There are minor elements such as S.P.E.W. (Hermione would be furious at you for calling it SPEW) that can be dropped without affecting the cohesion of the story. The Gaunts section served to show Riddle he is descended from Salazar Slytherin, to show how ruthless and bloodthirsty he was at such a young age, and also to demonstrate how powerful a wizard he was. The Hebzibah Smith memory showed that Riddle was seeking out grandiose magical artefacts, which is important in the Horcrux hunt.
I also get annoyed when the changes serve to dumb down the plot; showing David Tennant as Barty Crouch Jr in the first scene of Goblet of Fire (complete with lip-licking tick that was repeated ad nauseum by Mad-Eye Moody) was like a big sign-post saying "This is Moody!!"
well there is not much we can do except wait....and it gives me time to read them books aswell.
