Read the wiki if you don't believe me: "Like most Betazoids, Troi had telepathic abilities; due to her half-Human heritage, however, the range of her telepathic abilities were limited compared to full-blooded Betazoids, and could usually only read the thoughts of other Betazoids, most notably her mother."
I recently downloaded all seasons of DS9, I wanted to give it a second chance, I'll give it a third, see if I can get sucked in.
If you don't like the first seasons, try from season 4 onwards (after Worf joined).
If DS9 is that good, how come all the good movies feature Picard?
Because quality and popularity aren't the same thing. TNG, like TOS before it, had entered the popular culture. Even people who aren't sci-fi fans know Picard. It was therefore the obvious choice to continue the movie franchise after the original crew got too old. DS9, while very good, is well-known only among sci-fi fans just like Babylon 5 or Farscape.
And the best Trek movie is Wrath of Khan; First Contact is a close second though. All the other TNG movies are meh.
