$_productCollection = Mage::getResourceModel('catalog/product_collection')
            ->setStoreId(0)
            ->joinField('category_id', 'catalog/category_product', 'category_id', 'product_id=entity_id', null, 'left')
            ->addAttributeToFilter('category_id', array('in' => $category_ids))
            ->addAttributeToSelect('*')
            ->addAttributeToFilter('visibility', 4) // Only catalog, search visiblity
            ->addAttributeToFilter('status', array('eq' => Mage_Catalog_Model_Product_Status::STATUS_ENABLED))
            ->addAttributeToSort('is_featured', 'DESC')