The Manor has struggled ever since parent company Eastern Federal was bought out by the Regal outfit, so the emergence of Charlotte’s “other” art-house theater is definitely a case of “right place, right time.” Management has had to book some dubious titles as the venue attempted to make its presence known (The Sentinel, a big-budget Michael Douglas action flick, does not suggest “indie filmmaking” to anyone except maybe Jerry Bruckheimer), but with such alternative gems as A Prairie Home Companion, An Inconvenient Truth and Thank You For Smoking settling in for long runs, the theater seems to have found its stride. Now let’s just hope Charlotteans support the place — it’s often difficult to get the blue-hairs to leave Myers Park and the spike-hairs to venture out of NoDa, but this is worth the trip.