THE GREATER GOOD!!!
ok, hot fuzz is mine. then shaun, and then worlds end.
hot fuzz is just, too good. very rarely are there 'misses' in the writing, it has a superb cast, and it is a genuinely good movie by itself. not to mention the gore is such a damn surprise, that church spire scene is unforgettable. it doesn't try to shoehorn in a romance story when it doesn't apply to the characters, it focuses on a much more basic principle: friendship.
plus i personally think it has the best one-liners in the trilogy, especially with the Andies' contribution. it just ticks all the boxes for me, and is one of my favourite movies in general.
shaun is also really really good, and while i wouldn't say it misses the mark, it doesn't quite hit a bullseye every time. again, it was very well done and an excellent start to the trilogy, but i find action/mystery and comedy merges slightly better than horror and comedy. i guess my criticism then stems from the merging of genres as opposed to anything the films actually do differently, but i'd be hard pressed to think of many more criticisms.
worlds end i haven't seen enough to pass proper judgement. but when i watched it i didn't feel it had a strong enough conclusion. it was a lot of build up that just got a bit confusing. i'll watch it a few more times, but i think this one had a lot of the comedy aspects quite separate from the other genres of the film, whereas hot fuzz and shaun of the dead seemed to merge it all into one.
but favourites aside, the cornetto trilogy is brilliant, and is a wonderful example of where comedy can be worked into films which would stand up on their own in their respective genres. edgar wright and simon pegg really understand a lot of the signifiers - both obvious and subtle - that go into these films, and implement them really well.