Books vs Movies

In the last 24 hours I have watched 3 movies of books I'd already read (yes, i am that bored).
The best of the movie bunch was Atonement. I hadn't loved the book; the switching from the aristocratic house to the war was abrupt and unwelcome. But the movie was a vision. James McAvoy is officially my new favorite actor, and I'm just taken with his pure intensity and expressions. I'm now adding all his movies to our queue. I think the movie just flowed so much better than the book, and for once in a movie the young and old (Brionys) look alike. And this may be one of the first times I truly liked the eternally underbite-ridden Keira Knightley. 4 stars.
The best of the book bunch was Memoirs of a Geisha, but the movie couldn't live up to the page-turning force of the book. It was definitely a visually stunning epic, and I would recommend it just for that. But for such a long movie, it was more about cinematography than acting or continuity. I did think the lead woman was great, but the lead man was just so stiff. Coming in on the last 5 minutes of the movie, Dan commented that he was glad I had watched the movie without him.
Finally, The Namesake. I finished the book just a few days ago so maybe I'm biased in terms of
adhering to what I liked on the page. But the movie, not bad really, was just so different from the book. They changed dates, names, places, events; most changes were completely unnecessary in my opinion. It wasn't a bad movie, very sweet in fact, but in the end I liked the book better.
I have dinner plans tonight down the block: Kerren's leaving the couch!