FREEZE FRAMES

ALICE - The renowned Czech animator Jan Svankmajer wrote, designed, and directed this ragingly surrealistic version of ``Alice in Wonderland,'' starring an animated rabbit and an Alice who's sometimes a girl and sometimes a doll, depending on the latest size conferred on her by an ``eat me'' or ``drink me'' concoction. The images are brilliant. Unlike most variations on ``Alice,'' though, it has a deliberately dank atmosphere that's moody and even creepy at times. (Not rated) CADDYSHACK II - Slob vs. snob: A likable, very ethnic man tries to join a country club dominated by old money and older families. The screenplay is hopelessly vulgar; the filmmaking is hopelessly clumsy. And the star, Jackie Mason, looks hopelessly uncomfortable, maybe because he was a last-minute substitute for Rodney Dangerfield, who had the good sense or good fortune to drop out of the project. In all, it's a mess, which makes it an appropriate sequel to the original ``Caddyshack.'' Directed by Allan Arkush, who hasn't had a winner since ``Rock 'n' Roll High School'' a few years ago. (Rated PG) CLEAN AND SOBER - Sinking into a pit of drug and alcohol dependency, but quick to deny he's got a problem, a fast-living yuppie named Daryl checks into an addiction clinic as a way of dodging some people he wants to avoid. There he finds himself on the road to recovery almost in spite of himself, helped by a streetwise counselor and some other folks he never would have met in different circumstances. The film crackles with dramatic power as it traces the early stages of Daryl's improvement, and the screenplay shows unusual intelligence by refusing to oversimplify the difficulties he confronts. In the cast, Michael Keaton sizzles with skill and energy in his first serious role, backed by such first-rate actors as Morgan Freeman, M.Emmet Walsh, and Kathy Baker. With so much going for the movie, it's too bad the action bogs down in the clinic scenes after a while, then comes to a dead stop in a too-long love story. Glenn Gordon Caron was the director. (Rated R) COCKTAIL - An ambitious young man, thuddingly played by teen heartthrob Tom Cruise, becomes the prot'eg'e of an ace bartender and dedicates his life to the saloon business. Roger Donaldson, the New Zealander who made the effective thriller ``No Way Out'' last year, directed this foolish and irresponsible comedy-drama, which is squarely aimed at the ever-profitable youth market. (Rated R) MIDNIGHT RUN - Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin turn in splendid performances as, respectively, a bounty hunter and a sort-of-crooked accountant who's running from the police as well as the mob. The director, Martin Brest, keeps the action hopping at a quick and invigorating pace, and the screenplay is hilarious in spots. The story has few real surprises, though, and some of the language is as rough as De Niro's hard-boiled character. (Rated R)

RATINGS: Films with ratings other than G may contain varying degrees of vulgar language, nudity, sex, and violence.