CrunchBang Linux

I installed Crunchbang last week and really enjoy it. I'm some what new to Linux, and its been interesting getting things fixed and working. There is one thing though that I can't seem to get working correctly, my intel graphics. And from all internet research I've done, it seems that its just the cpu drawing the desktop, which seems to contribute to my laptop running hot, and low battery efficiency.

Specs:
Sandy Bridge Intel i5 - 2410m
Intel Integrated HD Graphics 3000
3.2.0-0.bpo.2-amd64 kernel

Observations:
Occasionally I notice my windows lag when I'm dragging them around the desktop (doesn't seem to be application dependent)

Whenever VLC tries to play a video, it never plays the video part, just plays the audio, and also freezes up my desktop, so I end up having to reboot.
EDIT: I tried unchecking "Enable Accelerated Output" and it seems to have fixed this problem.

And lastly, most games installed from Synaptic complain about a missing driver when I try to run them.

I downloaded the latest driver from intellinuxgraphics.org, and am trying to install it. I can't seem to find out how. It's probably obvious, but I've tried doing the standard ./configure and make, but it complains. In terminal, when I try ./configure, it says:
bash: ./configure: No such file or directory

The file is actually configure.ac. When I try ./configure.ac it says:
bash: ./configure.ac: Permission denied

So I tried adding sudo to it:
sudo: ./configure.ac: command not found

I try just typing "make":
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found.  Stop.

But I can't find anything in the download that tells me what I should give as a target. It's probably obvious and something I overlooked, but I'm at a loss. Any help would be appreciated.