  We investigate the effect of loading rate on drainage in molecularly thin
films of a simple fluid made of quasi-spherical molecules
(octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, OMCTS). We find that (i) rapidly confined OMCTS
retains its tendency to organize into layers parallel to the confining
surfaces, and (ii) flow resistance in such layered films can be described by
bulklike viscous forces if one accounts for the existence of one monolayer
immobilized on each surfaces. The latter result is fully consistent with the
recent work of Becker and Mugele, who reached a similar conclusion by analyzing
the dynamics of squeeze-out fronts in OMCTS [T. Becker and F. Mugele, Phys.
Rev. Lett. {\bf 91} 166104(2003)]. Furthermore, we show that the confinement
rate controls the nature of the thinning transitions: layer-by-layer expulsion
of molecules in metastable, slowly confined films proceeds by a
nucleation/growth mechanism, whereas deeply and rapidly quenched films are
unstable and undergo thinning transitions akin to spinodal decomposition.
