During the time period, Kubrick was exploring the terrain of mankind and used his films as a way to come to terms with the brutal, scary species humans had become. You can see how Kubrick uses humor as a way of juxtaposing the stupidity of man with the catastrophic effects that come with our decisions.
For starters, Kubrick set his only pure comedy of this era during the moments before the end of all mankind. The silliness of Kubrick's characters, from Peter Seller's Col. Mandrake to Seller's President Muckerson to Seller's Dr. Strangelove to George C. Scott's magically Buck Turgenson, complements to importance of their decisions in a way to both scare the hell out of the viewer while also forcing them to hold their sides because of laughter. It all comes together perfectly in the final speech delivered by Strangelove. After the Bomb has been dropped, Strangelove explains how to stay alive in bunkers deep underground, while also fighting the right side of his body, which is still partial to Hitler. The last moment where Strangelove finally stands, after working himself into a lather, "Mein Fuhrer, I can walk!" sends the movie off with a perfect ending.
While the rest of his movies, outside of 2001, which I will get to in a minute, deal with men who are struggling through their lives. Clockwork Orange's Alex seems to keep his cheerful disposition throughout the torture that he receives for his crimes, while The Shining's Jack puts a sinister smile on his face while trying to murder his family. Kubrick even sends Full Metal Jacket off with a childlike smile by having the soldiers singing the theme from The Mickey Mouse Show.
Barry Lyndon is an movie unlike any other, but also contains many key elements that Kubrick worked with during his career. Much like Full Metal Jacket, Barry Lyndon is two very different movies. Act I, which sees Barry avoid dying in some amazing ways while living the life of a proper nobleman, plays like a series of misadventures of a man with alot of confidence who is very good at killing people. Once a story is over, there is no mention of it again. Barry travels until he decides it is time to settledown with a rich wife. Act II begins then follows this marriage and the downfall of Barry. His downfall is one story where Barry is overtaken by his upstart stepson. This movie seems bored, and is slightly overt at its messages against wealth.
2001 is nuts. I have seem it a few times, and still dont know what it is about. There are three acts, that have little to nothing to do with each other, other than The Monolith. The first and second acts are generally straightforward: the transformation from ape to man and the attempted destruction of man by the machine. However, the third act is the most interesting to me. Our astronaut, is floating through space, and appears to go through some sort of wormhole, which does not look very fun. He arrives at a french hotel room and grows very old. Then sees The Monolith(!!). Then we see the moon baby. Trying to follow some sort of narrative is nearly impossible. Instead, Kubrick seems interested in playing with audience expectations by keeping the same character from Act II, but having no reference to Hal or the ship. Instead he just flies through that colorful wormhole (or something). It is a beautiful shot that mixes perfectly the awe of the color with the brief shots of a terrified face. It is all very breathtaking. Moon baby!
Even though all of his movies has interesting story lines with characters that are well acted, the true joy of his films comes with the visuals and the soundtrack. Kubrick was the master of perfectly set up shots. But, for that discussion, you will have to wait for tomorrow.
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