Indeed, it's getting to the point now where all TV/movies seem to be using the same tricks around pacing, creating audience involvement with characters, generating tension etc., to the point where I recognise it easily and then cannot continue watching. In contrast, and obviously I'm generalising massively but still, I find that older media doesn't seem quite so desperate to build me up into a frenzy of emotion, and seems happier to let a story develop at its own pace without resorting to shallow tricks to liven things up.

I mean sure, just like anything there is a certain method to writing a story. That doesn't mean that writing a movie is just paint-by-numbers like you seem to be implying. A programmer doesn't invent a new language every time she's going to write an application.

Writing a good movie is really, really challenging.