FREEZE FRAMES

AN AMERICAN TAIL - ``Steven Spielberg presents'' this cartoon about a mouse family named Mouskewitz, which leaves ``old mother Russia'' for the United States because Papa says it's ``a land where there are no cats.'' The movie is made with great skill, like everything Spielberg puts his name on, and its humor is aimed at grownups as well as children. But the style, which we've seen in dozens of Disney films, is painfully familiar. And the ending is a yet another shameless cash-in on Statue of Liberty centennial sentiment. Directed by Don Bluth. (Rated G) THE BOY WHO COULD FLY - Or is he just the backward, awkward kid he appears to be? The teen-age girl next door learns the answer in this gentle fantasy, which has some lovely flights of imagination but goes on much, much too long and includes some needless vulgarity. Directed by Nick Castle. (Rated PG) THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE - This talky Canadian film raises the fascinating question of whether contemporary self-indulgence signals the impending demise of Western civilization and then fails to suggest a single interesting answer. You can tell it's an up-to-date movie, because the men cook dinner while the women work out at a health club. The rest of the time they simply gab, mostly about sex, and plunge into a few indulgences of their own. Directed by Denys Arcand. (Rated R) DUST - Stark, sometimes powerful drama about a woman who goes violently mad while living on a South African farm with her taciturn father and a few servants. Marion H"ansel wrote and directed the Belgian-French coproduction. (Not rated) MARLENE - Maximilian Schell wanted to make a documentary on Marlene Dietrich, but the legendary actress said she was tired of being filmed and refused to appear before the camera. She did agree to a tape-recorded interview, though, and she answered most of Schell's questions with a grouchy sort of charm. We hear a lot of their conversation on the sound track, complete with sparring and wrangling between the two celebrities. Meanwhile we look at old film clips, faded photographs, and shots of Schell's camera crew standing around with nothing to do. Somehow this all adds up to an offbeat and terrifically entertaining movie on a star who knows her own mind all too well. (Not rated) MATTER OF HEART - Thoughtful documentary about the life and work of psychologist C.G. Jung, focusing not only on his work with individuals but on his compassionate concern with the well-being of humanity as a whole. Directed by Mark Whitney. (Not rated) STREETS OF GOLD - If you're already nostalgic for ``Rocky IV,'' here's another movie that fights the Cold War in a boxing ring. Klaus Maria Brandauer plays a Soviet Jew and former champ who emigrates to New York, schools two Brooklyn boys in his skills and secrets, and enrolls them in a grudge match against a team from his homeland. The story is corny and crude, but mildly effective in a ``Karate Kid'' kind of way. Directed by newcomer Joe Roth. (Rated R) RATINGS: Films with ratings other than G may contain varying degrees of vulgar language, nudity, sex, and violence.