Just as Valentine’s Day ground zero for romantic comedies and Thanksgiving is considered the opening day of Oscar season, July 4 at the movie theater is traditionally the weekend for the big-budget action adventure, the weekend when audiences demand — and studios are only too happy to oblige — the more flashy, heroic, and, if it works out, patriotic spectacles.

Looking back at the July 4 entries this century, the trend is unmistakable: 2000’s “The Patriot” recreated America’s fight for independence; 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious” gave action fans an overdose of high-speed thrill; 2002’s “Men in Black II” built on the success of the blockbuster original with a family-friendly sci-fi adventure. Following suit, 2003’s “Terminator 3” trumped box office expectations with its robot war, while 2005’s “War of the Worlds” offered a larger-than-life story of alien invasion. And of course, “Spider-Man 2” and “Superman Returns” offered big-budget interpretations of classic red, white, and blue comic book heroes in 2004 and 2006, respectively. Call it the fireworks mind-set: July 4 at the movies means big, brash, bombastic, and lucrative.

All of which makes this week’s July 4 box office battle so bizarre. Twentieth Century Fox clearly wasn’t too sure about the third sequel of a nostalgic franchise with a 52-year-old leading man, so it released “Live Free or Die Hard” last Wednesday. And Pixar, which strikes gold just about every time out of the gate, nonetheless decided to release “Ratatouille” the week before July 4. If you’re looking for a family film this Independence Day, you’re out of luck until next Wednesday’s “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”

The remaining contenders vying for the attention of New York’s movie buffs are an unlikely bunch. In one corner is Michael Moore’s documentary “Sicko,” as it has expanded beyond Lincoln Center to grab the political set. In the other is “License to Wed,” which will target couples looking for a safe date option, but features a fading star in Robin Williams and the unknown quantity of John Krasinski, whose shlumpy presence on NBC’s “The Office” may not translate to the big screen.

For the drama seeker, there’s the Vietnam POW tale “Rescue Dawn,” which is essentially the week’s (maybe the summer’s) biggest contradiction: a would-be Werner Herzog box-office bonanza.

That leaves “Transformers,” which many assume will walk away with all the July 4 lucre. It has Michael Bay’s name over the title, but underneath all the hype it’s really just a niche cartoon series from the 1980s that has been sustained through the years by a passionate geek culture. Will the whole country show up? Paramount hopes so.

It’s a strange mix of films, but it does invite the question: Where’s the guaranteed moneymaker? Where’s the safe film for families? With few options on the menu, the answer may be “Ratatouille,” which raked in $47 million this weekend and is likely banking on repeat viewers who find themselves lacking another option during the long weekend.

Fans of the modern artist Matthew Barney, however, know exactly where they will be this weekend, as IFC Center hopes to capitalize on the enduring success of the artist’s “Drawing Restraint 9” with a program of Barney short films set to make their debut Friday night.

Mr. Barney, best known to movie audiences for his five-part “Cremaster” series, has become a staple of America’s midnight movie houses thanks to the elaborate, three-hour “Cremaster 3,” which features an Oedipal battle atop the Chrysler Building and a kilted Mr. Barney struggling to scale the interior walls of the Guggenheim.

Once or twice a year at the Sunshine Theater, one can find a packed house of Barney fanatics spilling onto Houston Street at 3 a.m., still buzzing from the bizarre, surrealistic trip.

Down the street at IFC Center, it’s now becoming clear that “Drawing Restraint 9” has been elevated to “Cremaster 3” status. Reviving the title semi-monthly, IFC programmers brought the 143-minute movie back to the big screen for the last two weekends, and, as usual, dozens of fans queued up each night, ready to immerse themselves in Mr. Barney’s peculiaro bsession with petroleum jelly.

Maybe it’s this unexpected popularity of Mr. Barney’s latest project, which features an appearance and music by Mr. Barney’s longtime companion, Björk, that has also led IFC Center to organize a special presentation of three Barney short films, set to show for a week starting Friday. The titles — which include “De Lama Lamina,” a 60-minute collaboration between Mr. Barney and musician Arto Lindsay; the eight-minute “Scabaction,” Mr. Barney’s first-ever video work, and the 13-minute “Drawing Restraint 13,” a filmed performance of Mr. Barney’s most recent New York exhibit — were introduced by the artist himself during a special, sold-out June 20 screening.

Chalk it up to another bizarre contender amid this most peculiar July 4 weekend: “Transformers” vs. “License to Wed,” and Werner Herzog vs. Matthew Barney.

ssnyder@nysun.com