Snow joy in Mudville.

Citizens Bank Park, Feb. 9, 2010

Remember the movie The Human Contract?

Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, are among the few who do. She wrote it and directed it.

So does Philly developer David Grasso. He put up $5 million in 2007 to fund the drama, starring Jason Clarke and Paz Vega.

Grasso and the Smiths had been communicating through lawyers over the outcome of the flop, which went straight to video.

After Grasso's counsel threatened the Smiths with a lawsuit, the Smiths struck first.

The Smiths, her management company, Overbrook Entertainment, and her production company, 100% Womon, sued Grasso and Tycoon, his production company, in Los Angeles Superior Court.

In their complaint, the Smiths claim that Grasso accused them of "fraudulently inducing [Tycoon] to invest in the movie," and asks the court to declare that such fraud did not occur.

Grasso learned of the Smiths' legal move through TMZ.com, which seems to have obtained the complaint moments after its filing.

Contacted yesterday, Grasso called the suit an intimidation tactic. "I wasn't looking to make it public," he said. "They put out this lawsuit."

He acknowledged that he knew of the risk of investing in a movie. "However, never in a million years did I believe I'd be treated so poorly," he said, adding that he had recouped about $1 million of his investment through a foreign distribution deal.

"My differences . . . have nothing to do with the success or failure of The Human Contract, but with the promises that were made to induce me to make the investment," he said. "I am disappointed that my perception of the Smiths was so off-base. . . . I sincerely look forward to the truth being revealed and remain optimistic that we will be able to resolve our differences amicably."

Credit the Smiths with one thing: Using someone else's money to finance her movie.

Trailer below.

See photos from the set in 2007 (L.A. Times)

Next Tuesday (2/16) will mark the opening day of Garces Trading Company, Jose Garces' gourmet market/cafe created in an association with the Liquor Control Board, at the Western Union Building (1111 Locust St., 215-574-1099).

GTC, which is set up like a market, will sell house-made and imported foods under the Garces Trading Company label, plus Garces-branded cuisine (including private-label coffee, olive oils, and vinegars) for eat-in or take-out.

Flowers, too.

GTC will include the state's first wine boutique, as the state will lease a percentage of the restaurant’s space to sell a selection of more than 200 red, white and sparkling wines, especially from Spain, France and Italy, and spirits.

You can order to-go at the counter, or sit in the center seating section and order from a waiter.

Euro-style lunch and dinner dining choices -- for eat-in and to-go, most $18 and under -- will include variety of pastas such as pappardelle with lamb ragu, sun choke puree and piavecchio and Tuscan fusilli alla carbonara with guanciale, eggs, black pepper and pecorino; thin crust and deep-dish, Chicago-style pizzas; and daily changing plats du jour such as coq au vin with pearl onions, mushrooms and potatoes on Mondays, and bouillabaisse with gambas, halibut, mussels, cockles and saffron ruille on Thursdays.

Other details:

• High ceilings, high-top butcher-block tables, white subway-tiled walls; design by Garces' collaborator Jun Aizaki.
• A cheese shop with free samples and cheese complements from Amada, including garlic dulce de leche and fig and cherry marmalade
• A variety of imported single estate vinegars and olive oils from Spain, Italy, and Greece.
• House-cured and imported charcuterie.
• Sandwiches served on house-baked bread
• Hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Full service cafe: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Wine shop: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Exit Snooki.

Enter The Situation.

Mike Sorrentino of MTV’s Jersey Shore will appear Friday night at Northern Liberties' Buckhead Saloon (461 N. Third St.). Doors will open at 7 p.m. and he is due in-house around 9.

Update (2/9): He is due around 10, as he is flying in from another city.

Punxsutawney Phil is held by Ben Hughes after emerging from his burrow on Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., to see his shadow and forecast six more weeks of winter weather Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Big hat-tip to the best regional weather site, Tom Thunstrom's Phillyweather.net, for archiving the season snow predictions that the TV weather people made last November.

Friday-Saturday's storm dumped 28.5 inches at Philadelphia International, which brought the season's total to 56.3 inches.

