I've been reading a book about Billy Graham the Evangelist. I didn't know that he was a Baptist who got his start preaching in Illinois. Even though it's an unauthorized biography, unlike biograghies about other well known people, it unearths very little if any dirt. It seems that Mr. Graham has gone to great lengths to protect his image. He stopped accepting personal gifts years ago. He lives in a modest log cabin in North Carolina. He has a committee decide what his salary should be which is in line with that given a pastor of a large congregation. He even refuses to be alone with any woman other than his wife and daughters. When in a restaurant or driving a car, there will always be someone else present. I'm only half done, but it's a very impressive book about a very impressive man. It's interesting to see how he has grown in his faith and maturity over his life.

I watched the orginal "Carrie" over the weekend. I saw the new version on TV a few weeks ago. The first "Carrie" was much better. It's remarkable how many future stars they had in the cast; Sissie Spacek, John Travolta, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen, William Katt, P.J. Soles. Probably only "American Graffitti" had a stronger lineup and that was mostly due to a small role by Harrison Ford as a drag racer, Suzanne Somers as a fetching blonde in a T-Bird (quite a stretch for her), and Richard Dreyfus. Back to "Carrie", I also had forgotten how good Piper Laurie was as the religious crazed mother of Carrie. I think that she was in Hitchcock's "The Brids", so she's not new to horror movies. It was interesting to see how the new version was brought up to date in small ways. When Carrie is looking up telkinesis she of course uses the Internet instead of the card catalog at the library, people use cell phones instead of rotary phones, and students rent limos instead of driving to the prom. The high school still has its cliques with Carrie at the bottom. Sissie Spacek was fantastic as Carrie. When she is beginning to understand and feel her power, it is spooky. When she tells her mother that she's going to the prom after they argued at dinner, I got chills when she added "and I don't want to talk about it any more." After the disastrous prom, when the mother is crucifed by Carrie with the kitchen cutlery, one can almost feel the pain. It's definitely one of the best and scariest films made from a Stephen King book. Dreamcatcher is coming out next year. I hope it's comparable.