Some of the things I love about Laravel 5 request handling.

Controller Sample.php

<?php 

use Illuminate\Routing\Controller;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;
//
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

/**
 *
 * Keep in mind, this uses a lot of idiomatic PHP.  Any variable can be used as a nullable type and null
 * evaluates to false in PHP.  So it allows for some nice shortcuts once in a while.
 *
 */
class Sample extends Controller {

	// If desired, you could also pre-empt this action with a filter/middleware at the routing level 
	// that requires authentication. Then the framework would return a 403 response without even 
	// needing to run the action.
	// This offers up several advantages on the DRY front as well as reducing the overall amount of 
	// defensive code required.  You only code for your "good scenario", the framework traps the rest!
	public function me(Request $request) {
		return new JsonResponse($request->user());
	}
	
	// Again, before the action is even run, the framework checks the criteria defined in $signupRequest 
	public function signup(SignupRequest $signupRequest, UserService $userService) {
		
		$newUser = $userService->signup($signupRequest->only([
			'alias',
			'password',
			'tagline',
		]));
		
		// Again, consider that the only way we could have hit this line is if everything 
		// succeeded.  Minimal amount of code!
		return new JsonResponse($user);
		
	}
	
}

// Here's a sample form request class simulating what a user signup might look like.
class SignupRequest extends FormRequest {
	
	// Input validation is run before anything else and ensures that the structure of the request 
	// is workable.  An HTTP 422 is generated if any of these rules fail.
	public function rules() {
		return [
			'alias' => 'required|min:4|unique:user',
			'password' => 'required|confirmed',
			'tagline' => 'min:10'	
		];
	}
	
	// This is a function that must return true in order to allow the request to continue.
	// You can author complex custom algorithms to check the state of the request before 
	// any action that uses it is run.
	// Notice that method injection is available here, so I am using a fictional BanService.
	public function authorized(BanService $banService) {
		return $banService->allowed($this->getClientIp());
	}
	
}