Happy New Year! Whether you've landed on this site for the first time or you're a faithful regular, as always, thank you for reading.

Besides the customary annual top-ten, I don't usually make lists. But as we bid farewell to 2025, it seems like the perfect time to reflect on the top movie from the last 25 years.

A quarter of a century is a big chunk from anyone's lifetime. What were you doing in 2001? Earlier that year, the Oscar for Best Picture went to Gladiator instead of the more deserving Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which remains an exhilarating watch all these years later no matter how many times you've seen it.

The evolution of the film industry the last 25 years has seen a rise in digital filmmaking and the blossoming of independent films and smaller studios. Superhero franchises have gone past the saturation point. Streaming gains increasing prominence. You can even watch a new release on your computer but please, tell me you will never watch a movie on your phone.

To what degree will AI take over in the next 25 years? No one could say for certain at this moment. But the art and craft of storytelling -- by humans, I might add -- remains the core and heart of filmmaking. Stories that are well told, performances that convey relatable sentiments, ideas that resonate, entertain, move or surprise us – they still count, and memories of these movies stay with us, year after year.

I'm not going to list the top-ten of each year and give you 250 titles. Nobody will read that. So I'll list only those at number-one. I might not even agree now with a few of my choices made so long ago, but they meant something at the time. The best film of the 2000s in my view is In the Mood for Love, which I didn't even place near number-one the year it was released. That said, here are the 25 titleholders.

2001: Memento

A bold and intriguing brainteaser from a young director by the name of Christopher Nolan, Memento's reverse plot structure demands repeat viewings to discover the genius and audacity of an auteur on the rise.

2002: Adaptation

Meta-storytelling and self-references turn a botany book into a cinematic curio, with a double-dose of Nicolas Cage for twice the artistic angst and disdain. A never-to-be-repeated comedy that caught lightning in a bottle.

2003: The Hours

The lives of three women in three eras bound inextricably by the same book. Life's momentous decisions, irreversible choices and existential crossroads explored in an intimate and cinematic triptych in an organic flow.

2004: 21 Grams

A gritty portrait of messy lives told in disjointed vignettes. Characters cross paths, bringing raw emotions and unflinching convictions in search of justice and redemption in a tragedy about broken people.

2005: Million Dollar Baby

Clint Eastwood knocks the air out of your chest with this boxing drama that's really a haunting story about families, biological and surrogate, told with his signature crustiness and graced with a bittersweet steeliness from Hilary Swank.

2006: Brokeback Mountain

A cultural landmark that opened eyes and minds and nudged open the iron gates of Hollywood. Finally a mainstream triumph that recognised the love long denied by society. Elegiac, compelling and historic.

2007: Atonement

Modern literary adaptation at its finest. Romance, betrayal, the ravages of war and a lifelong endeavour in redemption for a thoughtless lie spoken in youthful spite. Period drama with a palpitating urgency.

2008: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Brother against brother, sons against father. A crime thriller and a family tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions staged with arthouse sensibilities and mainstream artistry. Sidney Lumet's superlative final film.

2009: Let the Right One In

A supernatural pall befalls childhood loneliness and schoolyard bullying in this Swedish vampire horror. Boy meets girl, boy discovers girl's dark secret, boy affirms eternal bond with a promise written in blood. Chilling, melancholic, suspenseful and humane.

2010: The Social Network

David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin chart the birth of Facebook in an exploration of insecurity, sexism and hubris. Who would've thought you'd feel so much sympathy for a tech-bro? A defiant juxtaposition of high IQ and low EQ with style and panache.

2011: The Tree of Life

From the birth of the universe to 1950s Texas, Terrence Malick weaves a mesmerising dream tapestry across the vastness of space and time. Soaring, oblique, cosmic. Like a retreat for the soul, it will fill you with a transcendental awe for the power of meditative cinema.

2012: Life of Pi

A survival tale so unbelievable and miraculous it resembles a religious parable. Magical and glorious, the film overflows with a sense of wonder as a boy adrift with a tiger in the ocean searches for dry land and meaning.

2013: Gravity

This simple story of a stranded astronaut finding her way back to Earth is an achievement of technical sophistication that's out of this world. A vicarious space walk so stunningly staged that if you experience Gravity in 3D on a wide screen, it's an absolute thrill ride.

2014: Her

Prophetic as a love story for the 21^st century, Her is also a sweet-natured caution on a trend that some might consider improbable but nonetheless, not inconceivable. This is human-centred sci-fi that talks to your brain but whispers to your heart.

2015: Ex Machina

A deceptive game of control between human and AI turns deadly in this futuristic neo-noir. Mysterious, intriguing, Ex Machina takes the sub-genre of robot sci-fi to a haunting level.

2016: Arrival

A fleet of alien vessels have landed and a linguist is tasked to communicate with our interstellar visitors. Arrival is a cerebral rumination on how we perceive our lives and asks if we would change anything if we have memories of a future yet to be lived.

2017: Moonlight

Chronicling three ages in the life of its protagonist, Moonlight is a deeply-felt observation of a man's search for self-worth and identity in a hyper masculine culture and an oppressed environment. Nuanced, empathetic, an intense journey of self-discovery.

2018: Roma

Alfonso Cuaron recalls his childhood in Mexico City as seen through the eyes of a domestic maid. Exquisitely filmed nostalgic reverie clouded over by remembrances of a broken family and social unrest in an ode to the women who raised him.

2019: Parasite

Comedic, suspenseful and shocking, Parasite is a biting genre-blending satire on the social inequality in South Korea. Narratively airtight, technically brilliant and artfully directed. Perfectionists approved.

2020: 1917

The most immersive war movie shot to resemble a single take, propulsive and unblinking as we journey with two soldiers across war-ravaged ruins to deliver an urgent message to the frontline. We become emotionally invested in their linear odyssey of bravery and sacrifice as a result of the precise choreography and execution of its filmmaking.

2021: The Father

Anthony Hopkins elevates a movie about dementia to a first-person experience of lived-in bewilderment and incapacity. Enclosed in a headspace of fading memories and disconnect is a poignant portrait to cherish the people who gave us life.

2022: Everything Everywhere All At Once

As insane as it is original, this rambunctious and tender jaw-dropper is a surreptitious family drama about crushed hopes and lost dreams disguised as a spectacle of craziness. The masterful tonal shifts alone deserves a dissertation.

2023: Past Lives

Childhood sweethearts reconnect after 24 years. In a mellow and mature examination of first love and missed opportunities, Past Lives invokes the idea of fate and timing, suggesting romance as the consequence of destiny, yet ultimately the choice is ours to make.

2024: Perfect Days

Life is a checklist of expectations unless you're the toilet cleaner who has found the secret to serenity and contentment. A wondrous lesson in priorities and values, this film takes a minimalist approach in the search for the principle of living a fulfilled life in gratitude.

2025: Train Dreams

An ordinary man. An unremarkable life. A magnificent rendering of a lifetime in a sublimely beautiful and quietly majestic journey of love, loss, joy and darkness. Connect with people, connect with nature – that's the beauty of it all.

What are some of your favourites from the recent past? Share in the comments below.