The Book or the Movie?

It's not a new thing for books to be made into movies, but look how much more often it's being done since the success of Harry Potter and Twilight.  In the YA genre alone, we know The Hunger Games movies are in the works, The Mortal Instruments series, and Incarceron just to name a few.

What do you think about this sudden rise in books to movies?  Do the movies help bring life to the characters you already love, or does it take away from the magic of the story for you?  Can you enjoy them separately from each other?

The author of P.S. I Love You, Cecelia Ahern, addressed the creative liberties movie-makers take when her book was turned into a blockbuster.  She said she had to get it in her head that the book was her baby, and the movie wasn't.  Certainly if the AUTHOR can come to terms with it like that, we, as readers and viewers, could too.

But what if the cast is off? What if the acting is bad? Will it ruin it??

What if the cast is perfect, and the acting is incredible? Will it make us forget about the book and watch the movie instead?

I've been thinking about books vs. their movie counterparts, and came up with a little list.

Title:                                                  Preference:

The Harry Potters                              Love them both
Confessions of a Shopaholic             Movie
The Time Traveler's Wife                 Movie (sorry, folks!)
A Walk to Remember                       Book
Twilight                                            meh... I like that the movies have live boys, but... meh
Love Story                                        Book
The Count of Monte Cristo               Book was good! Movie was better!
Pride and Prejudice                           Movie(s)
Marley and Me                                  Movie was surprisingly good! Book is still better!