fear 58...i will explain in detail how to install mplayer:
first step is to go here and get the codecs:
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design7/dload.html
create a folder under /usr/lib called codecs and extract the codecs to this folder.
all of the codecs should now be in /usr/lib/codecs
next step is to download a skin. you can do so at the same link above. download the skin named blue.
create a folder in your /usr/share folder named mplayer
you should now have a folder called /usr/share/mplayer
you will want to create a folder called Skin inside the /usr/share/mplayer folder
you will now be in /usr/share/mplayer/Skin
now you will want to extract the skin you downloaded to this folder. if you downloaded the skin named blue you will want to rename it default. this is important. mplayer will look for the skin named default when it starts.
now you will need to get a font at the same link above.
create a folder in your /usr/share/mplayer folder named font and extract the font you downloaded to this folder.
the font should now be in the /usr/share/mplayer/font folder.
now we are ready to build mplayer...this is where the fun begins.
open up a terminal and cd into your mplayer folder that you extracted originally
do this ./configure --enable-gui --prefix=/usr
make
su -c (become root)
make install
you should be good to go!