • Box Office:
    $42,886,719
  • Runtime:
    1 hrs 47 min
  • Produced by:
    Armyan Bernstein
  • Screenplay by:
Director
Nigel Cole
Cast
Amanda Peet Emily Friehl
Ashton Kutcher Oliver Martin
Ali Larter Gina
Gabriel Mann Peter
Jeremy Sisto Ben Miller
Freebase CC-BY
Source: A Lot Like Love on Freebase, licensed under CC-BY
Cracked Gists
500 characters left
  1. Aston Kutcher and Amanda Peet have a lot of sex over a period of six years, then realise that, you know what this might mean something.

    Archaeology Dalek
    • +6
  2. Human pairing of male and female proceed with intercourse.

    PitterPatterson
    • +2
  3. For years, Emily and Oliver have been friends with benefits, running into each other periodically to have wild, wanton sex and then move along. After their latest wham-bam encounter, both realize the time has come to re-evaluate whether they should remain sex buddies, go their separate ways or actually become a couple. They decide to take things to the next level, but circumstances intervene that make them feel unsure of their romantic future --- although both agree that they're kind of slutty.

    michaelbrent
    • +1

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