Best Bets: Friday 12/25

Noon: Museums

Not everything is dark on Christmas Day--the Skirball Cultural Center will host regular museum hours Friday with a special holiday treat thrown in for good measure. In addition to the museum’s current exhibitions “Visions and Values: Jewish Life From Antiquity to America,” “On Moral Grounds: President Harry S. Truman and the Birth of the State of Israel,” “Homecoming to the Holy Land: New Work by Moshe Zabari” and “Israel Through American Eyes: A Century of Photographs,” the museum will screen the recently restored version of “The Wizard of Oz” at 12:30 and 3 p.m.

* Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. Museum hours: Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. “The Wizard of Oz” will screen at 12:30 and 3 p.m. Seating for the screenings, which are free with museum admission, is on a first-come, first-served basis. Museum admission: adults, $8; seniors and students, $6; children under 12, free. (310) 440-4500.

All day: Movies

In “A Civil Action,” John Travolta stars as a Boston attorney who takes on two giant corporations on behalf of the families of eight children who have died from leukemia caused by exposure to toxic waste. Robert Duvall plays Travolta’s formidable courtroom foe in the legal thriller, which is directed by Steven Zaillian, who also wrote the screenplay. The impressive supporting cast includes John Lithgow, William H. Macy, Kathleen Quinlan and Tony Shalhoub.

* “A Civil Action,” rated PG-13, opens Friday at the AMC Century 14 in Century City.

All day: Movies

The title character of Disney’s remake of the fantasy-adventure “Mighty Joe Young” is a 15-foot mountain gorilla who, along with his beautiful caretaker (Charlize Theron), moves from Africa to California at the behest of a rugged but kindly zoologist (Bill Paxton) to avoid the threat of poachers. But chaos ensues when Joe, who is homesick and confused, escapes and wreaks havoc on the streets of Los Angeles. Watch for Terry Moore, who played Jill in the 1949 original, in a cameo appearance.

* “Mighty Joe Young,” rated PG, opens Friday in general release.

1 pm: Family

Prepare for 1999, the year of the rabbit, with a trip to the Bunny Museum. The museum--actually the Pasadena home of Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski--is normally open only by appointment, but has an open house Friday from 1 to 8 p.m. The couple began collecting their 10,000 bunny items only five years ago--about the time the now-married couple starting dating. Now, their collection includes 150 salt and pepper shakers, 60 cookie jars, silverware, even a toilet brush. In the front yard, a former Rose Parade bunny--now done up as “Santa (Bunny) Paws”--will become a topiary. Their TV room--which they call “the warren”--has 2,000 stuffed bunnies. “It’s not really obtrusive to us,” Lubanski says. “People live in a lot more room than they need to.”

* Open house at the Bunny Museum, 1933 Jefferson Drive, Pasadena, 1 to 8 p.m. Free. (626) 798-8848.

8 pm: Theater

Finding rhythm in everything from hubcaps and brooms to trash cans and cigarette lighters, the perennially touring bash-crash-bang theatrical percussion spectacular “Stomp” returns to the Southland.

* “Stomp,” Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 5 and 9 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. $26.50 to $32.50. (805) 449-ARTS, (805) 583-8700, (213) 480-3232.

4:30 pm: Family

Mickey, Minnie and a host of other Disney faves star in “Happily Ever After,” the new “Disney on Ice” spectacular, but the spotlight is on heroic Hercules, as the big guy fights off the bad guys and captures the heart of his true love.

* “Disney on Ice: Happily Ever After,” Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim: Friday, 4:30 p.m.; Saturday and Jan. 2, noon, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1 and 4:30 p.m. (Spanish-language show); Tuesday and Dec. 31, 1 p.m.; Wednesday and Jan. 3, 1 and 4:30 p.m.; Jan. 1, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Sports Arena, 3939 S. Figueroa St.: Jan. 6 and 7, 7:30 p.m.; Jan. 8, 11 a.m., 7:30 p.m.; Jan. 9, noon, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Jan. 10, 1 p.m. (Spanish), 4:30 p.m.

Long Beach Arena, 300 E. Ocean Blvd.: Jan. 14 and 15, 7:30 p.m.; Jan. 16, noon, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Jan. 17, 1 and 4:30 p.m.; Jan. 18, noon and 3:30 p.m. Ends Jan. 18. $11.50 to $30. Box office information: Anaheim, (714) 704-2500; Los Angeles, (213) 748-6131; Long Beach, (562) 436-3661.

FREEBIES

Christmas dinner for struggling or lonely members of the entertainment community, Laugh Factory, 8001 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, 3, 5 and 7 p.m. (213) 656-1336.

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Showing the holiday spirit, the city of West Hollywood offers two hours of free parking at all of its parking meters Thursday through Saturday.