Quick Takes - March 16, 2010

A concession to health

Sony Pictures Entertainment Chief Executive Michael Lynton called on the nation’s movie theater operators Monday to think about the waistlines of their customers, not just their own bottom lines.

In a speech at the nation’s largest theater convention in Las Vegas, Lynton urged theater owners to offer healthier snacks at their concession stands and not simply rely on the usual fare of candy, popcorn and soda.

“Adding healthier options to your existing menu is the right thing to do for our industry, for audiences and for our country,” Lynton said at the annual convention known as ShoWest.

-- Richard Verrier Not-guilty plea in Sheen case

Actor Charlie Sheen pleaded not guilty to domestic violence charges on Monday, nearly three months after his wife told Colorado police in a 911 call he put a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her.

Sheen showed little emotion and said nothing during his brief arraignment in Pitkin County District Court in Aspen. The plea was entered by his attorney.

No new details emerged about the Dec. 25 incident.

The star of CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” is charged with menacing, criminal mischief and assault. The most serious charge carries a possible sentence of one to three years in prison.

A judge scheduled a jury trial for July 21.

Sheen is accused of assaulting Brooke Mueller Sheen at an Aspen home while they were on vacation. Charlie Sheen told police they were arguing but denied threatening to kill her.

-- associated press Newswoman Vara to KNBC

Former KABC-TV Channel 7 “Eyewitness News” morning anchor Kathy Vara is joining KNBC-TV Channel 4’s early-morning news team, escalating the heated competition among local stations in that time slot.

Vara, who left KABC last year after about eight years on the morning news, is scheduled to make her first on-air appearance March 29 on “Today in L.A.” She will be the sole anchor of the recently expanded 4:30 a.m.-5 a.m. newscast, and will join current anchors Chris Schauble and Alycia Lane from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. as a “contributing anchor.”

Vara previously anchored “Today in L.A.” from 1994 to 2001.

-- Greg Braxton Baldacci has a bigger platform

David Baldacci is ready for e-book immersion.

His next thriller, “Deliver Us From Evil,” comes out April 20 as a hardcover, an e-book and in an “enriched” electronic version that will include passages deleted from the final text, research photos, an audio interview and video footage of Baldacci at work.

“I want people to have a great experience and give them a behind-the-scenes look at what I do, the way you would have it on a DVD,” the novelist said in an interview Monday.

Meanwhile, the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group announced that “The Firm,” “The Pelican Brief” and the other 21 books by John Grisham can now be purchased as e-texts.

-- associated press Tribeca fest names films

The ninth annual Tribeca Film Festival will include a new movie from Neil Jordan, a documentary on Joan Rivers and a Southern folk tale starring Robert Duvall.

The New York festival, which runs from April 21 through May 2, announced the bulk of its lineup Monday.

Making its U.S. premiere will be Neil Jordan’s “Ondine,” which stars Colin Farrell as a fisherman who reels in a mermaid.

Duvall stars in “Get Low,” a folk tale set in 1930s Tennessee and directed by Aaron Schneider, who won an Oscar in 2004 for his short film “Two Soldiers.”

The documentary selections include films about comedian and fashion pundit Rivers (“Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work”), Canadian rock band Rush (“Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage”) and hairstylist Vidal Sassoon (“Vidal Sassoon: The Movie”).

Alex Gibney, whose “Taxi to the Dark Side” won an Oscar for best documentary in 2008, will bring his “My Trip to Al-Qaeda” to the festival.

-- associated press Finally

Split: British actress Kate Winslet has separated from her film director husband Sam Mendes after nearly seven years of marriage, their law firm said Monday.