Alexander Payne on why he filmed Nebraska in black and white

From Mike Ryan's Huffington Post interview with Alexander Payne:

It's interesting you filmed this in black and white because the look did remind me of the cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska."
      And?
     Was there any influence?
     [Laughs] No.
     I guess my point is that the perfect image of Nebraska is in black and white. Why does Nebraska work so well in black and white?
      I don't know. My mom said -- my mom saw it last night -- and she said in the car driving home, she goes, "Now I see why you had to make it in black and white. It would have been stupid in color." I said, "Mom, I'm going to use that line." [laughs]
     ...Speaking of subtle jokes, there's an entire sequence of the family discussing a character because "his foot's been bothering him." This would for sure be a topic for my family at any holiday gathering.
      You know who played that uncle? It's Rance Howard, that's Ron Howard's father. Another excellent actor I feel, who I was lucky enough to find.