top 25 Report/October 16 To 22, 2022

Prepared with commentary by YttriumShrew, Igordebraga and an anonymous editor

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Thanks to the Netflix series about him, Jeffrey Dahmer has now topped a fifth list in a row, although that streak is highly unlikely to be extended thanks to a certain important person. Other than that, the release of the DCEU film Black Adam, the continuing success of Kantara and the resignation of Liz Truss populate the rest of our top four this week.

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	Notes/about
1	Jeffrey Dahmer		3,100,706		Fascination with this serial killer's Netflix show managed to make him both become the first article with five straight #1 appearances since a terrible thing from 2020 and a terrible thing from 1986 (the latter also boosted by a show!) and overtake #24 as the most viewed article of the year. (I for one can't wait for The Crown to possibly make the current third place push the Milwaukee Cannibal off the top spot). His streak is unlikely to be extended to a sixth week thanks to a certain important person.
2	Black Adam (film)		1,745,481		The DC Extended Universe returns by bringing in Dwayne Johnson as Teth-Adam, who is essentially a darker version of Shazam hard to define morality-wise (as put by DC League of Super-Pets, "Anti-hero. It’s basically exactly like a regular hero, except way cooler. You make up your own rules, and then you break ’em. Also you can ignore most moral and ethical conventions because no one can stop you." "Yeah, that sounds a lot like a villain."). In spite of this transgressive protagonist nature, the movie has enough shortcomings to earn mixed reviews, but audiences - especially those already into superheroes or the larger-than-life star - don't care as Black Adam is set to become one of The Rock's biggest box office openings.
3	Liz Truss		1,742,894		Forty-five days. That's how long Liz Truss lasted as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Which is especially amazing when you consider that her tenure was only that long because the Queen died and delayed her plans for two weeks. Her shambolic tenure in office was defined by the TRUE TORY BUDGET her government announced, which included large-scale, unfunded tax cuts for people with lots of money. Weirdly, this turned out to be a bad idea, to the point of warranting emergency intervention from the Bank of England and Truss being forced to reverse the entire policy, and then forced to resign. The lettuce won.
4	Kantara (film)		1,463,934		Sandalwood put out this picture set in the eponymous mystical forest, as a buffalo racer and a forest service officer come up against a long-held curse. Unlike most recent Bollywood releases, many of which have at best been described as anticlimaxes, this one started out small before surging into a hit, spurred by glowing reviews and very positive audience reception. Hombale Films now hold the top three spots on the list of highest-grossing Kannada films.
5	House of the Dragon		1,249,171		Only one episode left for HBO's Game of Thrones prequel, although the suspense was slightly broken after someone leaked the finale ahead of its release.
6	The Watcher (2022 TV series)		1,048,464		In addition to #1's show, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan (pictured) also put out this show on Netflix about a New Jersey family haunted by a stalker.
7	Deaths in 2022		899,133		We will all go together when we go What a comforting fact that is to know...
8	Halloween Ends		799,724		Showing how the final chapter of the Michael Myers story (at least until another attempt at rebooting the franchise...) ended up disappointing too many people, the second weekend box office had such a steep drop (80%!) that the movie went from the top spot to fourth, behind #2, star-studded newcomer Ticket to Paradise, and, most damningly, fellow horror movie Smile, which has been in theaters for a month!
9	2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup		748,064		The latest edition of the Whacky-Cricket World Cup began play this week, most of which was taken up by the pools to decide which of the teams that didn't auto-qualify would make the main pools; SPOILERS: Ireland, Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. In a major shock, the West Indies were knocked out early. Then the main pools started on Saturday, and hosts and defending champions Australia got off to a bad start after New Zealand thrashed them in the opening game thanks to Smashy and Half-Century Man.
10	Black Adam		709,911		Interest in the film has many readers wanting to know more about the origins of the comic book character. Unlike Dwayne Johnson who portrays Black Adam in the 2022 film the comic book character is depicted with black hair and pointy ears. Even after reading the article, I still have no idea why his ears are pointy.
11	UFC 280		684,754		UFC's latest event.
12	Christopher Scarver		673,704		The interest in #1 continues to bring the guy who murdered him into the list.
13	The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power		671,365		Amazon's prequel series to the Lord of the Rings aired its final episode near the end of last week, which will presumably mean that this is its last week here.
14	Midnights		658,464		Taylor Swift's latest release, breaking records for most single-day streams for an album across various platforms, and also selling nearly a million physical copies in the U.S. alone.
15	ICC Men's T20 World Cup		618,556		Australia's major cricket grounds will be busy hosting this tournament; as I write this the MCG is hosting the match.
16	Ballon d'Or		592,832		The yearly award for the best footballer of the season according to France Football. For once Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi got no votes, and Karim Benzema took the top prize.
17	Penny Mordaunt		592,317		After becoming a surprise contender for the prime ministership during the last Conservative leadership contest in July, the Leader of the House (I won't try to explain what that means) ran again this week to replace #3, but failed to secure the necessary number of backers, clearing the way for Rishi Sunak to take the reins (and definitely make an appearance here next week).
18	Robbie Coltrane		565,149		Perhaps best known for his role as Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter films he will be remembered fondly by many. The actor himself once said "you could be watching it in 50 years’ time, easy. I'll not be here, sadly… but Hagrid will."[1]
19	Ponniyin Selvan: I		549,920		Mani Ratnam's adaptation of a Tamil literary classic is still pulling in money well. Apparently the second part is planned to release next year.
20	Karim Benzema		548,708		Won #16 after a great season with Real Madrid (44 goals in 46 games while winning another La Liga and Champions League) and helping his France get to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which he'll probably play after being left off the victorious 2018 team for a prior controversy.
21	The Blair Witch Project		508,753		The scary movie that did not create the found footage genre but certainly popularized it upon its release 23 years ago. Reddit learned there was supposed to be an actual appearance of the Blair Witch, but it wound up unfilmed due to a cameraman mistake.
22	Premier League		507,122		The English championship continues to run until next month's interruption to let many of its players visit the desert.
23	Rishab Shetty		506,045		The main driving force behind #4 was this man, who directed and starred in it, and who it has accorded some level of fame in India.
24	2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine		494,696		Most of the news from the front this week was actually from behind it, as Russia began evacuating the city of Kherson in anticipation of a Ukrainian counterassault. Kind of embarrassing given Russia recently declared Kherson would be part of Russia forever.
25	Diwali		488,986		Diwali is a festival of lights Let me tell you somethingTonight has been one crazy night So put on your saris It's time to celebrate Diwali...