Hmmm, great question.  I will say that living in Los Angeles (where all of the core FIYH are based) does provide unique opportunities to immerse yourself in cinema.  We have places like THE NEW BEVERLY THEATER which is owned by Quentin Tarantino, and curates awesome classic movies that often come with some sort of creator Q&A.  Same goes for my favorite place in LA to watch films, CINEFAMILY.  Where else can you go to a screening of ACT OF KILLING with the director one night, and COOL AS ICE with the actress who played Vanilla Ice's paramour on LITERALLY THE NEXT NIGHT. 

It's still very much an industry town and there certainly is a feeling of having to step your game up in terms of knowledge.  This is to say nothing about the fact that we all work inside the bubble in one form or another, and we all have SOME kind of education in it too. 

The biggest thing for me, though, is just watching film and TV with a critical eye and have people who are of  similar mindset to discuss it with.  For me, it's not just that it's fun, it's necessary for my career.  Media is changing, and how we film entertainment is constantly evolving.  I have no choice but to digest media with a critical eye, so that I can follow trends in editing and apply it to whatever I'm working on.  I have to do this to stay competitive with younger people coming up.  I support my family this way, so it's certainly not just for shits and giggles. 

So while being in LA does provide some opportunities, for most of us it's because, as Brian spoke and hence became legend...

We're professionals...just not at this.

As George Carlin once said, you know that somewhere, some guy is saying that life is fair

My inside-scoop knowledge comes, almost entirely, from talking to people that I know who worked on said-thing. I rarely read up on filmmaking procedure, and rarely listen to podcasts. (Almost never to commentaries. lawl.) It's just shit someone said, near me, that I happened to get curious about and follow up on.

Now, that's me. Bear in mind, of the core group of WAYDMers — Teague, Brian, Dorkman, Trey, Eddie — I'm the guy who's the least in the know, generally speaking. I know my shit in my own field, and then the stuff I covered in the first paragraph. My cohorts are the ones with the Larger Industry Knowledge.

When in doubt, add Variety and The Hollywood Reporter to your morning bookmarks. (I check those too, but I've been assuming that's standard.)

I was told by my insider, a noted Hollywood professional, that he mostly makes stuff up.

- Teague, on a podcast

I used to buy it from time to time as a layman with no intention of joining the VFX world, and it reads fine. I stopped looking for it (it was hard to find on bookstore shelves) when CGI became so ubiquitous that it became the answer to every "how'd they do that?" question.

I've since subscribed on the iPad and browse issues. Technology has advanced so much that Hollywood is now able to do (a bit) more practical effects and just enhance them/hide the seams with CGI.

Roger Ebert books are must-owns for film buffs.