Digital Home’s top pick on Blu-ray this week is “Mary and Max,” a claymation feature from Australia which tells the story of an over 20-year pen-pal friendship between two very different people: Mary, a chubby, lonely 8-year-old girl in Australia, and Max, a severely obese 44-year-old Jewish man, who lives an isolated life in New York City.

The central focus of the movie is the letters shared between Mary and Max (from the ages of 8 to 26 and 44 to 62, respectively) and the stories behind their life and the lives of people around them.

Australian Writer-director Adam Elliot said the character of Max was inspired by a pen-pal in New York who Elliot had been writing to for over twenty years.

Mary and Max received positive reviews and holds a 91% approval rating among Rotten Tomatoes Top Critics. It was awarded the Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature at the 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival and the "Cristal" Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature at the French Animation Festival of Annecy.

Other notable films to consider this week on Blu-ray are "Youth in Revolt," a generally well received teenage comedy about a sixteen year boy (Brampton born Michael Cera) who has his sight on his dream (Portia Doubleday) and "The Book of Eli," a post-apocalyptic action film starring Denzel Washington a loner, who is charged to journey west in order to deliver his copy of a book, the very last remaining King James Version of the Bible, to a safe location.

The following is a list of Blu-ray titles set for release this week. (Canadian readers should note that every effort has been made to confirm these titles will be available in Canada this week, however, actual release dates are subject to change)
  • American Bandits Frank and Je
  • Book of Eli
  • Cartel
  • Circle of Pain
  • Control Alt Delete
  • Darkman
  • Dire Straits Alchemy Live
  • Flash Gordon 30th Anniversary Edition
  • Happy Together
  • The Horseman
  • Mary and Max
  • Mystery Train
  • Sanctuary: The Complete First Season
  • Sanctuary: The Complete Second Season
  • The Shadows: The Final Tour
  • Showgirls (15th Anniversary Edition)
  • The Stepfather
  • Supernatural: The Complete First Season
  • Unthinkable
  • Vengeance Trilogy
  • When in Rome
  • Youth in Revolt

Discuss the latest releases in Digital Home's Blu-Ray, DVD and at the Theatres discussion forum .