This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
This video is my overall post mortem of Marvel’s second Ultimate Universe (aka Marvel Universe 6160). Please note that this assessment is my personal opinion. Enjoy!
Why Devon Izara Is The Breakout Star Of Maul: Shadow Lord
This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
Maul: Shadow Lord wildly exceeded my expectations. And at a time when the discourse surrounding Star Wars is still plenty toxic, that’s an accomplishment. But what made this show great wasn’t just the continuation of Maul’s story. It was from its most memorable breakout star, Devon Izara. And I believe she has a bright future ahead of her.
Filed under Jack's World, Star Wars, YouTube
Space Jam Vs. Space Jam 2: When A Sequel Misses The Point
This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
Space Jam was the quintessential 90s movie. It gave us Michael Jordan in his prime, the Looney Toons, and a simple, but fun experience.
Space Jam 2: A New Legacy tried to follow up with Lebron James. But what it delivered was…not nearly as fun. In fact, it completely missed the point of what the first did so well.
Filed under Jack's World, movies, YouTube
Why Pizza Hut’s Nostalgia-Fueled Revival Won’t Work (In The Long Run)
Growing up, I loved Pizza Hut. One of my favorite traditions was to order a large, cheese lovers pizza on Friday evening at the end of the week. From my perspective, the weekend didn’t truly start until I bit into that big slice of cheesy goodness.
On special occasions, we’d actually go to Pizza Hut. There was a classic, red cup and arcade equipped, Pizza Hut within walking distance of my parents’ home. And eating there was always fun. Between the arcade games, the food, and the personal pizza’s you’d get for completing your summer reading list in school, it was a great experience.
But that experience gradually disappeared. Starting in the mid-20100s, Pizza Hut began phasing out its sit-down restaurants and focused more on delivery. Many cite this effort as the start of a significant decline for Pizza Hut. Now, there were many other factors behind this decline. This YouTube video from the channel, Company Man, breaks it down nicely.
Regardless of how or why Pizza Hut declined, that experience I mentioned earlier still resonates strongly for people of a particular age. There’s a genuine nostalgia for the Pizza Hut people remembered from their youth. So, it shouldn’t be too surprising that, in an effort to regain some market share, some franchisees are looking to recreate that experience. While I can certainly appreciate the sentiment, I am also confident in making this statement.
This will NOT help Pizza Hut succeed in the long run.
Let me be clear. I’m not saying that as some expert in business, marketing, or economics. I’m saying that as someone who has eaten pizza regularly on a weekly basis for his entire life. I’ve eaten it in nearly every form, style, and topping you can imagine. I’ve eaten at every chain. I’ve had pizza from this hole-in-the-wall restaurant in New York City that was no bigger than my college dorm room.
What I’m trying to get across here is I know pizza. As a consumer, I am in the same league as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So, my instincts when it comes to pizza are honed, refined, and time-tested. And when it comes to Pizza Hut, the problem isn’t the lack of restaurants in the mold of its classic 90s aesthetic. The problem is the pizza itself and the way the company runs its operation.
In terms of operation, Pizza Hut is infamous for its inefficiency. Compared to its competitors, it’s bringing up the rear in terms of worker and customer satisfaction. Usually, when Pizza Hut makes the news, it’s to announce more store closures. At the same time, Dominoes finds ways to make headlines for far better reasons.
As for the pizza itself, this is where I have to get personal. The last time I ordered Pizza Hut was in 2016. And the only reason I did so was because my Dominoes order got messed up. At that point, I hadn’t had Pizza Hut in a long time. I hadn’t even been in one of their restaurants since 2005. I just hoped that the pizza was as good as I remembered.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
That cheese lovers pizza I loved as a kid was long gone. What I got instead tasted fine, but it was so bland. The cheese, the sauce, and the crust had no consistency. Even the greasiness, which used to be a fun byproduct of every slice, wasn’t there. What I got felt on par with a frozen pizza I could get at Walmart for half the price. I don’t even think I finished it, which is a big deal for me. If I don’t finish a pizza over the course of three days, that’s as clear a sign as any that it wasn’t good.
Since that fateful evening, I haven’t had anything from Pizza Hut. As for Dominoes, they actually made up for the order they screwed up. The manager at the Dominoes I go to, who I was on a first-name basis with, gave me a free pizza as compensation. I almost refused. But there’s just no way around it. Dominoes pizza is better. That didn’t used to be the case. But as I’m writing this, their pizza is just better than Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, and Little Caesars.
I’ll even take a moment to proclaim my love for Domino’s stuffed crust pizza. I don’t have those often. But when I do, it’s a real treat.
