FREEZE FRAMES

LITTLE NOISES -

Urban outsiders are the focus of this offbeat, oddly touching little comedy-drama about a would-be author who is convinced he could write a great book if only he could get past the first sentence. Directed by Jane Spencer, a promising new talent, and starring Crispin Glover in a truly manic performance. (Not rated) LOCKED UP TIME -

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, filmmaker Sibylle Schonemann returned to her native region in eastern Germany with camera and sound recorder in hand and confronted the people who had harassed and jailed her under the former regime. The result is this powerful documentary, which is remarkably moving and tough-minded at the same time. (Not rated) MINDWALK -

A poet, a politician, and a physicist meet by chance on a remote French island and have a long conversation about contemporary issues, from ecological danger to the threat of nuclear disaster. It's refreshing to find a movie that puts so much faith in the power and meaning of the spoken word, although it's too bad the dialogue doesn't plumb more profound depths of the crucially important topics it deals with. Directed by Bernt Capra from a screenplay by Fritjof Capra and Floyd Byars. (Not rated) A WOMAN'S TALE -

The last days of a feisty and keen-minded Holocaust survivor, recounted by Australian filmmaker Paul Cox, who regards the production of modestly scaled, human-oriented movies to be a needed political gesture in the contemporary world. Unfortunately, this example of his work is riddled with empty sentiment and shallow thinking.

(Not rated)