Search - Sherman Holmes, Wendell Holmes :: Lotto Land (1996 Film)

Like Smoke, John Rubino's low-budget film is also about a shop in the heart of Brooklyn where people of different races, ages, and classes come together--in this case, a liquor store that sells lottery tickets. Rubino not only wrote the screenplay but co-wrote 9 of the 12 songs in the movie with the legendary soul-gospel band, the Holmes Brothers, and cast Wendell Holmes, the group's lead singer, as a major character. Those dozen tunes comprise the band's fifth album, Lotto Land, its first collection of all-original material. Rubino proves a surprisingly tasteful lyricist, coming up with down-to-earth blues phrases like "Radio Face," which describes a plain-looking woman who radiates true love. --Geoffrey Himes