'ONMYOJI' PART OF JAPAN'S FILM TRADITION.

David Kehr's review of the current Japanese film ``Onmyoji'' (U, April 26) is up to his usual standards, except for one glaring misconception. Claiming that the film is a hybrid of both classic Japanese samurai films (i.e. Kurosawa's ``Yojimbo'') and Hong Kong fantasy (or Wuxia Films) is off the mark.

Japan's cinema is loaded with epics of errant mystical warriors, from such films as ``Yamato Takeru'' (1994), ``Shikonmado-Dai tatsumak'' (1964), ``Dai Tokozu'' (1963) as well as the Zatoichi and Lone Wolf and Cub series of the '60s and '70s, respectively. That simple misconception could leave viewers to believe that the current film is solely a calculated attempt to cash in on a specific genre.

While that may or may not be the case, stating that the film has no cinematic benchmark within its nation of origin is not correct.

-Ronald Strong

Burbank

Beastie Boys remain relevant

Enduring the 2 1/2-hour trudge from Los Angeles out to Indio, the massive crowds and stifling body heat, dust-ridden windstorms, two-hour traffic leaving the parking lot and the bureaucratic consumerism of the annual Coachella Festival just to experience the intense energy of the ever-youthful Beastie Boys in their first local show in five years was more than worth it. The pied pipers ``dropped science'' with hits from the last 16 years of their nearly 20-year career together and were politically and socially responsible, imploring the crowd to keep a peaceful frame of mind in this state of war and for the fans in the front to create space for one another, helping us to avoid being crushed.

-Michelle Malik

Sherman Oaks