Sorry I haven't dropped a line lately. You must feel like my parents did when I was in college; neglected, dejected and ready to disown me. Have a lot of stuff to catch up before heading to vacation in the best place for a movie critic to go: the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. More on that later.

But I must share the great time Princess Di and I had last night at a silent auction fund raiser for the Gasparilla Film Festival, at the Don Vincente de Ybor Historic Inn. What set this one apart from other silent auctions was the inclusion of 16 works of art created by local artists who picked a movie that's special to them then put those feelings on canvas with their singular styles.

Luckily, I had Daniel Wallace, who may be my favorite Times photographer to work with, on hand to capture the artists and their art for an upcoming photo spread. I'll let you know when that publication date is set.

But I shot each of the works to share a few with you. Just a preview of coming attractions that Daniel will make much prettier. Click on the images for a larger view.

James Vann chose Clint Eastwood's Bird, a biography of jazz legend Charlie Parker, for his cubist style.

Chad Cardoza (who along with his wife Suzie organized the artists) picked Basquiat,
another biography that co-starred David Bowie as Andy Warhol, inspiring this blend of both visionaries titled "Andy Stardust." (Sorry for the blur, folks, but Chad deserves attention for putting this exhibit together.)

I really liked the simplicity of Jedd Lancaster's Reservoir Dogs tribute.

Kat Wilson's "Do You Believe in Time Travel," inspired by Donnie Darko, was another favorite.

Nice to see Robert Wegmann again, who I haven't spoken with since my days covering the local music scene. Robert chose Lost in Translation.

In the early going, bids were racing for Jason Fondren's take on Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Matt Moore did this eyecatching tribute to the surfing documentary Bra Boys.

There are more but I'll let a pro like Daniel fill your eyes with them.

Kind of made me wish I had progressed past the Etch-A-Sketch stage when I was a child.