I've been thinking on something like this lately. But I think that sometimes more than the story it's the concept what counts. For example, "Mr. Bad Frame": I personally don't think the script is outstanding, but the idea behind it it's great, and that's what makes it highly enjoyable. Also, it is important how you develope and show the story in your film. You may have the greatest idea of the world, the best script ever wrote, but if you don't know how to direct a movie, it's destined to live short. I'm not talking about technical aspects, I'm talking about how understandable the story is. That's another thing, you can have a bad idea, a mediocre script, but if you know how to build the mood and the pace, it will be acclaimed. Story counts a lot, but it's up to you to make it look great. An example is "Taco Trouble": the guys knew how to make that movie, what was needed to make it funny, and still animation (no offence) sucks, cinematography is nice, but not outstanding. I think there is something more important than story, and that's the director. You can't just say "the story is great, so the movie will be great", you must think and think again on what the viewer is going to see and remember from your movie.
About the so called "Golden Age", I think that it isn't dead. It is not over, there are just a lot more peoples that make bad quality films than before. But there are also more brickfilmers that make good movies. That's a consequence to the increased number of brickfilmers around the world, the expansion of the hobby.
P.S.: I'd love to see more dynamic duos, and I mean good ones. Even cliché can be funny sometimes, if you do it on purpose.