The best black and white movies...in the modern age

That looks like my kind of movie! Thanks for posting that, I just added it to my Netflix Queue.

It's the bee's knees, I tell ya!

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

HA

I just watched this today and thought it was great. It's a film like no other, that's for sure. Just watch the opening then get back to me if you ain't already hooked.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

Purple Rose of Cairo makes great use of switching between B+W and color



Broadway Danny Rose





Stardust Memories





Manhattan
All by Woody Allen.

Kind of linked to this but what would be the first "retro" black and white film? that is one where the choice to shoot it in that fashion was deliberately looking backwards rather than being a hold out to the switch to colour?

Maybe The Last Picture Show in 1971?

Dr. Strangelove

Yeah that might be a candidate for the earliest retro B&W film as well, its still in an era were a high percentage of ambitious cinema(including all of Kurbick's work bar the more "for hire" job on Spartacus) wasn't colour but Strangelove definitely has elements to it that look back to the 40's and 50's.

Hey! Where's Major Kong?

I guess 'The Painted Bird' needs to be added to the list, and 'Leto' if it hasn't already.

Has "Ed Wood" been mentioned? If not, it has now. Burton's best output.

This is a tough one because there are some great films which happen to be in B/W, but which would still be great films in color. There are other films which are great, in substantive part, because of the manner in which B/W is part of the artwork. B/W films which exploit deep contrasts and capture shadow in that unique way and which artistically merges with the message of the film would seem to be true standouts--those films which would be massively diminished presented in color.There is an alchemy to the best B/W images (which is strongly evidenced by B/W still photography, which is always popular), which color films lack.

The lighthouse

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"If you're good at something never do it for free".

I always liked Angel-A (2005) by Luc Besson and the animated film Renaissance (2006).

I feel like this movie gets short-shrift because it won the Oscar but when I saw it I thought it was really something else.

I agree. A great film. Bogdanovich said that it was Orson Welles' strong suggestion to him to shoot it in black & white. That would be one of cinema's great suggestions!

I was on the road in England at the time, and saw it at a wonderful movie palace in London. It made me so homesick that I wanted to get on a plane and fly home!

Lovely movie. I watched it on Prime a couple of years ago knowing nothing about it. About 15 minutes in, I noticed it was in Polish (I think), and didn't offer even CC subs. But I was already enchanted and sat through the rest. Didn't understand a word, but enjoyed every frame.

A couple of 90s indies not yet mentioned: Nadja, In The Soup, Begotten, Soderbergh's Kafka.

I like to try modern films in B&W on occasion as an experiment. I've been very happy with Shutter Island in this format. I think this works best for its post-war noir atmosphere and Welles and Tourneur influences. Also, some of the CGI looks better in B&W, the "ash" scene is one that comes off more naturally. Over all, it's a modern B&W film that should have been.

I absolutely LOVED The Artist... I think a rewatch is due

New ones:

The Small Town
The Tragedy of Mcbeth
CMon Cmon
The Servatns
Dear Comrades
Persepolis