My gut feel is that using IMDB users isn't a good stand in for the general audience. I would think they're a lot more "into" movies than most people, and this analysis is closer to comparing professional vs "non-professional" critics.
There's an old video that videogamedunkey where he talks about the relationship between a critic and reader. Critics (particularly of art/media) shouldn't be looked at as some objective judge of whatever it is their critiquing (even if that's what they're trying to be). Instead you need to build a "relationship" by reading/viewing their stuff to get an idea of their own likes/dislikes/biases.
For me I've gravitated to a few critics whose stuff I read pretty frequently. Even when I've already seen a movie I'll go and read their review afterwards to hear their thoughts on it. Whether I agree with it or not I think it enriches the movie going experience.
There's an old video that videogamedunkey where he talks about the relationship between a critic and reader. Critics (particularly of art/media) shouldn't be looked at as some objective judge of whatever it is their critiquing (even if that's what they're trying to be). Instead you need to build a "relationship" by reading/viewing their stuff to get an idea of their own likes/dislikes/biases.
For me I've gravitated to a few critics whose stuff I read pretty frequently. Even when I've already seen a movie I'll go and read their review afterwards to hear their thoughts on it. Whether I agree with it or not I think it enriches the movie going experience.