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

  • +4

This is that movie you confuse with Shaft.

Teamsleep04
Add Your Gist

A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994)

Source: TMBDb.org

Information Not Available
Information Not Available
Overview
  • Rating:
    R (USA)
  • Theatrical Release:
    January 01, 1994
  • Budget:
    $10,000,000
  • Box Office:
    $29,392,418
  • Runtime:
    1 hrs 48 min
  • Produced by:
    Joe Roth Roger Birnbaum
  • Screenplay by:
    Keenen Ivory Wayans
Director
Keenen Ivory Wayans
Cast
Keenen Ivory Wayans Shame
Charles S. Dutton
Jada Pinkett Smith Peaches
Andrew Divoff
Salli Richardson Angela
Freebase CC-BY
Source: A Low Down Dirty Shame on Freebase, licensed under CC-BY
Cracked Gists
500 characters left
  1. This is that movie you confuse with Shaft.

    Teamsleep04
    • +4
  2. Keenen Wayans plays A. Shame, an ex-LAPD officer now working as a PI. Together with his unseen partner Dis Grase, he hunts down drug lord Andrew Divoff, in revenge for...stealing his girlfriend. OK, so not the drugs thing? Great. Can’t help but imagine why the LAPD got rid of this talent.

    Archaeology Dalek
    • +3
  3. Keenan Ivory Wayans plays ex police officer Shame and teams up with his secretary, tough as nails and love struck Peaches (Jada Pinkett Smith) to track down drug lord Mendoza and Shames ex girl Angela. "And you Mr. Coffee, if you need some steamed milk with double expresso, I'm your man."

    pootabearz
    • +2

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2012

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