With regard to the remote control and the position of the on screen cursor, try the following...
This assumes the cursor is too far left (reverse for too far right):
Move the cursor on screen all the way to the left. Now keep moving your remote control another couple of inches.
When you swing the remote control back again, you should find the cursor has moved an amount. If not enough, back to far left, and move a bit further beyond the edge again. If too far, swing to the far right, and keep moving for a bit, after you've hit the right edge of the screen.
Another option for pausing is to turn the remote control over and use the space bar.