[Kath]

The problem is that there is no conceivable way that Peter Jackson could have made the films acceptable to every single person who watches them. If he had put in all the history of Middle Earth to explain why things are firstly the film would have been about a week long and secondly he'd have lost a large chunk of the audience. He had to sacrifice some things to give people who aren't familiar with the books a chance to experience it.
I agree that because of this some of the magic of the books was lost - like the missing Tom Bombadil scenes, that was a shame. However some of the things that he did do were absolutely perfect. For example the scene where Gollum was crawling down the Emin Muil with the moon behind him. I have had that picture in my head for years since I first read the books and to see it depicted on the screen like that really was a magical moment.
And as for the Galadriel thing - I only skim read this thread so I don't know who it was - but the person who said:
We don't have any real elves to act elves
has a darn good point.