FREEZE FRAMES

* TRUE ROMANCE - The bloody adventures of a young couple who accidentally steal a major narcotics stash from an extremely vengeful mobster. There are many terrific performances, especially by Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken in supporting roles. But like the recent ``Reservoir Dogs,'' which was directed as well as written by Quentin Tarentino, the movie is loaded with pointless gore and overheated violence that drown out the cinematic intelligence he obviously has to offer. When will he hit on a story and subject that are worthy of his talent? Tony Scott directed from Tarentino's screenplay. (Rated R)

* MALINA - The heroine is a novelist caught between two men, a longtime companion and a new acquaintance who doesn't put as much emotion into their relationship as she would like. The plot is inscrutable and the characters mighty strange in this surrealistic dream-movie by the ever-experimental German filmmaker Werner Schroeter, whose ripe romanticism and Freudian fantasies aren't enough to make his latest film worth watching. Isabelle Huppert, one of the most popular and talented actresses in European film today, does her best to keep the movie coherent, but the task is too much for her. Based on a novel by the late Ingeborg Bachman. (Not rated)

* THINGS PEOPLE DO

This brief French comedy-drama swings from one romantic relationship to another, measuring extremes of happiness and sadness with all the color, energy, and youthful exuberance that sparked the early movies of New Wave masters like Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard more than three decades ago. Directed by Pascale Bailly, a fresh and exciting new talent. Shown in the US with ``The Taste of Iron,'' a deftly turned French vignette about unrequited love in a restaurant kitchen, directed by Remi Bernard. (Not rated)