Do young people remember “Sausage Party”? The movie about the hot dog that really wanted to find his place in a bun? While it may not feel that old to viewers of a certain age, the comedy about sentient food discovering the truth about what happens when they leave the grocery store is already eight years old, a lifetime in pop culture. And there are elements of it that feel even older, a product of a pre-COVID time when comedies aimed more directly at adults were more common.

Continue reading ‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia’ Review: Bursts of Comedy Flavor Keep Prime Video Animated Series From Going Bad at The Playlist.

Of all I.P. getting the TV treatment nowadays, you have to be shocked that something like “Sausage Party” is getting a sequel series nearly a decade after it debuted. But hey, we live in an age of streaming, and why not give Seth Rogen some more time to pretend he’s a hot dog? 

READ MORE: Summer TV Preview: Over 35 Must-See Series To Watch

Now, we have our first real look at the upcoming TV series, “Sausage Party: Foodtopia,” which serves as a sequel to the 2016 original film.Here’s the official synopsis: “Based off the 2016 animated feature Sausage Party, the series Sausage Party: Foodtopia follows Frank, Brenda, Barry, and Sammy as they try to build their own food society.”

While quite a bit of time has passed since the original film, it’s clear the vibe has not changed in eight years.

Continue reading ‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia’ Trailer: Seth Rogen’s Raunchy Animated Hit Has Found New Life On Prime Video at The Playlist.

Surprisingly, Prime Video has become a hub for mature genre work, especially when it comes to animation. Just recently, you have projects such as “The Boys: Diabolical” and “Invincible” both becoming major hits for the streamer and pulling no punches in terms of content. Well, two of the producers of those previous series, Seth Rogen and Adam Goldberg, are going to try their hand again at creating adult animation on the streaming service with a new series, “Sausage Party: Foodtopia.”

READ MORE: ‘Dumb Money’: Shailene Woodley Joins Craig Gillespie’s GameStop Stock Comedy With Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan & More

According to Deadline, Prime Video has teamed up with Rogen and Goldberg to bring the “Sausage Party” crew back for a new animated series.

Continue reading Amazon Developing ‘Sausage Party’ TV Series As Seth Rogen Declares “It’s Exactly What The World Needs Right Now” at The Playlist.

There’s an old saying at the Playlist Mansion: you do not truly know a person until you’ve asked them to chose the one film they feel was most overrated and the one they feel was most underrated in any given year. It’s not very catchy. But it is a credo with a surprising amount of wisdom in it, as well as the welcome potential for our beloved, esteemed and generally faultless contributors to make complete public fools of themselves.

Continue reading The Most Overrated & Underrated Films Of 2016 at The Playlist.

The International Animated Film Society announced the nominations for the 44th Annie Awards this morning and there some unexpected surprises among the nominees.

DreamWorks Animations’ “Kung Fu Panda 3″ was a surprise Best Animated Feature nominee over “The Little Prince,” “Sing,” “The Secret Life of Pets,” “Sausage Party” or even DWA’s own “Trolls.” Similarly, Walt Disney Animation’s “Inner Workings” didn’t make the Best Animated Short Subject cut and “Sausage Party” didn’t earn a writing nomination.

Continue reading ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ Surprises As ‘Zootopia’ Dominates 44th Annie Awards Nominations at The Playlist.

Prediction based on nominations [Updated Feb. 5]

NOMINEES
1. “Zootopia”
2. “Kubo and the Two Strings”
3. “Moana”
4. “The Red Turtle”
5. “My Life as a Zucchini”

PREVIOUS CONTENDERS (for historical context)
“The Little Prince”
“Long Way North”
“Sausage Party”
“Sing”
“The Secret Life of Pets”
“Finding Dory”
“The Angry Birds Movie”
“April and the Extraordinary World”
“Bilal”
“Ice Age: Collision Course”
“Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV”
“Kung Fu Panda 3”
“Miss Hokusai”
“Monkey King: Hero Is Back”
“Mune”
“Mustafa & the Magician”
“Phantom Boy”
“Snowtime!”
“Storks”
“Trolls”
“25 April”
“Your Name”

Other categories:

Gregory Ellwood’s Current Oscar Predictions:
Best Picture
Director
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Original Screenplay
Adapted Screenplay
Editing
Cinematography 
Production Design
Animated Feature Film
Foreign Language Film
Documentary Feature
Original Score
Original Song
Costume Design
Makeup and Hairstyling
Visual Effects
Sound Mixing
Sound Editing

Continue reading 2017 Best Animated Feature Film Oscar Predictions at The Playlist.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a record 27 film submissions  for the Best Animated Picture Oscar and, as expected, it looks like a very competitive race even for a nomination.

This year “Zootopia,” “Finding Dory” and “Moana” are expected locks for a nomination not just because of quality, but because the strength of the Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar brands are so strong within the animation branch.

Continue reading ‘Zootopia’ And ‘Sausage Party’ Among Record Number of Films In Animated Feature Oscar Race at The Playlist.

September is here, and the fall film festivals have started —check out our Venice coverage so far, and our Telluride coverage starts tomorrow and TIFF next week. Nevertheless, the days are getting shorter and the temperature a little cooler, so it’s time to look back on 2016’s moviegoing summer.

In most respects, it was a bad one. Most tentpoles disappointed, and unusually, it seemed that most underperformed at the box office (though it’s interesting to note that total box office is up about 3% from last year, thanks to a few monster hits).

Continue reading The Winners & Losers Of The 2016 Summer Movie Season at The Playlist.

Well, it was what pundits essentially expected from Warner Bros.’ “Suicide Squad” and its second-week box-office performance. The film was dressed down by critics as badly as “Batman v Superman” (they have equal Rotten Tomatoes scores) and the DCU picture took a similar nosedive in its follow-up week, falling 67.3% in week two. It’s a similar crash to that of ‘Dawn Of Justice,’ which tumbled nearly 70% in its second week of release.

