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

  • +2

A mad scientist with ADD creates a rubber substance that gains energy with each bounce, counter to the law of physics. He misses his own wedding during the discovery, and spends the rest of the film trying to win his fiancé back. When he uses the rubber to help the sucky college basketball team cheat and sells it to the military for a lot of money she takes him back, showing her priorities.

BloggingBard
Add Your Gist

The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)

Source: TMBDb.org

Information Not Available

Consensus: No consensus yet.

Overview
  • Rating:
    G (USA)
  • Theatrical Release:
    March 16, 1961
  • Budget:
    Not Available
  • Box Office:
    Not Available
  • Runtime:
    1 hrs 37 min
  • Produced by:
    Bill Walsh
  • Screenplay by:
    Bill Walsh
Director
Robert Stevenson
Cast
Nancy Olson Betsy Carlisle
Fred MacMurray Prof. Ned Brainard
Tommy Kirk Biff Hawk
Wally Brown Coach Elkins
Leon Ames President Rufus Daggett
Freebase CC-BY
Source: The Absent-Minded Professor on Freebase, licensed under CC-BY
Cracked Gists
500 characters left
  1. A mad scientist with ADD creates a rubber substance that gains energy with each bounce, counter to the law of physics. He misses his own wedding during the discovery, and spends the rest of the film trying to win his fiancé back. When he uses the rubber to help the sucky college basketball team cheat and sells it to the military for a lot of money she takes him back, showing her priorities.

    BloggingBard
    • +2

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Released: May 13, 2009

Box Office: $731,342,744

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