This photo released by Miramax shows actor
Josh Brolin in a scene from
'No Country for Old Men.' [Agencies]

One film has an oblique ending that's left some viewers dissatisfied and others floored by its profundity. The other features a slowly developing plot and a brutal, operatically violent finale.

"No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" are both gorgeous and bold, expertly crafted and intelligently acted. But most moviegoers have seen neither of them — and they never will — even though they're the two leading contenders for best picture at the Academy Awards.

Oscar-nominated films are often small, dark and unintended for mass audiences; they're about art, after all, not commerce. But that's especially true of this year's crop, which has little mainstream buzz and among the lowest box-office totals in recent years.

(The exception, of course, is the crowd-pleasing comedy "Juno," starring the hugely appealing Ellen Page as a quick-witted, pregnant teen. It had a budget of about $7.5 million and just crossed the $100 million mark at the box office. It is far and away the most financially successful of the five.)

Four of the movies nominated last week for best picture — "Juno," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" — got the so-called "Oscar bump" that comes from audiences checking them out the following weekend. (The sweeping romance "Atonement" dropped slightly.)

Still, they've only combined to make about $246.3 million domestically. In contrast, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" already had grossed about $364 million all by itself by the time it won best picture in 2004.

In terms of ticket sales, about 7.3 million people have seen "No Country" (from Miramax and Paramount Vantage, a division of Viacom Inc.) and 2 million have seen "There Will Be Blood" (also from Paramount Vantage), compared with the approximately 51 million who saw the third "Rings" picture in theaters by Oscar night.