Continue reading ‘Suicide Squad’ Holds The #1 Position, Hits $465 Million Worldwide, But Plummets 67% In Week Two at The Playlist.

This is a reprint of our review from the 2016 SXSW Film Festival.

Bun Sex. Revenge Douche. Bath Salts. If “Sausage Party” doesn’t win Strangest IMDB Keywords of 2016, surely the film that beats it won’t feature a CG-animated cast of talking supermarket items. From a story by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and with an incredible voice cast including Rogen, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, Edward Norton, and Salma Hayek, it’s a film so outrageous, it took the producing might of Megan Ellison to finally get it made.

Continue reading Half-Baked ‘Sausage Party’ Isn’t The Surreal Pixar Riff It Could’ve Been [Review] at The Playlist.

While it’s been, to put it mildly, a dismal summer movie season, there’s always hope for a few last surprises in August, even if the month has long been reputed to be a dumping ground for sub-par product. Even if the political season has you down, the movies can still be a great source for escapism and good times. My pick for Movie of the Month looks to have both in droves.

READ MORE: 12 Films To See In July

“Kubo and the Two Strings” is the latest film from the small, Portland-based animation house Laika, and if the excellent trailers haven’t got you stoked, allow me to pour it on.

Continue reading 11 Films To See In August at The Playlist.

“Zootopia,” “Finding Dory,” and “The Secret Life Of Pets” have all been massive animated hits this year, but also four quadrant crowdpleasers that are perfect for any age group. That brings us to “Sausage Party,” definitely an adults only affair. While some seemed to think that “Deadpool” was ushering in a new era for R-rated movies, the truth is it was an exception to the rule; audiences this year haven’t been too hot for high-concept, raunchy fare (see “The Nice Guys“).

Continue reading Get Cookin’ With The New Red Band Trailer For ‘Sausage Party’ at The Playlist.

Welcome to the summer of Seth Rogen… or so it seems. You can barely turn around without bumping into one of his projects: this weekend alone, you’ll have “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” and “Preacher ” to choose from. But it seems he’s saving his filthiest offering for later in the summer.

READ MORE: Interview: Seth Rogen Talks ‘Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,’ Exploring Gender Balance, ‘Preacher’ And More

“Sausage Party” sees Rogen, along with Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Michael Cera, Edward Norton, Bill Hader and Salma Hayek voicing an incredibly raunchy comedy about food items in a grocery store who learn the grim fate of what happens when they leave the store.

Continue reading Watch: Open Up The Package And Taste The New Trailer For ‘Sausage Party’ at The Playlist.

Obviously the biggest event of the summer is The Playlist moving to the shiny new digs in which you’re now seeing us. But seriously, the summer movie months are packed with films both big and small guaranteed to thrill, delight and provoke you, and keep you out of the sunshine, and inside basking in air-conditioned comfort.

The time when big movies were released only in summer has long gone — this year has seen “Deadpool,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice,” and “The Jungle Book” among those that were smashing box office records while the temperatures were still low and the days still short.

Continue reading The 40 Most Anticipated Movies Of Summer 2016 at The Playlist.

SXSW Review: ‘Sausage Party’ Starring The Voices Of Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, Edward Norton, And More

Continue reading SXSW Review: ‘Sausage Party’ Starring The Voices Of Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, Edward Norton, And More at The Playlist.

Watch: First Trailer For Seth Rogen's Raunchy, R-Rated Animated Comedy 'Sausage Party'

Continue reading Watch: First Trailer For Seth Rogen’s Raunchy, R-Rated Animated Comedy ‘Sausage Party’ at The Playlist.

2016 SXSW Film Festival: 12 Films & TV Highlights To Look Out For

Continue reading 2016 SXSW Film Festival: 12 Films & TV Highlights To Look Out For at The Playlist.

First Look: Seth Rogen's Filthy Animated Movie 'Sausage Party,' Work-In-Progress Premiere Set For SXSW

Continue reading First Look: Seth Rogen’s Filthy Animated Movie ‘Sausage Party,’ Work-In-Progress Premiere Set For SXSW at The Playlist.

Paul Rudd & Danny McBride Join Seth Rogen’s Animated ‘Sausage Party’ Now Dated For Summer 2016

Continue reading Paul Rudd & Danny McBride Join Seth Rogen’s Animated ‘Sausage Party’ Now Dated For Summer 2016 at The Playlist.

Interview: 'Neighbors' Duo Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg Talk 'The Interview,' Developing 'Preacher,' Crazy 'Sausage Party' & More

Continue reading Interview: ‘Neighbors’ Duo Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg Talk ‘The Interview,’ Developing ‘Preacher,’ Crazy ‘Sausage Party’ & More at The Playlist.

Javier Bardem Joins Sean Penn's 'The Last Face,' Salma Hayek Has A 'Sausage Party' & More

Continue reading Javier Bardem Joins Sean Penn’s ‘The Last Face,’ Salma Hayek Has A ‘Sausage Party’ & More at The Playlist.

Continue reading Kristen Stewart & Julianne Moore Team For ‘Still Alice,’ Seth Rogen’s ‘Sausage Party’ Gets Voice Cast & More at The Playlist.

Continue reading Seth Rogen Has A ‘Sausage Party’ & Jason Segel Steals Maple Syrup at The Playlist.

Continue reading Seth Rogen Reveals Basic Plot To R-Rated Animated 3D Project ‘Sausage Party’ Co-Starring Jonah Hill at The Playlist.

Continue reading Jonah Hill Calls ‘Sausage Party’ “A Very Hard And Aggressive R” Rated 3D Animated Film at The Playlist.