I'm a judge for the Digital Entertainment Group's annual Creative Excellence Awards, which honor the best DVDs and Blu-ray releases of the year. But since the nominees are selected by the submitting studios, the choices are limited. (There are write-in votes, but my experience is that such a choice has no chance of getting an award.) And with some of the studios not sending review copies of all of those titles, some couldn't even be considered. The awards won't be announced until the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in a few weeks, but here are the selections from my ballot:

Theatrical: Up (Blu-ray).

Disney/Pixar's animated film was not only my favorite movie of the year, but the Blu-ray release was out of this world. Aside from inviting extras, Disney released the film in the three-format edition that is starting to catch on -- Blu-ray disc, DVD and digital copy for portable devices. Star Trek might have had a chance here, based on the announced content and my love for the film, but Paramount never sent a copy, so I couldn't consider it. Regardless, Up is my DVD/Blu-ray of the year, with or without the DEG contest.

Catalog: The Wizard of Oz (Blu-ray)
Warner's deluxe edition of the oft-released classic is a stunner with an embarrassing amount of extras and physical collectibles, including even a watch. The only bummer is that the Blu-ray version is available only as a pricey deluxe edition. The same goes for Gone With the Wind, which might have usurped Oz's place but, again, Warner didn't submit it for my consideration.

TV: Rome: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
The TV category has become a big shrug. The nominees include complete-series sets, which are often just a repackaging of previously released seasons sets in one box. I don't think they should even be elegible, but others don't agree -- with a complete-series set of The Sopranos winning last year. So I've joined in on the shrug-fest by picking the Blu-ray presentation of HBO's Roman epic.

Non-theatrical: Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (Blu-ray)
"Non-theatrical" is a nice way of saying "direct to video." Disney blazed the trail in that genre, and its latest animated entry, while nothing special, is as good as any of its previous releases.

Music: The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter (Blu-ray)
I almost never care for the nominees in this category, and that's true again this year. But the classic Stones concert documentary is the usual fine presentation from the Criterion Collection.

My sentimental pick for Blu-ray of the year? That would be the stunning edition of my favorite film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- although I wish there had been an option to watch the film in its theatrical cut. (It wasn't nominated for the DEG award, by the way.) What was your favorite DVD or Blu-ray this year?