Tech Film Noir - A Technology and Film Podcast
Jun 11, 2026 · 51 min · 13 segments
This week on Tech Film Noir, we examine the Al Pacino comedy, **Simone** (2022), that accidentally saw the future. While the film itself is a chaotic mess of farce, misunderstandings, and increasingly…
Lianne PotterHostJeff WatkinsHostWell, I think it's an interesting movie just because if you look at the topic and how relevant that topic is to now with generative AI being on everybody's lips, you'd think that from the effects as well, actually, for the most part, you'd think that it was maybe filmed a couple of years ago, apart from the fact that Al Pacino is obviously a lot older nowadays and I think just become a father a couple of years ago at the age of 84.
I think the topic, if you take the actual execution of that topic, is very contemporary, scarily contemporary.
I'd say that I watched it a year or two back for a talk I was writing on this sort of topic, which is how we met, of course.
And back then, I'll be honest, I watched almost the entire thing with my hands over my face because my embarrassment threshold is low.
And the cringe humour and just waiting for poor old Al Pacino to get found out is so bad that...
settled knowing basically how it's going to all work out, and I was refreshing my memory ready for this thing.
There was also a sense of dread from me the first time around that, you know, like Simone would come to life and start actually having thoughts of her own.
Simone remains as unalive or whatever, as unsentient at the end as she is at the beginning.
Well, I should clarify, shouldn't I? I was slightly mistaken when I say AI generated because I guess the real example is that she's more of a puppet.
Well, I think it's an interesting movie just because if you look at the topic and how relevant that topic is to now with generative AI being on everybody's lips, you'd think that from the effects as well, actually, for the most part, you'd think that it was maybe filmed a couple of years ago, apart from the fact that Al Pacino is obviously a lot older nowadays and I think just become a father a couple of years ago at the age of 84.
I think the topic, if you take the actual execution of that topic, is very contemporary, scarily contemporary.
I'd say that I watched it a year or two back for a talk I was writing on this sort of topic, which is how we met, of course.
And back then, I'll be honest, I watched almost the entire thing with my hands over my face because my embarrassment threshold is low.
And the cringe humour and just waiting for poor old Al Pacino to get found out is so bad that...
settled knowing basically how it's going to all work out, and I was refreshing my memory ready for this thing.
There was also a sense of dread from me the first time around that, you know, like Simone would come to life and start actually having thoughts of her own.
Simone remains as unalive or whatever, as unsentient at the end as she is at the beginning.
Well, I should clarify, shouldn't I? I was slightly mistaken when I say AI generated because I guess the real example is that she's more of a puppet.
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