Despite nearly a decade of consistent pizza consumption, I’ve never felt at all inclined to eat from Pizza Hut. Even if they opened up an old school Pizza Hut restaurant a block from my home, I don’t know if I’d go. I admit I’d appreciate the vibes. I’d even play some of the old arcade games if they were there. But if the food is the same quality as it was back in 2016, then the nostalgia will wear off quickly. And I’d go back to ordering Dominoes.
In addition, there’s one final factor to consider with Pizza Hut’s nostalgia-driven approach. And I think it might end up being the most decisive. It boils down to one simple issue that transcends the pizza industry. People, in general, don’t have as much money to spend anymore.
Forget the politics for a moment. The numbers don’t lie. More and more people have fewer and fewer resources to spend. You might not consider going out to eat at Pizza Hut for dinner a luxury. But for people struggling to keep up with rising costs, it’s quickly becoming a luxury. If the option is getting in a car and wasting increasingly expensive gas on dining out or just ordering pizza online, then most people aren’t going to bother with the former. It’s just basic economics.
I can still appreciate the motivation and spirit behind this effort with Pizza Hut. A part of me will always cherish the memories I had of Pizza Hut as a kid. But a bigger part of me realizes I have to live in the here and now. As it stands, Pizza Hut offers a sub-par product from a brand that keeps faltering every step of the way. I won’t say Pizza Hut is beyond saving at this point. But if the company thinks nostalgia alone will save it, then they’re dead wrong.
Filed under nostalgia, rants, Uncategorized
Blame Us (Not Netflix) For What Movies Are Becoming
In January 2026, Matt Damon recounted how Netflix, one of the biggest distributers of movies on the planet, wants filmmakers to restate plot multiple times for an audience. Their reason for doing this has nothing to do with the content or artistic vision of a film. It’s just Netflix accommodating the sizable chunk of their audience who stream movies while also looking at their phones or tablets.
For accomplished filmmakers, this probably feels like studios and executives tampering with their art. It’s people in offices completely detached from the creative process trying to micromanage a product for consumers. The mere idea of changing their vision to accommodate a studio may seem inherently dirty. Since few creatives have the same influence as Matt Damon or Ben Affleck, they would probably capitulate to these demands.
A lot has been made of these remarks. Filmmakers, movie buffs, and general audiences of all kinds recoil at the idea of Netflix making such demands. The idea of studios and profit-hungry executives undermining art in the name of shareholders feels wrong on so many levels. But let’s take a step back from those feelings and share a brief bit of introspection.
Say what you want about Netflix, their business model, and capitalism in general. But they are not to blame for making such demands of filmmakers.
We are to blame.
We are the reason for this ongoing trend in movies and TV.
We are actively making it worse and companies like Netflix are just responding to this.
This isn’t a matter of opinion or principle. This is a well-documented phenomenon among the average consumer. People don’t just watch a movie or TV show anymore. They turn it on, watch for a bit, and casually do things on their phones or tablets as it plays. It rarely has anything to do with the quality or coherence of a movie. It’s just what people do these days.
I freely admit I do this. There are times when I’ll turn on a movie or TV show and casually do things on my iPad. Most of the time, I do this with movies or shows I’ve already seen multiple times. I also do it frequently while watching live sports, mostly during commercials or breaks in the action. Sometimes, if something comes up, I’ll just pause it so I can focus. But that’s fairly rare.
There have even been times where I don’t really engage with what I’m watching at all. I’ll have a movie, show, or sport on while I’m actively playing a video game. But I only do this with certain types of content. For something like a baseball game in the early innings or stand-up comedy specials, you don’t need to be continually watching. You can do other things and people did so before smartphones. It’s just more common now because smartphones enable us to do more things.
And I know I’m not the only one who does this. I’ve observed this with friends, relatives, and even people in a movie theater. Call it what you want. Lament how our attention spans are shrinking and our appreciation for real art is faltering. But that’s overly simplistic. It’s just another way of whining about people using their phones all the time.
I don’t deny that can be a problem. But it also ignores the bigger picture. People who complain act like humans thought, acted, and felt differently in the past. I imagine if people had smartphones at Woodstock in 1969, they would’ve used them the same way. If the average movie-goer had smartphones in the 1980s, they probably would’ve casually scrolled their social media feeds while Indiana Jones outran a boulder. To claim otherwise is to just be out of touch and smug.
No matter how you feel about this phenomenon, it’s misguided to blame Netflix. They didn’t create the smartphone. They didn’t put the idea in our heads to just use movies and TV shows as background noise while doomscrolling. They’re just responding to what their customers’ behavior. That’s what capable, competent businesses do.
