Olen Vanderleeden
A Gen X creative whose career spans cannabis, clean tech, and media, but his real passion is stuck in a time warp somewhere between a VHS rental and a training montage. As the creator, producer, and co-host of Too Old or Pure Gold, Olen channels his lifelong love of 80s cinema, especially the high-kicking, synth-scored, gloriously weird corners of it, into a podcast that celebrates, critiques, and reexamines the movies that shaped a generation.
Appears in 87 Episodes
TOPG Ep 90: Stargate
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we dial the coordinates and step through Stargate (1994). Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi adventure sends Kurt Russell and James Spader ac...
TOPG Ep 89: Cool Runnings
Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, it’s Cool Runnings time! This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we revisit the 1993 feel-good sports comedy about the Jamaican bobsled tea...
TOPG Ep 88: Muriel
Love, lies, ABBA, and a wedding invite nobody saw coming, it’s our Valentine’s special! This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we head to Porpoise Spit for Muriel’s Weddin...
TOPG Ep 87: Backdraft
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we bring the Nanoose Bay Fire department to help us manage the heat with Ron Howard’s Backdraft (1991). With firefighters, family dr...
TOPG Ep 86: Action Jackson
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we unleash peak late-80s excess with Action Jackson (1988). Carl Weathers stars as a Detroit cop with impossible strength, unlimited...
TOPG Ep85: The Quick and the Dead
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we saddle up for Sam Raimi’s stylish Western The Quick and the Dead (1995). With Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, and a ve...
TOPG Ep 84: Tron
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we jack into the grid and revisit Tron (1982). With neon light cycles, early CGI, and Jeff Bridges battling it out inside a computer...
TOPG Ep83: Smokey and the Bandit
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we fire up the Trans Am and hit the open road with Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and we’re joined by special guest Vinnie Tortorich f...
TOPG Ep 82: When Harry Met Sally
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we revisit When Harry Met Sally (1989), the rom com that tried to answer the ultimate question: can men and women ever just be frie...
TOPG Ep 81: Jingle All The Way
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we sprint through shopping malls, dodge reindeer, and fight Sinbad with Jingle All the Way (1996). Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a wel...
TOPG Ep 80: Jack Frost & Jack Frost
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we celebrate the most confusing holiday double feature imaginable: Jack Frost (1998) and Jack Frost (1997). One is a heartfelt famil...
TOPG Ep 79: A Christmas Story
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we bundle up and head to 1940s Indiana to revisit the beloved holiday classic A Christmas Story (1983). From Red Ryder BB guns to le...
TOPG Ep 78: Stripes
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we enlist in the hilarious chaos of Stripes (1981) with a special guest Mark Wolters! Join Bill Murray and Harold Ramis as they turn...
TOPG Ep 77: Limey
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we’re thrilled to welcome special guest Gareth C. Scales, acclaimed film editor and veteran cult-critic, who joins us for a deep div...
TOPG Ep 76: Dark City
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we descend into the shadowy, mind-bending world of Dark City (1998). With mystery, memory loss, and trench coats galore, we dig into...
TOPG Ep 75: Buckaroo Banazi Feat. Bob Mersereau
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we strap in for one of the strangest cult adventures of the 80s: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)! ...
TOPG Ep 74: Enter the Dragon
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we bow to the master himself, Bruce Lee, and revisit Enter the Dragon (1973). It’s the ultimate blend of philosophy, fists, and 70s ...
TOPG Ep 73: Evil Dead 1 & 2
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we crack open the Necronomicon and dive into The Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987). From Sam Raimi’s blood-soaked cabin in th...
TOPG Ep 72: Pumkinhead
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we summon the vengeance demon himself with Pumpkinhead (1988)! Directed by special effects legend Stan Winston, this creature featu...
TOPG Ep 71: Monster Squad
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we gather the squad to revisit 1987’s The Monster Squad! Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein’s Monster, and a bunch of foul-mouthed k...
