Those great films -- '' M \* A \* S \* H , '' '' McCabe & Mrs. Miller '' ( 1971 ) , '' The Long Goodbye '' ( 1973 ) , '' Thieves Like Us '' ( 1974 ) , '' California Split '' and '' Nashville '' ( 1975 ) -- still look like the core of his achievement : to paraphrase Raymond Carver -LRB- whose work Mr. Altman adapted in his 1992 film '' Short Cuts '' -RRB- , they are what we talk about when we talk about Robert Altman .