Which is better? The Movie or the Book?

I have a lot of free time at work, so i have started reading fervently. I can tear through a 600 page book, if it's a good read, in like 3 days. I really love books that have movies based on them- it's so interesting to see what is added and left out of the movie and how it is different/better/worse than the book. Which is better. I think it depends. In some situations, I love seeing what the movie makers do with the characters, costumes, and scenery of the book. It makes it all so real to see it on screen. But often times there is much more in the book than they have time to put on screen, so you miss the true parts of a book when it's crammed into a 2 hour movie. Here's my take on which is better-

The Other Boleyn Girl
The movie is well done, but I really recommend reading the book if you see the movie or see the movie if you have read the book, because they are so very different. Many facts from the book are altered in the movie, and I don't know that this really adds to the movie. I knew I hated the character of Anne in the movie, but I didn't really hate her until I read the book and learned of all the things she really did that weren't included in the movie. I love Mary's romance with William Stafford in the book. It's so underplayed in the movie, and the contrast between Anne's HORRIBLE behavior is exemplified when you also read of her soft sister Mary's LOVING relationship with her children and husband. BOOK IS BETTER

Harry Potter Series
I am a die-hard HP fan!! I love love love the books, and it's so fun to see what you imagine from the book appear before you on the screen. I really love the actor's portrayal of the characters on screen, and the magic makes it so much more believable when you see how it's interpreted onscreen. But again, there are so many details that get left out of the movie for time's sake that I would much rather get it all and read the book. The next HP movie they are making will be 2 movies that continue where the other left off since they can't fit everything from the one book into one movie. This is why I think the BOOK IS BETTER



Memoirs of a Geisha
I saw the movie before I read the book, and it was because of the movie that I ended up reading the book. The movie entranced me, and left me totally in love with 1920's japanese Geisha culture, costume, lifestyle, elegance, EVERYTHING! The colors and cinematography in the movie were awesome! I had to get the book. And so I tore through it in 3 days and totally loved the book so much more. Again there were so many changes and ommissions to the movie that I really loved the things the book provided me that the movie didn't. You see a different and more detailed side of the characters, especially Hatsumomo and you truly grow to HATE how cruel she is to Sayuri. I love them both but the BOOK IS BETTER


The Painted Veil
Again this was a movie first-book second deal, and I think I liked the movie better. They were very much the same but I appreciated more the way and order in which the movie told the story compared with how it was told in the novel. I loved to see the relationship blossom between Kitty and her estranged husband on screen rather than how is was hardly mentioned in the book. Maybe that's because I am a hopeless romantic but either way, the MOVIE IS BETTER


Girl With a Pearl Earring
I really loved the movie, but I really loved the book and the greater element of detail that is has in it. I love seeing when I remember from the movie in my mind when I read the book, but even better than that is when the book goes a place the movie didn't and that whole other door is opened. In this case, I think that happened in the book and the BOOK IS BETTER

If any of you avid readers out there have any suggesstions for more books and movies I should check out, my library card is ready and waiting!