Comic and “oh so controvertial” actor, Sacha Baron Cohen is all set to take on the role of the 80’s pop icon. Whhhy, I wail. But without wanting to cut my nose off to spite my face, I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps it’ll be a kind of magic.

Joaquin Phoenix – mentalist, or hoaxer? With documentary (or mockumentary?) I’m Still Here due to hit UK cinemas this weekend, director Casey Affleck is finally ready to come clean.

No, really. Paramount have managed to secure the rights to funny-man Cohen’s new project by giving him two goats; one delivered to his LA home, and one to his Beverly Hills offices.

Sacha Baron Cohen (of Ali G, Borat and Bruno fame) and actress Isla Fisher announced that they wed last Monday in a small ceremony in Paris. The couple have been together a goodly while now, with Isla even converting to Judaism in 2007 for the eclectic funnyman after studying for three years. They have a two year old daughter, and felt it was time to finally tie the knot.

Crimety, people are getting banned from the cinematic event of the year left, right and centre. First a Hurt Locker producer is dis-invited for vote-mongering, and now it seems like Sacha Baron Cohen has been given his marching orders too. At least they have each other.

At least, not always. Films that studios allocate ridiculously bloated publicity budgets to are not always likely to be showered in glowing reviews and critical acclaim. Here we chronicle 2009’s most hyped films, some of which delivered and some that blew up in the studios’ faces big time.

$110 million is a lot of money to ask from a man famous for gay jokes and saying “boo-yakasha” in a yellow suit. But if you’d been unfairly branded a terrorist in a film that was seen by millions around the globe, you’d probably be pretty cheesed off too.

Man on man action, casual racism, fashion frolics, religion bashing and swapping a baby for an iPod. It can only mean one thing – Sacha Baron Cohen. In a second helping of a character unaware of anything socially acceptable, Cohen throws political correctness out of the window and brings us the most vulgar and tasteless movie since Borat – Brüno.