The book to movie question

By: Meradeth Houston on 3:55 PM

There have been quite a few of my favorite books that have been made (or are being made) into movies lately. Harry Potter is the first to come to mind, and I've been devouring the news about the Hunger Games as it comes to light (and looks sooo utterly awesome!). In general, movies that have been made from the books I enjoy can either be utterly awesome, or can make me really wish I hadn't wasted my money/time. We've all seen those--the actors just can't capture the roles, the setting is wrong, they leave out our favorite scene. It's just wrong...and I often find myself vowing to never watch the movie again. (I'm totally thinking about the Wrinkle In Time movie--wow was that a bad one!)

So, the question is, what is it that makes a good movie adaptation? In Harry Potter (the latter ones, not the first few) I think they managed to do a pretty good job. The details in particular allowed me to really feel like I was in the world as much as the books did. It also helped that Harry finally learned how to act (kinda) toward the end of the series :) The Twilight movies have really gone the other direction, however, and for some reason the movies reflect very little of how I imagined the world when I was reading, mainly because the actors can't seem to get into the roles enough to convince me. At least, that's what I think it is, though there are of course other issues...

The reason why I'm bringing this up is that The Help is coming out later this week, and most of the other women in my family have read the book. I haven't, yet, though it's in my TBR pile. The question is--do I see it? Or is it going to make me hate the book, or later really hate the movie? I don't generally care for going to see a movie based on a book without reading it first, but I might have to make an exception. It'll be interesting to see how this influences my judgement. Thoughts?

What do you think makes a good movie adaptation? Any favorites you care to share?