'Good' Vibes

Even a Desperate Housewife (Teri Hatcher) couldn't steal the Sept. 23 opening night of the New York Film Festival from Oscar hopeful Good Night, and Good Luck and its director, George Clooney (who also plays a supporting role). After screening the movie at Lincoln Center, revelers trekked to a gala at Central Park's Tavern on the Green. There, filmmakers Joel Coen, Noah Baumbach, Sofia Coppola, and Mira Nair hobnobbed under the trees and Chinese lanterns with Good Night's leading man, David Strathairn (he portrays Edward R. Murrow as he takes on Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s Communist witch hunt), and costar Patricia Clarkson, who raved about working with Clooney. ''It was everything you would imagine,'' she said. ''Every fantasy you have comes true.... Well, maybe not every one!''