Critical 5 film events in NYC: eclectic evolutions, Dec.10-15

From activism through art and song, to the dedication of great artists, this week NYC offers a retrospective of a handful of great people and characters. Have your wallets ready, this week is worth it's money in paying respect.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry screening and director discussion at MoMA, 12/12, 7pm

Originally presented at the Sundance Film Festival, director Alison Klayman observes the brutal and powerful work of Chinese activist/artist Ai Weiwei. From online activism to international exhibitions, largely involving China's authorities, Weiwei strives to question a country that continues to deny basic human rights. MoMA will screen the film, followed by a Q&A with Klayman to discuss her process and insight on the project, and it's all merely worth a day's admission at the museum.

Le Combat dans l'île and Le Train double feature at Film Forum, 12/12-12/13, various screenings

In a series dedication to gritty French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant, Film Forum will double feature (for the low, low price of one admission!) Alain Cavalier's Le Combat dans l'île (Fire and Ice) and Pierre Granier-Deferre's Le Train, both in their original (respective) 35mm and 16mm print. Heightened dramas with excellent twists, both lead by Trintignant, each screening will remind you (and even introduce some) to the actor's best work in one sitting.

A Conversation with Ewan McGregor at The Times Center, 12/14, 6:30pm

A screening-less event, but surely still theatrical, New York Times reporter Melena Ryzik will sit down with the ever-charming and ever-evolving Ewan McGregor. Mainly an evening dedicated to the upcoming The Impossible -- a true-event recant of the 2004 tsunami -- McGregor and Ryzik will also expand upon the brilliant actor's career from Trainspotting to Beginners, and thankfully tickets are still on sale.

On the Road screening and director discussion at IFC Center, 12/14, 8pm

In a pairing made in heaven, master of travel-film director Walter Salles has taken on America's most defined journey: Jack Kerouac's On the Road. The highly anticipated film adaptation of the beat-generation-bible makes its American wide-release this month, but IFC Center is offering a sneak-peak screening and Q&A with Salles a week prior. Following aspiring writer Sal Paradise (Kerouac's fictional self portrayed by Sam Riley) and his journey around the country in lieu of the contagious and mad Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund) is a self-finding journey documented like no other.

Newsies at Landmark Sunshine, 12/14-15, 12am

Sunshine at Midnight wants us to burst out in the streets and sing-along with the light anarchy of Kenny Ortega's Newsies. Baby Christian Bale leads a gang of young paper-pushers trying to scrape by in 1899 NYC under the insanely wealthy paper-makers. Riots ensue from the youngsters and naturally song and dance break out in protest. A fun, light-hearted take on a quite depressing situation, Newsies is well worth a re-visit to the big screen. And it's undoubtedly a better viewing than that mess of a Broadway show. Did we mention baby Christian Bale?