As part of its "12 Days of Gifts" promotion, Apple is giving away free copies of the movie Hugo. The 2011 film was directed by Academy Award-winner Martin Scorsese, and focuses on a young orphan named Hugo that lives in a Parisian train station. It starts off as a fairly generic kids' film, but soon turns into an ode to Georges Méliès, a pioneer of cinema who's responsible for, among many other films, the revolutionary Voyage dans la Lune.

It's this blend of family-friendly action, humor, and genuinely interesting insight into the history of cinema that makes Hugo a winner — it has a 94 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes — and the first Apple gift this year worth getting excited about. You can find the movie over on iTunes, where you'll also be able to pick up some free extras including behind-the-scenes footage. The offer is available to those with US accounts; those in other territories may find a different gift waiting for them (in the UK, users were given a free copy of Home Alone today).