If you seriously dig into literature or film you'll find that many of the stories don't fit into the hero's journey at all--or only fit if you make the "journey" so generic as to be practically tautological.

As for the claim about people's lives. People who are serious about art almost invariably keep enjoying the "basic" classics; many musicians keep listening to Bach all their lives. Faulkner claimed to read Don Quixote over again every year. It is possible to find novelty in the well-worn.