I love black-and-white movies, though I think that some movies that were made in black-and-white back in the 30s and 40s should have been made in color (e.g. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, THE SEA HAWK).
I think the problem with black-and-white movies made during the past 40 years is that many of them were actually shot on color stock, therefore they look "soft". The blacks are not not as rich as they were in earlier movies.