If you want them to do something else, then it’s on us, the customer, to give them new incentives. If we are unwilling or unable to do so in an organized manner, then that’s not the fault of Netflix. It’s our fault. We either acknowledge that or we continue to make it worse by whining.
Filed under Artificial Intelligence, movies, technology, television
Why The Resident Evil Movies Have Been Terrible (So Far)
This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
Resident Evil has been the most popular survival horror game for decades. But when it comes to movies, the seven films we’ve gotten thus far have been lacking to say the least. That’s to be expected somewhat. Most of these movies were products of their time. They came out before movie studios cracked the code of quality video game adaptations.
But the flaws in the Resident Evil movies are a lot more noteworthy than most. In this video, I highlight the extent of these flaws. Enjoy!
Also, the video gameplay footage in the background was from my Twitch Stream. Let me know if you prefer this type of background from what I usually do.
Filed under Jack's World, movies, YouTube
A Cool New Song I Discovered
Every now and then, I come across a song that just hits me at the right time in the right situation. And for reasons that I can’t explain, it resonates with me. Whenever I find a song like this, it’s not uncommon for me to listen to that song on repeat 15 straight times. That’s the power of music. That’s what it can do for you.
I admit it’s a lot harder to come across songs like that these days. At my age, I’m very entrenched with my tastes. I’m always going to be more inclined to listen to the music that I’ve loved for years. So, when a new song does break through, it’s really something special.
The latest song to do that is by Owen James. It’s called “When I Stand.” It’s this haunting, soft rock with a touch of outlaw county vibe song that flows so beautifully. It’s a fairly new song so chances are you haven’t heard it yet. So please, do yourself a favor and listen to it. Here’s a video with the lyrics below.
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I also hope it resonate with you as strongly as it did for me. If it’s not your kind of music, that’s fine. I’m glad you gave it a chance. I hope you still appreciated it.
Now, there’s another reason I’m sharing this. I promise it’s a good reason. I wouldn’t be making an entire blog post about a song I just discovered unless there was something more to it. For this song and for Owen James, there’s an important detail to note. And it’s this.
Owen James, as well as this song, was created by AI.
Knowing this, listen to the song again. Does that information change how you feel about it? Does it change your emotional reaction to it? Is that change positive, negative, or entirely neutral? These are not trivial questions. Regardless of your feelings towards AI, it’s here. It’s not going away. It’s affecting multiple industries, including creative endeavors.
AI music, in particular, has become more prolific in the past couple years. Owen James isn’t even the first AI musician to make a splash. In July 2025, an AI band called Velvet Sundown made a song that generated one million streams on Spotify. That’s a hit by any measure. And it happend before people knew this band and this music was entirely AI.
Naturally, this changed attitudes. This triggered a mix of outrage, intrigue, and confusion. Music is one of those forms of art that can genuinely move us. When you find a song that’s truly powerful, it can be a spiritual experience. It feels like one of those things that AI cannot and should not be able to achieve.
But it did. It has. I even admit I had no idea Owen James or “When I Stand” was AI generated. But learning that didn’t change how I felt about the song. If anything, it impressed me even more. The idea that an AI could make a song like this that appeals to me is incredible. It says a lot about the current state of AI. I get why many find it scary, especially those in creative fields. I imagine musicians of all kinds felt a twinge of distress when they learned Velvet Sunrise made a hit song. There are musicians who dedicate their entire lives to making a song like that. But an AI achieve that with nothing but data, electricity, and algorithms.
Concerns like this have triggered calls for Spotify and other music distribution platforms to label AI-generated music. Those same calls demand an option that allows people to filter it out so that they can only get music made by humans. I actually support that. I think if people don’t want to hear AI music, no matter how good it might be in terms of appeal, that should be their choice. But ignoring AI music doesn’t change the results.
AI is capable of making music. And that music is good enough to garner an audience. As I’m writing this, the official video for “When I Stand” has drawn approximately 5.2 million views and over 108k likes. That’s a lot for any video for a new song of any kind. Look at the comments when you get a chance. There are many from people praising the song, even if they don’t know it’s AI.
Regardless of how you feel about it, chances are it won’t be the last AI song that turns out to be a hit. It also won’t be the last time AI does something in a creative field that succeeds on a level once reserved for humans. Despite resistance, these cases will happen as the technology improves and progresses. It’s bound to cause upheaval. It’s bound to generate more debate, distress, and controversy.
But if, at the end of the day, it still produces something you enjoy and cherish, what does it matter? That’s an open question and one that won’t have any easy answers.
Filed under AI Art, Artificial Intelligence, music
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