Why Alleged Beef?
Site Notes
Active Features
Past / Inactive Features
Masthead
Staff Bios
Why Alleged Beef?
The phrase, if memory serves, came from an NBA on TNT broadcast, and was in relation to the JaVale McGee and Shaquille O’Neal feud circa the 2016–2017 NBA season. Someone, in a moment of diplomacy, described the feud as an alleged beef.
I loved the absurdity of the phrase. Alleged is used in journalism to address an unproven claim (i.e., to avoid libel). Beef is a slang term. So the combination attempts to meld being cool with journalistic distance. It made me wonder if there was a producer’s meeting before the show where they discussed the different ways to address the issue, and whether an ombudsman had to sign off on the phrase “alleged beef.”
Site Notes
- Discussion of recently released art will reveal a functional minimum of plot details. However, if your enjoyment of a story is predicated on you having zero knowledge of its plot, these articles probably aren’t for you. This is totally fine. There are a zillion writers in this world, and someone somewhere will cater to your desires.
- The articles on this site may include profanity, although we try to limit it to contextualized swearing.
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Active Features
- 5 Thoughts on…: Bite-sized reviews of new releases.
- Alleged Beef Awards (or All-Beefies): Our annual movie awards showcase.
- Connective Tissue: A series which traces the influence of an iconic film throughout film history.
- Cozy Mystery Pub: A series which focuses on individual sleuths within the cozy mystery / spy / crime thriller genres and the various portrayals of the character on film.
- Curated Beef: A curated monthly collection of movies, books, podcasts, games, events, other content creators, or recommended interests.
Past / Inactive Features
- 40 Movies About Noises and Consequences: I turned 40 at the end of 2021. To commemorate the milestone, I wrote 40 short biographical essays pertaining to a movie per year of my life prior to that milestone.
- Alleged Buff: It is easy to miss something that one might otherwise have really enjoyed. I bring in a guest and we talk about a big movie that they’ve never seen: what they think it is about, their expectations, why they missed it. Then we watch the movie and have a follow-up conversation to discuss how it differed from their expectations.
- Late Watch: Catching up with a prestige picture that I missed.
- Stream Gems: Highlighting notable films on a particular streaming service. Became redundant with the introduction of the monthly Curated Beef feature.
- Watch Party: A monthly recap of what was watched. Became redundant with the adoption of Letterboxd and Curated Beef.
- Top Movies: An irregularly updated list of my favorite movies of all time.
Masthead
- Editor in Chief, Illustrator: Matthew A. Roberson
- Webmaster, Graphic Design: Natalie Roberson
- Staff Writers: Matthew A. Roberson, Natalie Roberson
- Patron Saints: Angie Dickinson, Jonathan Demme, Wong Kar Wai, Holly Hunter, Brad Dourif, Gene Hackman, John Carpenter
Staff Bios
Matthew A. Roberson (MattRob, mattrob) divides his time between this site, the NBA, wine, mystery novels, working on his house, computer programming, and various strategy games. In past lives, he was an economics journal editor, movie critic, sketch comedy writer, carny, short-order cook, carpenter, baker, beer snob, deliveryman, farmhand, and curmudgeon. You can reach him at instagram.com/allegedbeef or by writing a note, affixing it to a bottle of barbaresco, and leaving it under the closest yew tree.
Natalie Roberson (The Lotus People) is a tech geek, privacy guru, yoga instructor, knitter, gamer, lover of small furry things, and reluctant watcher of movies. She’s been teaching yoga since 2010 to help balance her life in the tech industry. You can find her online at thelotuspeople.com.
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