This paper is devoted to the study of generalized tilting theory of functor categories in different levels. First, we extend Miyashita’s proof (Math Z 193:113–146,1986) of the generalized Brenner–Butler theorem to arbitrary functor categories $\mathop{\textrm{Mod}}\nolimits\!(\mathcal{C})$ with $\mathcal{C}$ an annuli variety. Second, a hereditary and complete cotorsion pair generated by a generalized tilting subcategory $\mathcal{T}$ of $\mathop{\textrm{Mod}}\nolimits \!(\mathcal{C})$ is constructed. Some applications of these two results include the equivalence of Grothendieck groups $K_0(\mathcal{C})$ and $K_0(\mathcal{T})$, the existences of a new abelian model structure on the category of complexes $\mathop{\textrm{C}}\nolimits \!(\!\mathop{\textrm{Mod}}\nolimits\!(\mathcal{C}))$, and a t-structure on the derived category $\mathop{\textrm{D}}\nolimits \!(\!\mathop{\textrm{Mod}}\nolimits \!(\mathcal{C}))$.

We give a list of statements on the geometry of elliptic threefolds phrased only in the language of topology and homological algebra. Using only notions from topology and homological algebra, we recover existing results and prove new results on torsion pairs in the category of coherent sheaves on an elliptic threefold.