Over a coffee...

There are rare moments when a movie that is based on a book is not just as good, but better then the book.
And when I say rare, I mean I've come across maybe three.

The Witches of Eastwick  was a much better film then it was a book.  Even though the book is a cult classic novel and shows witchcraft/magick in a more realistic way; the movie still managed to be a step above.

 
Queen of the Damned.  Maybe because the first half of the film is actually based on another of the Anne Rice vampire chronicles, but I really thought the movie version of Queen of the Damned was more enjoyable then the book. The first half of the film {up to the point of the concert} is actually based on the second novel in the series - The Vampire Lestat- and was just a tighter story.

Mansfield Park.  A classic novel by Jane Austen, that doesn't really go anywhere.  The 1999/2000 version of the film takes the main elements of ethics and gives it a major boost.