Thank God for the Carlton. If a vaguely independent film that gets festival accolades, or a foreign film Oscar winner (or runner-up for that matter), the big theatres won't touch it, in order to bring you the latest big feature starring Jack Black in some form of spandex unitard. You could also wait for the likes of the repertory cinemas to get hold of them, but distribution channels being what they are, and scheduling being what it is, you can count on the Carlton to bring you the stuff that isn't mainstream fast.
With a clutch of small screens in small theatres, you aren't there for the huge expansive theatre experience. You get a pared-down version of the movie experience, but indeed you get to see your independent film fast. Note that the some of the theatres are small. Like really small. Like you'll feel like you're in someone's living room watching the movie in some cases. But that's a small price to pay for being able to see good yet uncommon films in a theatre and not have to wait for DVDs to be released or reps to get their hands on them.