if you want to burn a movie on your PC to a DVD-R I would recommend getting Roxio 7 or 8. IT is pricey, but you can get in on ebay mad cheap. IT has a lot of DVD creating tools, in addiotion to a bunch of other media related shit. I have made some DVD's with it that look freagin sweet, not to toot my own horn.
TMPGEnc 3.0 - Converts, cuts, merges, edits...
NERO 7.0 - Burns every kind of shit
DVD Shrink 3.1 - Saves you dough by allowing to copy full size DVDs to 4.7 Gigs DVD-Rs.
I'd be leery of Roxio - they use "rootkits" in their software, just like that shit that Sony put on some of their CDs that got them into so much hot water. An associate of mine tried taking Roxio's Easy CD Creator off his system, and it essentially turned his computer into a paperweight. A couple trips to Best Buy and a few hundred dollars later, I don't think the computer is still functioning the way it should.