Before seeing "The Golden Compass" over the weekend, I was fairly excited to see one of my favorite children's books put on the big screen. However, once again I walked away disappointed from another book-gone-movie.

Movies based on books aren't always bad. For example, the "Lord of the Rings" movies from a few years back were quite good. It just seems that there will always be something that leaves the viewer disappointed.

Prime examples of this are the "Harry Potter" movies. While the third and forth installments were above par, the others failed. When so many bad movies occur, the viewer must wonder, "What happened?"

One obvious reason is that you can't fit a 400-page book into a two-hour movie. Also, in many books you see into the character's mind for more insight into the plot, but when this happens in movies, it may end up looking corny.

Probably my least favorite part of these movies is that characters look different than I imagined them to be. While this is unavoidable, I unfortunately have grown attached to the characters that inhabited my imagination.

Also, "The Golden Compass" had a ridiculous ending because the movie stopped about 50 pages short of where the book ends, all in an effort to get a happy ending. I would feel dishonored as the author of a book if my story had to be altered that much.

The movie industry is attracted to successful books that many people have read. Studio executives believe that if these people have read the book they will in turn see the movie. What they don't realize is that they are taking the experience away from those who haven't read the books.