ON FAITH & MEDIA | Smokin' Aces

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Smokin' Aces

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Source: Catholic News Service

Violent dark action comedy about a mob-connected Las Vegas conjuror, Buddy "Aces" Israel (Jeremy Piven), who, having cut a deal to turn witness against his underworld associates, holes up in a Lake Tahoe, Nev., casino penthouse waiting to be taken into protective custody by FBI agents (Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta), while a colorful collection of assassins arrives at the hotel competing for the million-dollar payday supposedly offered to eliminate Aces before he can testify. With nods to everyone from Sam Peckinpah to Quentin Tarantino and John Woo, writer-director Joe Carnahan's film, though intended as camp, is nevertheless just videogame-style brutality surrounded by an absurd, convoluted plot and, troublingly, presented with a hip veneer: popcorn entertainment for the "Grand Theft Auto" generation. Excessive bloody violence, brief images of torture, partial nudity, drug content, objectifying of women, some lesbian innuendo, pervasive rough and sexually crude language, and some profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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Felix of Cantalice: Felix was the first Capuchin Franciscan ever canonized. In fact, when he was born, the Capuchins did not yet exist as a distinct group within the Franciscans.
<p>Born of humble, God-fearing parents in the Rieti Valley, Felix worked as a farmhand and a shepherd until he was 28. He developed the habit of praying while he worked. </p><p>In 1543 he joined the Capuchins. When the guardian explained the hardships of that way of life, Felix answered: "Father, the austerity of your Order does not frighten me. I hope, with God’s help, to overcome all the difficulties which will arise from my own weakness." </p><p>Three years later Felix was assigned to the friary in Rome as its official beggar. Because he was a model of simplicity and charity, he edified many people during the 42 years he performed that service for his confreres. </p><p>As he made his rounds, he worked to convert hardened sinners and to feed the poor–as did his good friend, St. Philip Neri, who founded the Oratory, a community of priests serving the poor of Rome. When Felix wasn’t talking on his rounds, he was praying the rosary. The people named him "Brother Deo Gratias" (thanks be to God) because he was always using that blessing. </p><p>When Felix was an old man, his superior had to order him to wear sandals to protect his health. Around the same time a certain cardinal offered to suggest to Felix’s superiors that he be freed of begging so that he could devote more time to prayer. Felix talked the cardinal out of that idea. Felix was canonized in 1712.</p>

I think of all the women religious in the United States who touch countless lives, alleviate the suffering of so many, strive to offer a voice to the voiceless, remember the forgotten, care for those most in need, and focus their lives on the greater good of all God's people, without concern or regard for what they could receive in return.

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