FREEZE FRAMES

EAT THE PEACH - A gentle, bittersweet Irish comedy about two unemployed young men who, inspired by an old Elvis Presley movie, build a carnival-type ``great wall of death'' in the backyard and prepare for fame and fortune via motorcycle stunts. The plot falters occasionally, but what really matters is the film's compassionate portrait of losers who refuse to lose. Sensitively directed by Peter Ormrod. (Not rated) GOOD MORNING BABYLON - In 1916, two brothers leave Italy for the United States, where they drift into a job on the set of D.W. Griffith's classic film, ``Intolerance.'' As directed by real-life brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, the camera work is close to the Italian neorealist tradition. The screenplay has a strong mythic dimension, though, and this is underscored by expressive editing and larger-than-life performances. The result is downright operatic at times and quite touching if you get into its expansively lyrical mood. (Rated PG-13) REVENGE OF THE NERDS II: NERDS IN PARADISE - They still have the highest IQs in town, and they're still at the negative end of the savoir-faire scale. In this sequel to the original ``Nerds'' farce, they feud with a bunch of Joe Cool types at a Florida fraternity convention. Lots of cheap vulgarity, perilously few laughs. Directed by Joe Roth. (Rated PG-13) ROBOCOP - A mortally wounded policeman is resurrected with a mechanical body and a computer-enhanced brain, the better to stomp the daylights out of lawbreakers. The action is skillfully directed by Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, and there are many bursts of razor-sharp social satire. But the story amounts to a celebration of brute force in a crudely etched law-and-order context. The critical praise for this nasty picture shows how many reviewers have been sucked in by the dogma of style over substance. (Rated R) SINGING ON THE TREADMILL - Operettas apparently stir strong passions in Hungary, where this one was banned for a decade before its release three years ago. Underneath its plot about couples renovating a house, it fiercely satirizes many foibles of socialism, state paternalism, and optimism by decree. Peppered with songs borrowed from earlier musicals, the modernist m'elange was imaginatively and ironically directed by Gyula Gazdag in 1974. Also known as ``Singing on the Endless Band.'' (Not rated) WISH YOU WERE HERE - Feeling suffocated by the small English town where she lives during the 1950s, a 16-year-old girl has a sexual affair with her father's drinking buddy. Written and directed by David Leland, who brings in surprising touches and ultimately shows a healthy admiration for the heroine's inner strength. But the atmosphere is awfully squalid, and there are too many characters you wouldn't want to spend a minute with, much less a whole movie. (Rated R) TO NEW SHORES - Zorah Leander stars in this 1937 revival about an Englishwoman who takes the blame for a crime and gets deported to Australia so her no-good boyfriend won't suffer. (Not rated) RATINGS: Films with ratings other than G may contain varying degrees of vulgar language, nudity, sex, and violence.