10 Movie Openings You're Not Supposed To Understand

2004's feature adaptation of Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events kicks off with a scene so left-field and flagrantly odd that you couldn't really be blamed for assuming you'd strolled into the wrong cinema screen or pressed play on another movie by accident.

The film begins with a cheery, colourful, sickly sweet stop-motion animated sequence which dubs itself "The Littlest Elf," in which an adorable little elf prances around a fanciful forest populated with cute singing animals.

Yet after about a minute passes - just as viewers likely consider walking out of the screen or reaching for the remote - the scene grinds to a pause as a record scratch rings out.

At that point, narrator Lemony Snicket (Jude Law) then chimes in with an hilarious putdown for anyone who actually liked the look of The Littlest Elf:

"I'm sorry to say that this is not the movie you will be watching. The movie you are about to see is extremely unpleasant. If you wish to see a film about a happy little elf, I'm sure there is still plenty of seating in theatre number two."

While fans of the constantly fourth wall-breaking Lemony Snicket's books might've had an inkling of what was going on, anyone fresh to the property was likely totally weirded out by that admittedly beautiful animated opening.