FREEZE FRAMES

THE ARISTOCATS - Reissue of the delightful 1970 animation about a family of French cats and a greedy butler who means them no good. While this is no classic like ``Pinocchio'' or even ``101 Dalmatians,'' the story is diverting, and the cartooning still looks fresh. Wolfgang Reitherman directed the cartoon, which was the Disney studio's first feature-length animation produced entirely after Walt Disney's death. (Rated G) THE BROTHERS QUAY - They're two American filmmakers who live and work in London, and this program serves up four of their proudly eccentric animations. The newest is ``Street of Crocodiles,'' a dreamlike fantasia based on a tale by Polish author Bruno Schulz and featuring the hallmarks of all the brothers' work: bizarre images, a generally dank atmosphere, an off-kilter narrative that suggests more than it spells out, and an ungenerous attitude toward movement and color. Rounding out the bill are ``The Epic of Gilgamesh,'' the musical ``Leos Janacek: Intimate Excursions,'' and the more memorable ``The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer.'' (Not Rated) EXTREME PREJUDICE - A drug kingpin and a Texas Ranger, once childhood friends, square off for a showdown. Between them steps an army of misfits run by a crazed military man, and the corpses pile up with alarming speed. The technically proficient Walter Hill directed this wildly lunkheaded picture, which finally veers into self-parody for want of anywhere else to go. Sam Peckinpah might have chosen not to invent this kind of Neanderthal filmmaking if he'd known the results could be this stupid. (Rated R) THE FESTIVAL OF CLAYMATION - A string of brief whimsies made over the last few years in Claymation, an animation process that uses clay figures instead of drawings. Some items are clever and colorful, but none are very substantial, and it's hard to swallow a steady diet of characters and settings all made of the same squishy substance. The festival wears thin long before it's over. Directed by Claymation developer Will Vinton. (Not rated) HEAVEN - Diane Keaton directed this self-consciously quirky documentary on the different ideas people have about life after death. The most exciting sequences are freewheeling audiovisual collages made of old movie and TV material. The interview segments are too brief and fragmented to be very revealing and are often edited so as to mock or belittle the people involved. Overall, this is a promising idea weakly handled. (Not rated) THE HOUSEKEEPER - She can't read or write, and this secret drives her to madness and murder. Some moments are laughably bad, others are mildly suspenseful. It's good to see Rita Tushingham on screen after a long absence, but one wishes she'd chosen a less trivial showcase. Ousama Rawi directed the Canadian production. (Not rated) PROJECT X - A young military pilot is assigned to a laboratory that carries out experiments with chimpanzees, and he suspects the research is more sinister than it appears. Matthew Broderick is likable but unexciting in this likable but unexciting movie. Directed by Jonathan Kaplan on his best behavior; one misses the freewheeling emotional charge of his ``White Line Fever'' and ``Heart Like a Wheel.'' (Rated PG)