Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/June 9 to 15, 2019

The Top 25 Report

This page contains material that is kept because it is considered humorous.
Such material is not meant to be taken seriously.

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (June 9 to 15, 2019)

Prepared with commentary by Stormy clouds

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We've got a city to burn

The technophilic early adopters of society promised that, in the age of social media and YouTube, television would decline in influence. This report, along with several of its immediate predecessors, goes some ways towards dispelling this idea, instead demonstrating the fact that millions of television aficionados are using Wikipedia on a second screen to research their favourite shows and the events that inspired them while absorbing the content, leaving the real life tragedies behind HBO and Netflix's latest hits atop the report. Outside television, we have entries arriving directly from the cinema, from various sporting disciplines, and from video games. It is far from the most diverse report ever produced, with an abnormal number of holdover entries, but it was nonetheless a joy to compile, curate, and comment upon. Enjoy.

Without further ado, for the week of June 9 to 15, 2019, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Views	About
1	Chernobyl disaster	2,623,668	The 1986 nuclear disaster that has captured the attention of millions of Wikipedians for several weeks continues to preserve its exclusionary grip at the apex of the report. As you are doubtless aware, #7 has restored the catastrophic meltdown to the zenith of the zeitgeist, with millions investigating the accuracy of the excellent miniseries, and discovering, as the Soviets did, that RBMK reactors do explode, to the detriment of Eastern Europe.
2	Keanu Reeves	1,828,525	You're breathtaking.
3	Central Park jogger case	1,485,634	Another real life tragedy that has been propelled back into the spotlight by an acclaimed miniseries, albeit a vastly more localised one than fatal fission mistakes at Pripyat. In 1989, Trisha Meili was raped while jogging through the famed New York park, and five teenagers with minority backgrounds were infamously wrongly convicted of the heinous assault, amidst a campaign proposing capital punishment orchestrated by (sigh) You Know Who. The imprisonment of the Central Park Five, and their subsequent exoneration, is explored in-depth by Ava DuVernay in #8.
4	Kawhi Leonard	1,464,897	A certified memelord, Kawhi Leonard has become a surprising hero as he led the Raptors to the NBA Finals, scoring a vital buzzer beater against The Process and the Sixers, aiding in the hunting of the Bucks, and then racking up vital points against the Golden State Warriors to become MVP for the second time in his career, joining the ranks of LeBron, Kareem, and #21.
5	Avengers: Endgame	1,046,535	When Captain America throws his mighty shield, All those who oppose his shield must yield. If he's led to a box office fight, and a Na'vi duel is due, Then the red and the white and the blue will fall $40 million short of coming through. So if you are fond of the ocean, then you may need to yield.
6	Dark Phoenix (film)	1,031,137	Sophie Turner has developed quite a knack for delivering abject, abominable endings to beloved series in recent weeks, hasn't she? In fairness to Mrs. Jonas, she does her best in the latest, and final, installment of the X-Men series as the epnoymous fallen hero, but unfortunately cannot redeem a fundamentally atrocious film. Kudos to Simon Kinberg for butchering the storyline again - he at least ensured, by scorching the series irredeemably, that fans won't object to the inevitable MCU reboot.
7	Chernobyl (miniseries)	857,950	Two acclaimed miniseries by the current powerhouses of television programming dominate the report (again), reigniting public interest in horrific incidents of the Eighties (so, reverse nostalgia?). This recent spare of incredibly gripping miniseries, coupled with the prior release of the engrossing Sharp Objects, means that the Emmy race for Limited Series will be hotly contested, to a much greater extent than other categories.
8	When They See Us	851,319
9	List of highest grossing films	816,874	Take down the bunting and throw out the cake, box office enthusiasts, as, barring some freakishly late resurgence in ticket sales, the top spot on this list will remain unobtainable, even for Earth's Mightiest Heroes, as it appears the aftermath of the annihilation of half the universe is a less enticing cinematic experience than Ferngully, but with aliens and borderline bestiality (gotta say James, that hair connection thing is suspect).
10	2019 FIFA Women's World Cup	774,642	The women's version of FIFA's premiere international tournament is underway en France currently, with the foremost nations in women's football doing battle on the pitch for the eternal glory that triumph will provide. The defending champions, the US, got their campaign underway with a 13-0 trashing of minnows Thailand, where they courted controversy for goal celebrations which many deemed to be excessive.
11	Rafael Nadal	769,905	Historians will tell you that the absolute rule of France fell along with the French forces at Waterloo, and such supremacy was never wielded over the nation again. As tennis fans watched a dominant Rafael Nadal win his twelth title on the clay of Roland Garros in emphatic fashion, they would beg to differ. It is difficult to envision Nadal in Paris for the foreseeable future... provided he can remain fit.