So as we can see, they blew it. And with another storm predicted for late Tuesday, it's only going to pile on.

The forecasts:

Kathy Orr on CBS 3 called for a season total of 26 to 33 inches.

Hurricane Schwartz on NBC10  predicted 18 to 24 inches all season.

Cecily Tynan and Accu-Weather on 6ABC called for a "snowier-than-average" season, with 30 inches in the city.

John Bolaris on Fox29 said 22.7 inches, an average of four El Nino winters.

At least Punxsutawney Phil was right last week when he said winter was not over.

A look at Barbuzzo, Feb. 5, 2010.

A few updates on restaurant projects hither and yon.

Barbuzzo, the Mediterranean bar from Lolita/Bindi's Valerie Safran and Marcie Turney at 110 S. 13th St. (next door to the new Zavino), should be open in late March. Construction is due to wrap by the end of this month, Safran says. Menu will be a mix of apps and larger plates, and there will be a woodburning oven for four different pizzas. There is a long open kitchen where customers can sit and watch the kitchen in addition to a bar in the front. Turney will be chef with George Sabatino of Bindi. Manager will be Terence Lewis, a former manager/wine guy at Fork, who's been at Lolita.

Falafel Factory, 32 S. 18th St., is good to go on Tuesday (Feb. 9).

Chops in the former Oceanaire is doing test meals and plans to open next Friday (Feb. 12).

West Ave Grille's new spot in Dresher, the former Carambola, is shooting for March 2.

Tabu, the sports bar in the former Sal's at 200 S. 12th St., is targeting early March.

Ulysses Voyage, the luxe Greek restaurant coming to Deux Cheminees' former space at 1221-23 Locust St., is now on track for April. Assorted delays, including a need historic approvals. This place will be a knockout, complete with a piano to be tickled during dinner.

Capital Grille won't talk now, but there's a new one on the way for Mall Boulevard in King of Prussia.

Can I add yet another new project to the mix? Alex Capasso, who has Blackbird in Collingswood, yesterday signed a deal to take the old Woolworth's store at 712 Haddon Ave. in Collingswood. It was Painted Cottage Deli in its last life. He's calling his place West Side Gravy, and he promises contemporary comfort food in a refined atmosphere, in 60 to 90 days.

Stephen Starr now says that for sure, he's reviving Blue Angel at 706 Chestnut St., his French concept that ran from 1999 to 2003 in the same storefront. This time, he says, it will be warmer and cozier, with a smaller, more changeable menu. Starr made similar noises this time last year. He says he hopes to open: "In June. Or September." 

Pickets at 1607 Walnut St.

Center City's first Apple store has not officially been announced for 1607 Walnut St., but demo work has started inside.

And so begins a rite of passage, one experienced by so many retailers:

Pickets have set up outside, alleging that the developer dared to hire nonunion workers, even though the rest of the job supposedly will be performed by union labor.

Perhaps instead of an inflatable rat, the unions will trot out a wireless mouse.

Snooki greeting her admirers at the WIP Wing Bowl.

Who knew Nicole Polizzi before Dec. 3's premiere of the MTV reality series Jersey Shore.

And now, two months and two days into her 15 minutes of fame, she managed to elicit the day's loudest crowd reaction (mostly boos) at the WIP Wing Bowl, where she was a guest and rode a slow-moving mechanical bull.

"I always knew I was going to be famous," she told me when I asked her about the reaction. "I didn't know when, and I didn't know how, and I didn't know why."

Maybe we'll learn the answer in Season 2.

(Wondering why she was booed? Here's a clip from Jenn Frederick's live interview on today's Good Day Philadelphia. Note Snooki flipping the bird around 00:50.)

Jonny Mac

Jonathan "Jonny Mac" McDonald of The Pub & Kitchen will venture out of Center City and into the bosom of suburbia (OK, Conshohocken, where the bosom may have had a lift or two) for a special dinner.

He'll be Chip Roman's "Guest Chef" at Blackfish on Monday, March 1.

They will collaborate on a seven-course menu for $85, the contents of which have not been determined.