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The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
The Dating Tip: "When you knock on a lady’s door as if it was a tavern, you deserve to wait."
How It Applies To Real Life: This is ye olde way of saying that men who treat women with no respect don't deserve any respect themselves, and we love it. Seriously, we're thinking of getting this on a t-shirt.
Remember gents, if you want to keep your lady interested, avoid kicking her door down like a thug.
Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)
The Dating Tip: "Be better than The Gap."
How It Applies To Real Life: Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to dating. Please, the man takes home a different gorgeous girl every single night. He has got some serious moves, and it's this wisdom that he tries to impart upon hapless and newly-separated Cal (Steve Carell).
Number one priority? Sort out that wardrobe, and have confidence to believe that you deserve better than just the high-street when it comes to threads. Oh, and bin the velcro wallet. Now.
Youth In Revolt (2009)
The Dating Tip: "In the movies the good guy gets the girl. In real life it's usually the prick."
How It Applies To Real Life: Sometimes it just doesn't work out the way it should - you can recite the perfect finale speech, hold a boom box above your head and even perform the patented chase to the airport and the response can still be, "actually, I'm really happy with my crappy boyfriend, thanks". If only life were more like a Richard Curtis movie.
Blue Valentine (2010)
The Dating Tip: "In my experience, the prettier a girl is, the more nuts she is, which makes you insane."
How It Applies To Real Life: We don't necessarily agree with the crazy / beautiful scale, but this chat-up line from the soul-destroying Blue Valentine is a lesson in itself. Any girl hears the opener, and she'll immediately be ready to pounce on his blatant sexism. And then he hits you with the compliment of the century. This is girl-winning gold.
(500) Days Of Summer (2009)
The Dating Tip: "Just because she likes the same bizzaro crap you do doesn't mean she's your soul mate."
How It Applies To Real Life: Leading man Joseph Gordon-Levitt has often spoken of his surprise that so many viewers feel empathy for Tom, his heartbroken character, calling him "selfish", and saying that he "falls in love with the idea of a person, not the actual person".
His wise-beyond-her-years little sister (Chloë Grace Moretz) points this out early on - don't think that they're necessarily the one just because they happen to love manga and gin martinis too. Sometimes that's just a coincidence.
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
The Dating Tip: "Don’t you know about first love? You may grow out of it but you don’t get over it."
How It Applies To Real Life: Sometimes there's just no point even trying to get over someone. When it comes to first love, it's better to accept that it's a life-changing experience that will refuse to leave you.
Sweet Charity (1969)
The Dating Tip: “You run your heart like a hotel, you get guys checking in and out all the time.”
How It Applies To Real Life: Keep your cards close to your chest.
Want to avoid heartbreak and the accompanying period of binge-watching Animal Hospital and crying on the tube? Then, as voice of reason Nickie (Chita Rivera) tells our leading lady Charity (Shirley MacLaine), get your heart on lockdown until the guest of honour arrives.
Annie Hall (1977)
The Dating Tip: "A relationship, I think, is like a shark. It has to constantly move forward or it dies. I think what we’ve got on our hands is a dead shark."
How It Applies To Real Life: You've got to be able to accept it when it's over. Staying in an unhappy relationship out of comfort or cowardice only ends up making things worse. Always apply the Woody Allen principle and check which direction the shark is moving.
Ways to test this include letting lobsters loose in the kitchen and testing out your significant other's reaction.
Clueless (1995)
The Dating Tip: "Sometimes you have to show a little skin. This reminds boys of being naked, and then they think of sex."
How It Applies To Real Life: Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) is a bonafide love guru.
She taught teenage girls the world over how to bag their perfect 90s dreamboat (usually either a Paul Rudd or Jared Leto look-a-like) - show off just the right amount of flesh, and he'll be putty in your hands. We can also thank Cher for classics such as "anything you can do to draw attention to your mouth is good".
40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)
The Dating Tip: "It’s very easy to confuse physical attraction with a real connection."
How It Applies To Real Life: Sometimes a terrible movie can give you fantastic advice, and this Josh Hartnett movie about voluntary celibacy is a perfect example.
You don't want to find yourself the morning after the wedding, realising that you've got nothing in common except a love of bumping uglies.
