1) Poster is auto-sized based on the width the column it is in. Modification from 40% to 30% (change to whatever you want):
<column valign="top" halign="center" width="30%">
<section>
<border shape="none"/>
<row>
<column>
<poster autosize="true"/>
</column>
</row>
<row>
<column imgctrlcol="true">
<prevposterbtn/>
<postercountlabel halign="center" width="50"/>
<nextposterbtn/>
<addposterbtn/>
</column>
</row>
</section>
</column>
2.a) Link colors are controlled by the (missing) LINKDEF statement:
<labelfont><bold></bold></labelfont>
<fieldfont><size>10</size></fieldfont>
<linkdefs>
<linkcolor_record>$ff0000</linkcolor_record>
<linkcolor_visrecord>$00b000</linkcolor_visrecord>
</linkdefs>
2.b) Bolding doesn't seem to work, so use a bold font for the 'human' categories:
<human category="2"><font><name>arial bold</name></font></human>
Skin attached, change as you wish. Be sure to put the skin into the skins->movie directory. You'll need to restart PVD (if it's running) so it can pick up the new skin.