12	Toronto Raptors	739,635	Wikipedias, especially the most apologetic members of our community, have been completely captivated by the Raptors' run through the playoffs, and their plight to triumph over the twice reigning champions and place the prestigious Larry O'Brien trophy in their cabinet for the first time. Courtesy of #4 and a season-ending injury to #21, they managed to pull off the impossible and win the series 4-2.
13	Deaths in 2019	707,271	As ever, the list of the fallen maintains a presence in the Top 25, as the denizens of Wikipedia take their ritualistic voyage to see who has been taken by the reaper - a list headed this week by Franco Zeffirelli, Philomena Lynott, and our #20.
14	Bharat (film)	651,165	While Bollywood is famous for much of its elaborate dance scenes, it is the Khan-Khan that makes the industry go round. This time, Aamir and Shah Rukh sit out on the sidelines, and Salman takes the spotlight with an action-centred star vehicle, produced by the Pewd's mortal enemy. The film has taken in a significant number of crore, but been critically mauled.
15	2019 Cricket World Cup	610,056	The world's second most popular sport is also midway through a World Cup presently, with the prominent cricket teams of the world going head-to-head all across England, from The Oval to Old Trafford in a series of ODIs. The tournament has been gripping, with titanic clashes between gargantuan teams, such as the heated contest between India and Pakistan which saw the blue team triumph.
16	List of Black Mirror episodes	584,981	The latest batch of episodes of Charlie Brooker's technophobia-inducing anthology dropped on Netflix recently, and it is fair to say that they have left fans whelmed. Having rushed to watch the trio of episodes, I can (with worrying ease) rank them from worst to best: 3) Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too, 2) Striking Vipers, and 1) Smithereens.
17	I Am Mother	580,230	Speaking of science-fiction hits from Binge buster, we have I Am Mother, an enjoyable flick evocative of old school sci-fi. Starring Rose Byrne and Hilary Swank, the film has been positively received, but hasn't broken out in similar fashion to some inferior fare.
18	Elton John	577,388	And I guess that's why they call it the blues. Time on my hands, could be time spent with you. Laughing like children, living like lovers. Rolling like thunder, under the covers. And I guess that's why they call it the blues.
19	David Ortiz	568,715	While two of the Big Four leagues drew to a close, attention was turned towards baseball as a Red Sox legend was the victim of a shooting in the Dominican Republic which left him in critical condition. Thankfully, it appears that medical staff have been able to save Ortiz's life, and all will be hoping Big Papi recovers rapidly (especially Kenan Thompson).
20	Girish Karnad	565,533	Girish Karnad was a literary maestro across a whole sphere of topics, making his presence felt in the worlds of Bollywood (both on and off camera), works written in Kannada, and the Indian theatre scene. He died at the age of 81 this week, sending the Indian contingent of our community to investigate and remember one of the foremost figures of recent Indian literature.
21	Kevin Durant	562,960	Kevin Durant, in my limited knowledge of basketball, is a divisive figure, with many commending his obvious talent, but many considering him a glory-hunting traitor, especially in Oklahoma. However, his pursuit of victory, a pursuit that led him to the Warriors, proved to be an unsuccessful one during the finals as he exacerbated an injury to the Achilles Tendon. He is now faced with a lengthy recuperation period.
22	Aladdin (2019 film)	548,896	Audiences have been captivated by Guy Ritchie's live-action adaptation of Disney's beloved animated classic, and have flocked in droves to cinemas to be taken to A Whole New World (again). I guess it's rewind time after all.
23	List of NBA champions	537,888	Considering that James Naismith, the founder of the game of basketball, came from the land of Tim Hortons, Maple Syrup, and Mounties, it is somewhat surprising that the Canadians never managed to seize a world title - until #4 took #12 all the way to prevent the three-peat and bring the championship to the Great White North.
24	Men in Black: International	516,723	Did you want more MiB, but without the two main reasons to watch it? Did you ever wonder if Thor: Ragnarok would be improved by removing the superhero action, humour, direction, and just lifting the leads? Did you long for something even nearly as entertaining as the trailer without background music that leaked? If so, I have the middling action comedy for you, and evidently just you.
25	Billie Eilish	497,549	The singer of "Bad Guy" (duh) has been a permanent fixture of the report for what feels like months now, so I am not going to elaborate on her any further - click the blue link to the left if you want to learn more about her. Rather, I will briefly discuss the Electronic Entertainment Expo, because I want to, and you are powerless to stop me. E3 was a subdued affair this year in the absence of Sony, but it still had its moments - Cyberpunk 2077 looks, well, breathtaking, Halo: Infinite seems to be a long overdue return to form, old women hackers are lethal, Devolver Digital continue to get it, and Xbox Game Pass flexed its muscles to assert itself as the best value in gaming. All in all, it was a promising look to the future of video games.

Exclusions

This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.

Note: If you came here from the Signpost article, please take any discussion of exclusions to this article's talk page.