FREEZE FRAMES

A weekly update of film releases BOOK OF DAYS - Ways of living and thinking in different eras are contrasted in this visually imaginative film by Meredith Monk, who is best known as an innovative composer, musician, and choreographer. Her talent in cinema is as strong as her gifts in numerous other artistic areas. (Not rated).

THE ICICLE THIEF - The line between movies and ``real life'' is wiped away in this comedy about the characters and spectators of an Italian film, all of whom get crazily entangled with one another when a power failure interrupts a television showing of the picture. Directed by and starring Maurizio Nichetti, who satirizes the pretensions of TV and modern cinema while paying tribute to ``The Bicycle Thief,'' a true classic of the Italian neorealist movement. Not a masterpiece, but very funny and inventive. (Not rated).

MO' BETTER BLUES - Spike Lee's new movie is about a jazz musician with professional and romantic problems, and the film itself is structured like a jazz piece, moving toward its violent climax in a freewheeling and spontaneous way. Some portions work a lot better than others, and the picture as a whole doesn't quite crystallize the way Lee's great ``Do the Right Thing'' did last year. The performances and music are splendid, though, and the ending is a bold celebration of redemption through family life and love. (Rated R).