Perhaps it sounds ridiculous but the best thing that young filmmakers should do is to get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all.
All that we call ideal in Greek or any other art because to us it is false and visionary was to the makers of it true and existent.
My favorite laser disk ever was the laser disk for The Graduate which had a commentary track that wasn't even the filmmakers it was a professor some film criticism guy who just happen to be this amazing commentator who went off into the whole theory of comedy.
I'm quite good at taking in information so I voraciously inhale Wikipedia - which may have some things wrong in it but I think is generally more information than we had before. Last tour we didn't have Wikipedia. And then Discovery Channel and History Channel. I can take it in and retain what I think are the most important facts.