FREEZE FRAMES

A weekly update of film releases DAYS OF THUNDER - Tom Cruise plays a young man who's born to race automobiles. He gets his chance from a car-struck businessman and a feisty mechanic, disappointingly played by Randy Quaid and Robert Duvall, respectively. He also gets a gorgeous girlfriend who happens to be a brilliant brain surgeon. No kidding. The movie wants to be an action drama, but it's really just a star vehicle of the most rudimentary sort, offering Cruise nothing but the opportunity to look cute and chant time-tested punchlines. Tony Scott directed, in his usual slam-bang style, from Robert Towne's screenplay. The result is fatuous, calculated to make zillions of dollars, and not to be confused with anything like grown-up filmmaking. (Rated PG-13)

THE IMPORTED BRIDEGROOM - He's young, intelligent, proper, and Jewish, so an old-fashioned father brings him over from Poland to marry his daughter. Pamela Berger wrote and directed this leisurely tale of bygone times, which looks a bit ramshackle but has a lot of homemade charm. (Not rated)

LABYRINTH OF PASSION - Sex and terrorism are key ingredients of this manic farce by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almod'ovar, whose talent has burned a lot more brightly at other points in his uneven career. (Not rated)