I would agree to this. In fact I enjoy movies in stereo, including action movies. Stereo does serve well even with movies provided speakers are good.
@OP: What is your room size? Do you use HD media player/BDPS?
I would suggest, build system in steps rather than going for HTiB; AVr+ fronts initially, then sub and then surrounds. With HTiB, upgrade is also a pain ayou cannot easily sell off the HTiB speakers.