Dina Tactacan Castro with John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo shooting on location in Malaysia.

No doubt, “Miss You Like Crazy” is the must-see film this year mainly because the John and Bea tandem is back together after a three-year hiatus. My partner Mo Twister, who barely praises films unless they’re exceptional, said that “Miss You Like Crazy” is one of the best locally made flicks put out in a long time. It has the “best kissing scene ever” where Bea Alonzo looks her “hottest.” Magic 89.9 callers also praised the movie for promoting local tourism attractions like the Paco Park and the Pasig Ferry as well as showcasing John Lloyd Cruz in his best role to date.

I must admit, I was never really much of a John Lloyd-Bea fan, but the story changed when my Tita Dina Tactacan Castro revealed to me her “not-so-secret” secret passion for this love team; Bea as an on-screen darling and John Lloyd as Tita Dina’s cherub-faced crush which everyone can’t help but adore. (I’d go into more detail about how fanatical Tita Dina is about her “Lloydie” but the fact that she proudly displays a life-sized standee cut-out of JLC which she proudly displays in her room already speaks volumes!)

Back to the movie. The characters of “Miss You Like Crazy” are so realistic. All the characters, especially Allan Alvarez (John Lloyd Cruz) and Mia Samonte (Bea Alonzo) are so flawed, so imperfect, so human. Their inconsistencies are things that we see in our friends and in ourselves. The relationship between the two characters is so wrong, but that’s the kind of thing we get ourselves into sometimes. Allan Alvarez (John Lloyd Cruz) occasionally takes the Pasig River ferry to go to his newly purchased home. On several of these trips, Allan always sees a girl who writes messages on stones and leaves them behind. He picks these stones up and realizes that messages being written are getting worse and worse as time goes by. One day, when the girl writes “Goodbye World,” Allan panics and stops the girl from supposedly committing suicide – he soon discovers that this is not the case. He finds out that the girl, Mia Samonte (Bea Alonzo) works as a hotel receptionist in Malaysia…

And then the magic begins!

My Tita Dina Castro flew to Kuala Lumpur and stayed there for three days to join John Lloyd Cruz’ entourage and watch the shoot. They were all billeted at the Renaissance which is only a hop, skip and a jump from the Petronas Towers. Tita Dina says John Lloyd is such a fun guy that the three days spent with him seems it wasn’t enough. Tita Dina rants that the acting prowess of Lloydie was mesmerizing and even Malaysian passersby could not help but stare at him while they filmed in Titingwangsa Park, which is 10 minutes away from their hotel.

My take on this must-see movie is that John Lloyd Cruz is so a good actor that he manages to deliver performances so believable and effective that he always sweeps the floor with the entire cast on it.

But this time around Bea Alonzo did surprisingly well and was completely at par with Lloydie’s superb acting skills. This combination as well as “Miss You Like Crazy’s” passionate kissing scene, makes this film’s John Lloyd and Bea tandem a powerhouse match made in heaven!

Paramore Live in Manila

This is the concert event you’ve all been waiting for, get ready to rock out and experience the music of Paramore, as they finally arrive to perform live in Manila, on March 9, 8:30 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, Pasay City, featuring their hits “That’s What You Get,” “Decode,” “Crush, Crush, Crush” and their latest single “Brick By Boring Brick.”

Music Management International (MMI), the forerunner in major concert events in the country is very delighted to announce that Paramore has finally decided to include Manila on their extensive Australian and Asian Tour which kicked off last month.

The group’s latest CD “Brand New Eyes” has just been released recently with the chart topping single “Ignorance” and “Brick By Boring Brick,” and recently accepted two awards, for best Music Rock Group and best Music Rock Track at the Teen Choice Awards together with the recently Grammy Awards nomination “Decode” as Best Song Written for a Motion Picture Category.

Grab a copy of Paramore’s “Brand New Eyes” album out now from Warner Music Philippines and if you’re a Globe subscriber, you can download Paramore’s “Brick By Boring Brick” on your phone, by simply texting VB181 to 2332. Tickets to “Paramore Live in Manila Concert” are available at all Ticketworld outlets.