Another week, another great film series is enticing us to spend our summer evenings and weekends in a dark theater. Last week, we reported on the return of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies series, which runs through July 20. This week, we’d like to draw your attention to an excellent program MoMA has put together in conjunction with the Berlinale and the Deutsche Kinemathek-Museum für Film und Fernsehen called Future Imperfect: The Uncanny in Science Fiction. Kicking off tonight and running through August 31, this series presents an impressive array of sci-fi films that explore what it means to be human. Rather than serve up full-on alien invasions and space travel, these thought-provoking films focus on alternative visions of Earth in the present or near future.

Bringing together 70 science-fiction films from across the globe, the series opens with John Sayles’ 1984 cult classic The Brother from Another Planet (July 17). Sayles along with others from the film will be on hand to introduce the screening. From there, it’s just night after night of must-see films. In the mix is the original theatrical version of Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale (July 22 & 27), Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s World on a Wire (July 23 & 28), the director’s cut of Donnie Darko (August 1 & 6), Hiroshi Teshigahara’s Tanin no kao (The Face of Another) (August 10 & 12), Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (August 1 & 5), and Werner Herzog’s Fata Morgana (August 4 & 6).

The series also features several special guests. In addition to Sayles, you’ll find Michael Almereyda in attendance for his meditation on memory, love and loss, Marjorie Prime (July 21); Larry Fessenden in the house for The Last Winter (August 2); Neil deGrasse Tyson presenting Geoff Murphy’s post-apocalyptic drama The Quiet Earth (August 14); and Lynn Hershman Leeson introducing an evening featuring her films Teknolust and Seduction of a Cyborg (August 16).

Tickets for several of the films are on sale now. For more details and a complete lineup visit MoMA’s website.