But every once in a while, there's an exception. I found myself sitting through the opening credits of Black Lagoon for this one frame.
It's pretty compelling. The character is Remy, a broken sociopathic murderer. She is often disenfranchised, stoic or bitter. Rarely, and usually when it precedes murderous violence, she'll be happy.
That's part of the thing that gets me about the frame. She's deceptively cute in the still, because her character isn't developed to be cute at all. My attention always starts with her eyes, smile, and scrawl on her cheek. But right after that, I become aware of the clues to her menace and strength: Her two guns strapped to her shoulder harness and the tribal tattoo going down her right arm. Only then do I realize: "Wait. Is she reaching for a weapon?"
BTW, I'm done with Black Lagoon now, and am moving on to Flag.