The Silver Spring Penguin

Forget about expensive gifts and lavish dinners. Christmas should be about family–the family. Lucky for you, the local cinemas dish up celluloid classics for the holiday weekend.

The AFI Silver Theatre (8633 Colesville Rd) runs two holiday faves throughout the weekend. “It’s a Wonderful Life,” starring Jimmy Stewart, is synonymous with Christmas. “The Wizard of Oz,” with Judy Garland and a thousand flying monkeys, is just one crazy trip. Check the AFI website for showtimes.

Also at AFI, “The Godfather” lends lessons in honoring family, and keeping friends close and enemies closer. Marlon Brando plays the underworld patriarch. James Cahn is George, Jr., the family’s trigger-happy older son. Al Pacino is Jeb, the prodigal child who reluctantly takes up the family business. Check the AFI website for showtimes.

Around the corner at the Majestic Theater (900 Ellsworth Dr), 60-year-old Sly Stallone takes a swing at the sixth and final film of the “Rocky” franchise. Desson Thomas of the Washington Post says the flick ”taps into something deeper in our collective souls than the desire for entertainment.”

“It’s the hope that one day we’re going to win big, too, after everyone has given up on us,” Thomas writes. ”It’s as hokey as it is true.”

Just like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” but sweatier. Remember, every time the final bell rings, an angel gets his wings. Check the Majestic’s website for showtimes.

Image courtesy of AllPosters.com.