Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/October 27 to November 2, 2019

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Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga and User:Hugsyrup

Last week's report - Next Week's Report

So many things for me to run and hide

Halloween season is upon us, and adequately the Halloween is second on our report, between two scary people: the leader of a terrorist group who just got killed by the US Army (#1, #11), and the sociopathic clown who had topped our last four lists (#3, #25). Other spooky subjects are killer robots from the future (#5), an extreme haunted house (#19), criminals (#16), politics (#15), and death (#4, #8) - although there's also the holiday that tries to make the other side less terrifying (#14). Otherwise, there's Eastern movies from India (#10, #13) and Western movies from Netflix (#7, #9, #23), wrestling (#6), sports (#17, #18, #23), TV (#24), video games (#21), another holiday (#12), and the subject of a Google Doodle (#20)

For the week of October 27 to November 2, 2019, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:


Rank Article Class Views Image About
1 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi   1,573,480
 
The leader of the terrorist group ISIL (also known as ISIS), al-Baghdadi's years of living in hiding in Syria were brought to an end on 27 October when his compound was raided by Delta Force and al-Baghdadi detonated an explosive vest he was wearing.
2 Halloween   1,261,484
 
It comes around every year, on 31 October, but that apparently doesn't stop people from being curious to find out more about the year's spookiest celebration. How did it start? Why do people carve pumpkins, and why do kids get candy? All these questions and more are, of course, answered in this comprehensive Wikipedia article.
3 Joker (2019 film)   1,189,083
 
After a whole month atop the list, the unconventional comic book adaptation loses spots to a real life villain and the date that must have had many people dressed as the title character.
4 John Witherspoon (actor)   1,016,398
 
An actor\comedian with experience in both TV (The Wayans Bros.) and movies (the Friday series), John Witherspoon died at the age of 77.
5 Terminator: Dark Fate   862,467
 
James Cameron was livid when Alien 3 opened by unceremoniously killing the characters he introduced in Aliens. So how ironic that he decided to return to the Terminator series by suggesting a similar beginning death. Sure, Dark Fate has many things going for it, like its cast, effects and being as emotional as the first two; but throwing out the story that drove the others while still reusing the same plot structure (again) still undermines the experience. Audiences seem to agree, as in spite of the best reviews since Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Dark Fate opened to underwhelming box office and possibly terminated the possibility of sequels.
6 Crown Jewel (2019)   814,083
 
WWE returns to Saudi Arabia, and somehow getting over the country's limited women's rights by arranging a female fight, won by Natalya (pictured).
7 Henry V of England   792,083
 
Timothée Chalamet plays this British monarch is played in the Netflix release The King, which adapts the famed Shakespearean plays.
8 Deaths in 2019   750,467
 
It's just a Bitter Sweet Symphony this life
Try to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die
9 Rudy Ray Moore   696,695
 
Netflix released Dolemite Is My Name, about this famed comedian, musician, actor, and producer who took on the persona of an articulate pimp in both his stand-up routine and a series of Blaxploitation films.
10 Housefull 4   648,630
 
Bollywood is doing the franchise game as well as Hollywood, as the current box office hit is the fourth in a "comedy of errors" series, starring among others Kriti Sanon (pictured).
11 Kayla Mueller   620,842
 
The operation that killed #1 was codenamed "Kayla Mueller" after a humanitarian aid worker who was kidnapped, brutalized and killed by ISIL in Aleppo. The success must have brought some peace to her father (pictured).
12 Diwali   617,057
 
India had again the "festival of lights" holiday, during which our #10 hit theaters.
13 Bigil   599,340
 
Speaking of Indian movies, the highest-grossing Kollywood production of the year, starring Vijay as both a crime don and his son who attempts to become a footballer.
14 Day of the Dead   596,138
 
Two days after All Hallows' Eve (#2), comes the day of the deceased, source of amusing Mexican art involving skulls and skeletons.
15 Katie Hill (politician)   577,153
 
American politicians getting ruined for sexual escapades have become a common occurrence - only this time it happened to a woman. Less than a year into her term in Congress, Hill was forced to resign following alleged sexual indiscretions with a staffer, an admitted affair with an aide ("you shouldn't have sex with anyone who works with you, unless you're Captain von Trapp"), and things going full revenge porn as nude pictures of her were leaked.
16 Jeffrey Epstein   557,784
 
Apparently the pedophile financier didn't just hang himself in prison, as the autopsy has found evidence of homicidal strangulation.
17 Rugby World Cup   533,462
 
The South African "Springboks" are now tied with the New Zealand "All Blacks" as the biggest winners of this tournament after their triumph in Japan.
18 Washington Nationals   523,160
 
Following over a decade of suffering (and a few more back in Canada), the baseball team from D.C. won it all in a World Series that weirdly had all games won by the away team.
19 McKamey Manor   518,153
 
'tis the season for scary stuff. And this haunted house which started in San Diego and is now in both Tennessee and Arkansas seemingly goes too far, with thousands of signatures requesting it to be shut down calling it a "torture chamber".
20 Sylvia Plath   508,665
 
Google remembered the birthday of the poet who translated her clinical depression into acclaimed verses.
21 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019 video game)   476,436
 
Activision continues to get all the money possible out of their first-person shooter franchise, which made a whopping $600 million in just three days.
22 List of World Series champions   470,369
 
Two years ago, the Houston Astros joined this club. And now they let our #18 become baseball champions too.
23 Dolemite   458,768
 
"The tough, black mineral that won't cop out when there's heat all about!" I mean, the movie starring the pimp alter ego of our #9, whose production is now depicted on Netflix with Eddie Murphy in the lead role.
24 Watchmen (TV series)   457,791
 
DC Comics already made prequels and sequels to their acclaimed comic miniseries, so sister company HBO is also doing a follow-up to the world of Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan & co.
25 Joaquin Phoenix   423,663
 
The star of our #3, a role he liked very much in spite of the mental and physical ordeals.