Noah J. Nelson

We here at Turnstyle News don’t hide the fact that we’re excited about the ongoing crowdfunding revolution. Filmmaker Lucas McNelly writes our “Crowdfunding 201” column, which takes an in-depth look at what makes crowdfunding campaigns tick. Tech and entertainment editor Noah Nelson takes joy in finding new campaigns to talk about and creators to profile.

When the print/online hybrid magazine Good pulled a pivot this month and became a crowd-sourced aggregator instead it meant that its staff writers and editors were out of a job. Mildly ironic for a brand that had been building its identity around the idea of social good, but hey, the bottom line is what it is.

2012 has become a year for earth-shaking documentaries. Eugene Jarecki’s The House I Live In stunned and angered me at Sundance this year and now The Invisible War – which also took its first bow in Park City – has done the same at this week’s Los Angeles Film Festival.

The comedy troupe Olde English loves a good challenge. So when founding member Ben Popik threw down the gauntlet and asked his friends to write a movie together, using a method devised by the Surrealists, the group took on the task. Right before they all went their seperate ways. The result – The Exquisite Corpse Project – will have its world premiere this weekend at the Dances With Films Festival in Hollywood.

It’s hard to imagine two parts of American culture – mixed martial arts and Christianity – that on the surface are more incompatible. Jesus is known for telling his followers to turn the other cheek. MMA fighters are known for turning their opponents’ cheeks for them, with their fists, elbows, and knees. If there’s one existential truth it’s this: humans, especially American humans, are hideously complex. Yet the existence of ministries that embrace MMA still surprises.