I can think of one notable exception: Ratatouille. In fact, the design actually looks good, and surprisingly not generic.

I think the tabs from the Spider-man movies are interesting. A few years ago there was a set-decoration exhibit in Los Angeles at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (they put on a lot of worthwhile displays for those who are in the area). "Spider-man 2" was one of the featured films, and I was impressed by the attention to detail in the newsroom and the newspapers.

"Ratatouille" rules, by the way. In my book, Pixar can do no wrong and Brad Bird's work is exemplary.

Personally, I gravitated more towards the newspapers shown in "The Incredibles."

Our newspaper gossip column actually cribbed some of the style featured in "Sweet Smell of Success" -- the Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster movie about newspapers when newspapers were newspapers.

The "newspaper" displayed here looked like a bad press release. Maybe these set designers outsourced the task to their PR departments.