I'm with you, get these small titles in just a few theaters, even if it is the lead actors hometowns, something. Find the one or two areas of the country that have some direct interest. I know he tried that with War Eagle Arkansas, it did ok.
I am still all for a "Youtube Premiere" of a mid level title on their channel. I did find out today a front page ad on Youtube on the upper right side costs about $225k per day. So maybe get a week of interior page ads, but something like that could start a real trend. Right now it is being used to dump libraries and basically nothing more.
A solid movie with an "indie" feel and some good review, about $100k spent purely on youtube.com ads (certain amount of google comes along with that when you buy youtube ads) for a movie "premeire" would be something I think could work. I don't think we have to title to do it, (maybe The Wild Hunt) but it is something I really think is interesting.