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 100 Episodes
TOPG Ep 104: Fast Times at Ridgemont High
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we head back to Ridgemont High to revisit Cameron Crowe’s 1982 coming-of-age classic. From Jeff Spicoli’s legendary classroom antic...
TOPG Ep 103: Towering Inferno w/ Nanoose Bay Fire Department
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we head into the flames with The Towering Inferno (1974), the disaster epic that turned a skyscraper into the world’s worst workplac...
TOPG Ep 102: True Lies with Peter Kent
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we revisit True Lies (1994) with a very special guest Peter Kent, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s longtime stunt double! From harrier jets a...
TOPG Ep 100: The Empire Stikes Back
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we head back to a galaxy far, far away with The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Darker, colder, and packed with iconic moments, this seq...
TOPG Ep 99: ReAnimator
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we crack open the glowing serum and revisit Re-Animator (1985). Jeffrey Combs goes full mad scientist as Herbert West, bringing the ...
TOPG Ep 98: Up in Smoke
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we roll into the hazy chaos of Up in Smoke (1978), the comedy that launched Cheech & Chong into cult legend status. It’s road trips,...
TOPG Ep 97: Long Kiss Goodnight
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we revisit The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), where Geena Davis goes from small-town teacher to full-on action hero with a very partic...
TOPG Ep 96: Life of Brian
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we follow the misadventures of Life of Brian (1979)—the Monty Python classic that dares to ask: what if you were mistaken for the Me...
TOPG Ep 95" Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we head to the French Riviera for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) with special guest Zawer Sulaiman. Steve Martin and Michael Caine f...
TOPG Ep 94: Blade Runner with Dan Sissons
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we step into the neon-soaked future of Blade Runner (1982) with special guest Dan Sissons. Harrison Ford hunts replicants through ra...
TOPG Ep 93: Boondock Saints
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we take a look at the cult classic The Boondock Saints (1999). Two Irish brothers decide they’ve been called by God to clean up Bost...
TOPG Ep 92: Kingpin
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we roll into the bowling alley with Kingpin (1996). Woody Harrelson plays a washed-up bowler, Randy Quaid brings the chaos, and Bill...
TOPG Ep 91: Ladyhawk
This week on Too Old or Pure Gold, we take flight with Ladyhawke (1985), the fantasy romance where Rutger Hauer is a wolf by night, Michelle Pfeiffer is a hawk by day,...
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...
