38 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013

M u s i c & M o v i e s

Black-and-white movies are a rarity today, of course, but they nevertheless cling to a persistent and exceptional existence among more flashy fare

at the multiplexes. Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska,” which opens tomorrow in limited release, follows several no-table films this year that have opted for monochrome over color, including Noah Baumbach’s New York tale “Frances Ha” and Joss Whedon’s Shakespeare-on-the-cheap “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Filled with handsome, austere plains photography, “Nebraska” is a Midwest road trip film about an aging father (Bruce Dern) and his son (Will Forte). As a studio release (Paramount) and a film set in contemporary times, “Nebraska” is unusual among modern black-and-white films, which have tended to be independently made or period pieces. Usually black-and-white is attempted by ambitious young filmmakers or veterans with enough industry pull. Payne has said his “Nebraska” was budgeted for less because it was in black-and-white and considered to have less box-office potential as a result.

Yet audiences have proven open-minded about black-and-white: The crowd-pleasing 2011’s “The Artist” won best picture without the benefit of color or sound, just as did Steven Spielberg’s black-and-white “Schindler’s List” (1993). As an iconoclastic group, modern black-and-white movies stand out for their classical photography and their willful connection to an earlier period of filmmaking. Here are a handful of memorable examples:

“Paper Moon”: Peter Bogdanovich made 1973’s Depression-era father-daughter tale “Paper Moon” as well as 1971’s Texas coming-of-age story “The Last Picture Show” in black-and-white. Both films, particularly the Midwest-set “Paper Moon” (a cherished favorite of Payne’s), were inspirations for “Nebraska.” Bogdanovich once said color made the Texas town of “The Last Picture Show” “too pretty”: “There’s something mysterious and enriching about black and white. Color is too realistic,” he said.

“Manhattan”: New York has probably inspired more

black-and-white films in recent decades than any other place. Woody Allen has often utilized black-and-white, including the newsreel style of “Zelig” and the Fellini-esque “Stardust Memories.” 1979’s “Manhattan,” shot by Gordon Willis, famously begins with Allen’s Isaac Davis practicing an introduction: “To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin.”

“Pi”: The New York of Darren Aronofsky’s 1998 debut bears none of the romanticism of Allen’s “Manhattan.” Made incredibly cheaply and filmed illicitly on the subway, the high contrast black and-white of “Pi” - blotchy and grubby - is more in the surreal style of David Lynch’s horror film “Eraserhead.” Aronofsky was inspired by Frank Miller’s comic book “Sin City,” which years later was made into a highly stylized, mostly black-and-white film. A world without color can be a strange, unsettling place.

“Stranger Than Paradise”: Jim Jarmusch has been one of the most frequent practitioners of black-and-white filmmaking. In 1984’s minimalist “Stranger Than Paradise” - as well as the jailbreak drama “Down by Law,” the Western “Dead Man” and the absurdist vignette series “Coffee and Cigarettes” - Jarmusch’s colorless palette only adds to his deadpan sensibility.

“The Man Who Wasn’t There”: The Coen brothers and their usual cinematographer, Roger Deakins, fashioned one of the most beautiful black-and-white films of recent years in this 2001 film, joining noir shadows with the constant cigarette smoke emanating from Billy Bob Thornton’s dour barber. But sometimes great love of black-and-white photography can suffocate a film with nostalgia. Steven Soderbergh’s “The Good German” (2006), while a loving ode to films like “The Third Man,” felt stuck in the past.

“Killer Of Sheep”: In this 1979 cult classic, Charles Burnett brought black-and-white Italian neorealism to the ‘70s ghetto of Watts in Los Angeles. The film was seldom seen for years because of fights over the licensing of music in the film, but it steadily grew in

renown and was eventually inducted into the National Film Registry. In “Killer of Sheep,” black-and-white helps strip Burnett’s film down to its bare naturalism. Like “Nebraska,” it’s a monochrome portrait of poverty, albeit in a very different part of the country.

“Others Worth Mentioning”: Martin Scorsese’s boxing epic “Raging Bull,” the mock documentary “Man Bites Dog,” Kevin Smith’s convenience store comedy “Clerks,” Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or-winning World War I tale “The White Ribbon,” Bela Tarr’s Hungarian drama “The Turin Horse,” Wim Wenders’ angels-among-us fantasy “Wings of Desire,” Christopher Nolan’s noir “Following.”—AP

‘Nebraska’ continues allure of black-and-white

This undated image originally released by United Artists shows, from left, hip hop artists Gza, Rza and actor Bill Murray from the Jim Jarmusch film “Coffee and Cigarettes.” This 1980 file photo originally re-

leased by United Artists shows Rob-ert De Niro as boxer Jake La Motta in the film “Raging Bull.”—AP photos

This undated publicity photo released by the Indepen-dent Film Channel shows Greta Gerwig, right, as Frances, with Adam Driver as Lev having dinner in a scene from the film, “Frances Ha.”

In this 1971 film image originally released by Columbia Pictures, Timo-thy Bottoms, left, and Jeff Bridges are shown in a scene from the Peter Bogda-novich film “The Last Picture Show”.

This film image released by Roadside Attractions shows Amy Acker, left, and Jillian Morgesen in a scene from “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Alexander Payne, center, director of “Nebraska,” poses with cast members, left to right, Stacy Keach, June Squibb, Bruce Dern and Will Forte at the 2013 AFI Fest premiere of the film at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Monday.

A gunman was carrying about 100 rounds of ammunition in five magazines when he set out on

a bloody rampage through a Brooklyn apartment, killing two brothers who played in an Iranian indie rock band and another musician, police said Tuesday. Ali Akbar Mohammadi Rafie fired several rounds early Monday be-fore he used his rifle to kill himself on the roof the apartment building where four members of the band Yellow Dogs lived together, police said. Afterward, investigators recovered 81 unfired rounds, some of them in magazines stashed in a guitar case found on an adjoining rooftop.

Records show the Spanish-made assault weapon was purchased by someone else at an upstate New York shop that went out of business in 2006, said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. “We don’t know precisely how Rafie obtained it,” Kelly said. Investigators believe the shooter was upset about being kicked out of the Free Keys, another Iranian band with close ties to the Yellow Dogs. Kelly described him as “despondent” about no longer being in the band.

A fourth man was still hospitalized with arm and shoulder wounds, police said. The two slain members of the Yellow Dogs were brothers Arash and Soroush Farazmand. Two other

members weren’t home at the time of the bloodshed and weren’t harmed. A message posted Tuesday on the band’s Facebook site and attributed to the survivors read, “Thanks every one for all your prayers and condolences.” The pair added that they “still can’t believe this tragedy.”

The row house in the industrial neighborhood of East Williamsburg where the victims lived had been a hangout for artists who attended parties there. The musicians all knew one another, a band manager said. Originally from Tehran, the Yellow Dogs were the subject of a 2009 film, “No One Knows about Persian Cats,” which told the semi-fictional tale of a band that played illegal rock shows there. After coming to New York, the group played at small but hip venues like the Knitting Factory and Brooklyn Bowl.

“They were great kids who people just loved,” said the manager, Ali Salehezadeh. “They looked cool and they played great music. ... They wanted to be known for their music.” The third man killed was identified as Ali Eskandarian, an Iranian-American singer-songwriter who had been living in the apartment above the Yellow Dogs.—AP

Police: NYC musician-gunman had 100 rounds of ammo

Police officer talks with a man carrying a guitar near a crime scene in the Brooklyn section of New York, Monday.—AP

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French actress Melanie Bernier poses during a photocall for the film “Au bonheur des ogres” yesterday, at the Rome International Film Festival.—AFP

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